The front lawns of Parliament House are expected to be dotted with thousands of candles for Earth Hour tonight, but grey skies have prompted organisers to move part of the city’s main event to ANU.
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Thousands of supporters across Canberra are expected to turn their lights off for an hour from 8.30pm to mark the annual World Wide Fund for Nature event.
If the rain holds off, 3600 candles will spell "Lights out for the Reef" on Federation Mall to draw attention to the impact of climate change on the Great Barrier Reef.
The Bureau of Meteorology forecast isolated showers and possible thunderstorms for the ACT tonight.
Inclement weather prompted organisers to move tonight’s formalities to the Haydon Allen Lecture Theatre at ANU.
They will screen the documentary Lights out for the Reef at the theatre from 7.45pm.
It features scientist and author Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, as well as Australian YouTube comedy acts Natalie Tran and The Axis of Awesome, and highlights the negative impacts of climate change on the World Heritage-listed site.
Organisers of an Earth Hour outdoor festival planned for Saturday night cancelled the event, which was to include live music, fire twirlers and guest speakers, earlier this morning.
Volunteers will still help light the main candle display, which was designed by artist Jorge Pujol, outside Parliament House before they ‘‘flick the switch’’ at 8.30pm.
Canberra is among 7000 cities in 154 countries to mark Earth Hour this year.
Organisers hope the event will put pressure on politicians to do more to save the Great Barrier Reef from rising sea levels and warmer temperatures.
This week’s wet conditions prompted the ACT government to postpone the opening of the new Gungahlin Oval on Saturday.
But the rain did not deter the Indian Australian Association, who forged ahead with a colourful celebration of the Holi Festival in Commonwealth Park.
