And indeed the 12 or so guests who will go to "dinner at the end of the earth" set in a hypothetical 2036 when world trade deals have collapsed may not even know what they are eating.

But when it comes to an independent and experimental arts festival, could there be any better way to dine?

It's just one of the interactive activities of the sixth annual You Are Here festival, beginning on April 13, which its managing producers Vanessa Wright and Adelaide Rief admit is hardly an arts festival at all and unlike most events has been consciously scaled down over the years to its five-day format.

It began in Canberra's centenary year as a 10-day event to breathe life into some of the underused underbellies of Civic.

In 2016 it's again living up to its aims with events in everything from vacant shopfronts to car parks and lanes.

For a city that fights a perception its occupants wish they weren't here, You Are Here unashamedly celebrates Canberra.

"That myth that there's nothing to do in Canberra is one that we've tried to explode in many ways," Rief says.

"We really want people to stumble across the festival and not need to have necessarily bought a ticket and planned to go and figured out exactly what the program blurb means."

For those baffled by what You Are Here is all about the program provides scant clues and that's part of the point.

"A lot of the work is not always easily described as 'art' in a very traditional sense, that's why we like to say the festival is about experiences as well," Rief says.

"We kind of over-programmed potentially, but we're very excited about that," Wright laughs.

"We've got a real focus on small audience events which has been a good thing that came out of this year's festival."

The futuristic, and frankly "pretty weird", dinner party is one such activity designed to challenge, Wright says.

"It might not seem like an arts event, but it fits into our idea of an experimental arts festival that creates experiences for audience members to reflect on our society and the space in which we live," she says.

"You're eating food that we'll potentially be eating in the future based on the way we use resources and the way climate change is evolving.

"You may not have any knowledge of what it is or where it's come from and you'll be participating in a conversation around why we are eating this and why it's better or worse than other consumption."

Another event pairs up people with a stranger to go on a 10 minute walk where one talks and one listens before they switch roles in the aptly named Philosopher's Walk one of several one-on-one events.

Taking art out outside traditional venues is a unifying characteristic of the diverse program which includes a "car orchestra" performing in a car park.

"We use vacant shopfronts as a way to enliven the city, and the urban environment and streetscapes and give people a new experience of the spaces they may see every day," Rief says.

"A lot of the events that are part of festival are created specifically to inhabit unique places… outside a gallery or a museum or theatre space."

Other events will be in a house in O'Connor, specially chosen for its location on the cusp of suburbia and bushland to tie in with this year's theme exploring the connections between Canberra's status as the bush capital and its urban areas.

But it's not all intimate experiences, one of the festival's larger events is a more conventional laneway party Everything At Once and All Together tucked behind the Sydney Building where revellers will enjoy multiple performances and DJs.

Keeping the majority of events free is a key part of the festival, its producers say, and this year they're aiming to make it even more accessible with Auslan interpreters at some events, an audio description and hearing loop in the central festival venue The Club at 46 Northbourne Ave.

Artist development is another focus and, while the festival is still designed to be about ACT artists, it's attracted more interest from interstate and internationally, Rief says, which gives local creatives the chance to make connections.

"We don't exist in a bubble and our artists are going to want to leave Canberra and work for other organisations in other cities," she says.

You Are Here is on from April 13 to 17 at various venues in Civic and Braddon. For more information visit: youareherecanberra.com.au.