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From the red-dusted heart of the Outback to the sun-soaked edges of its sprawling coasts, Australia is not just a country to visit for nature, it’s also packed full of immersive festivals and events that showcase its diverse culture and creative community.
To wander through Australia’s festival calendar is to chase sunrises across time zones and follow dreamlines carved by ancient cultures. It’s to taste bush food beside bonfires, to sway beneath eucalyptus-scented skies, to join crowds who believe that a good celebration lasts all night. Australian festivals are luminous, loud, and sometimes delightfully bizarre.
From dazzling fireworks displays on New Year’s Eve to rural grassroots music festivals and amazing art and fringe festivals, when you visit Australia there’s always something happening.
1. Vivid Sydney
- When: last week of May until mid-June
- Where: Sydney
- Website: VividSydney.com
The Sydney Vivid Music and Lights festival is an annual festival that transforms the city at night into a colourful canvas of light, music, and creative ideas. The hugely popular Vivid Lights get switched on every night for a month in winter, lighting the areas around The Rocks District and Circular Quay.
The festival features interactive and immersive light shows, art installations, illuminated skyscrapers, and large-scale 3D mapping projections on the Sydney Opera House, Museum of Contemporary Art, and Customs House. This takes place every year and is free to witness – each year it’s just as fun as the last.
2. Carols by Candlelight
Carols by Candlelight is a popular Australian Christmas event. It takes place at Melbourne’s Sidney Myer Music Bowl each year on Christmas Eve and has been running for over 85 years. It’s basically exactly what it says on the tin – it’s an open air event that invites a lineup of musicians, comedians, actors and children’s entertainers to put on performances, meanwhile thousands of battery powered candles light up the night.
Arrive early with a picnic blanket and chairs and bring your own food and drink. Settle in to watch a Christmas performance given by some of Australia’s biggest stars. It’s the biggest and oldest Christmas event in Australia, and each year attracts around 10,000 people. It’s also to raise funds for Vision Australia’s children’s services.
Sydney also has its own Carols by Candlelight called Carols in the Domain and is held every year in the Domain Gardens in Sydney. It takes place in the coming days before Christmas and raises money for The Salvation Army.
3. Sculptures by the Sea
- When: March in Cottesloe and October in Bondi
- Where: Cottesloe and Bondi Beach
- Website: SculptureByTheSea.com
A very popular event along the Tamarama stretch of beaches, on the famous Bondi to Coogee Beach coastal walk, and in Cottlesloe WA, is the Sculptures by the Sea annual event. The beaches become canvases for some of Australia’s top sand sculpture artists. Each piece of work adds to the dramatic natural setting, and it’s possible to see 108 works by artists from Australia and overseas exhibited.
The event is temporary in Bondi and Cottlesloe, but they last about a month and are free to see. The dates vary each year but are usually in March in Cottlesloe and October in Bondi. You can also see a permanent exhibit along the Snowy Valleys Sculpture Trail from Adelong to Cellar Doors.
4. Sydney New Year’s Eve
- When: December 31st – January 1st
- Where: Sydney Harbor
Known to have the most spectacular fireworks display in the world. Sydney New Year’s Eve on the Harbour is a spectacle that should be on every person’s bucket list. We are still yet to check it off, depsite growing up outside Sydney, but are dreaming of that Sydney Harbour Cruise in a prime position overlooking the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House, with waiters that hand us oysters and wine all night long.
Fancy doing a New Year’s Eve cruise of Sydney Harbor? Then check this tour out!
5. Bluesfest Byron Bay
Folk, soul, blues, and rock- how could you miss this convergence of music in the ultra-cool alternative town of Byron Bay? Bring only a laid-back attitude and a pair of gum boots. This festival is so chilled and has loads of music and fun for all ages.
The four-day event has more than 200 gigs you can attend, as well as food stalls and beer counters serving up good food and beer so you can enjoy the festivities. We went to the Byron Bay Bluesfest and loved it.
6. Adelaide Festival
Every year in March, the warm Adelaide evenings become electrified as the very best in theatre, dance, music, film and the arts come to town. The Fringe festival runs for 2 weeks with lots of off-the-wall performances in a variety of venues across the city. The festival is now self-supported and has grown so much that it’s now Adelaide’s top annual festival.
