In what may well be a political first, ACT Chief Minister Katy Gallagher said she was "very proud to be delivering SPIN" on Wednesday morning.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Ms Gallagher, tongue firmly planted in her cheek, was launching the SPIN festival, a month-long celebration of all things that roll, rotate or spin, being held as part of the Centenary of Canberra.
The action-packed launch featured musical bicycles, BMX bandits leaping tall obstacles in a single bound, classic cars, motorbikes and caravans and even a colourful troupe of dancers and a clutch of fashion models.
The festival begins on Saturday with a skateboarding championships and a four-wheel-drive challenge.
While political spin does get a guernsey with a one-hour event featuring seasoned spin doctors at Old Parliament House on October 20, the main focus is on transport.
An old bus, classic cars, vintage trains, pushbikes, skateboards, caravans and motorcycles will all have a moment in the festival sun.
The sporting arena has not been overlooked, with special events to celebrate spin bowlers, bowls, frisbees, golf, wheelchair basketball, Canberra's Roller Derby League and even frisbees.
On the craft front, spinning wheels, potters' wheels and even basket weaving will be celebrated.
While the festivities cover the whole of October, the main days of the festival are SPIN Saturday on October 19 and Sunday, October 20.
Highlights that weekend will include a concert by the Petrosexuals, a one-off band led by Mark Seymour of Hunters and Collectors fame, the arrival in Canberra of the ACT Centenary Rally, a visit by Thomas the Tank Engine and even an "air concert".
Event programmer Donna Jackson, an avowed petrol-head, said the weekend would be a marriage of the artistic and the mechanical.
Dance groups will tap out "The Wheel History of Canberra" using classic Morrises as their stage furniture at the same time as more than 300 vehicles from just after the turn of the 20th century to the (near) present day are winding their way up over the mountains from the coast as part of the centenary rally.
Ms Jackson, who walks the car walk as well as talking the car talk, is even considering bringing her 1964 Chevrolet Bel Air (complete with 283 cubic inch engine and two-speed Powerglide auto transmission) from Melbourne for the day.
The car, the third pre-loved Chevy V-8 she has owned, has been the creative consultant's daily drive for more than a decade.
Noting car designs were works of art that capture the essence of their place and times, Ms Jackson said motor vehicles had been a big part of her childhood and that she had incorporated them in her art, which includes written and performance works, more than once in the past.
A "hands-on" car owner, she also wants to demystify the motor vehicle for a younger generation of drivers who rarely look under the bonnet.
SPIN Saturday will demonstrate how an internal combustion engine works, offer some basic instruction on auto electrical matters and include NRMA staff giving advice on what to do when your "pride and joy" fails to proceed.