7. Australia Day, January 26th
- When: 26th January
- Where: Everywhere
Anywhere in Australia will be raising the roof on the 26th of January for Australia Day. It’s the one day of the year where Aussies can celebrate being Aussie! On this day, cultural events and festivals take place all over Australia to celebrate the establishment of the first permanent European settlement in Australia.
It was on January 26th, 1788, that Arthur Phillip sailed to what is now Sydney Cove with a shipload of convicts and declared it their new home. The best way to celebrate this day is to head down to the beach or the park for a picnic and a game of cricket. Sydney also has fireworks and events all over the country, especially in major cities. This is our national day so come celebrate with us!
8. Tamworth Country Music Festival
- When: mid-late January
- Where: Tamworth
- Website: tcmf.com.au
You don’t even have to like country music to enjoy the festivities at Tamworth Country Music Festival. It is wild fun, and a great festival to attend if you’re a tourist visiting Australia because it feels like a real authentic and fulfilling Aussie experience.
For 10 days in January, every street corner will have a busker playing and pubs will be filled to the brim with patrons, live music, and mechanical bulls. For country music fans, you’ll enjoy this gem of a festival because there is something for everyone. Concerts from Australia’s best country stars are held as well as the Australian Country Music Awards.
9. Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade
One of Australia’s hottest festivals of the year is the Sydney Mardi Gras Parade, which celebrates Gay Pride in Australia
Every year at the end of February, celebrate with the LGBTQ community as they take to Oxford Street on parades filled with floats, fancy dress, street performances, and outlandish costumes whilst waving Pride fags.
It is crazy good fun and a great way to raise awareness and show support for this community. You can dress up in rainbow fare and get involved, or simply watch on as spectators.
10. Australian Open, Melbourne
- When: mid-late January
- Where: Melbourne
- Website: AusOpen.com
Australia’s grand slam event and the first for the tennis circuit year. Experience live daily entertainment, from free music concerts and DJ sessions to an all-day music festival and carnival village. And of course, you get to watch the tennis matches from the spectator’s box.
Big outdoor screens are set up outside the arena for those who can’t get tickets or who don’t want to pay. The atmosphere will be pumping.
11. Perth International Arts Festival
The Perth International Arts Festival (PIAF) has now been running for over 60 years. It’s Australia’s longest-running arts festival, and the longest-running in the southern hemisphere. It’s a three-week-long festival including a wide variety of performing arts such as opera, dance, theatre, music, visual arts, and the Perth Writers Festival.
Performers are drawn from Australia and around the world and the schedule of events are held at venues throughout the city of Perth, including some street theatre and performances.
12. Henley on Todd Regatta, Northern Territory
The Henley on Todd Regatta is one of Australia’s wackiest festivals. It’s a boat regatta… except it’s on a dry and dusty riverbank in the middle of the country. Bottomless boats held up by the contestant’s race each other through the dry riverbed.
Watching seemingly sane people race in bottomless “eights”, “bathtubs” and yachts through the deep coarse sand of the Todd River is a sight to behold.
Fun fact: every year there is a regatta in Henley on Thames in the UK! But don’t mix up the two… they are very different experiences (the one in the UK is an affluent affair where you are required to dress up, the Aussie one you want your gum boots and a sense of adventure!).
13. Sydney Fringe Festival
The Sydney Fringe is another annual festival for lovers of the arts of all forms. Whether you are looking for a musical, a drama production, a cabaret or stand-up comedy, every theatre and live music venue is filled with some of the best entertainment throughout the month of September.
Each year, more than 450 events take place in more than 70 venues, making it the largest independent arts festival in New South Wales.
14. RISING Melbourne
After Melbourne International Arts Festival closed down in 2019, it was RISING who took up the mantle. Described as a “festival of the night”, RISING is all about the arts of all forms; music, performance, self-expression. It takes place in Naarm, Melbourne, and is dedicated to new arts, music, and creative performance.
15. Brisbane Festival
Brisbane Festival is one of the biggest celebrations in Australia for freedom of expression. It’s an arts festival that takes place over the month of September, all around the city, with multi-arts programs, installations, and performances held around all the major monuments.
Brisbane has always been a city that celebrates diversity and creativity. The festival aims to help make the works of artists’ dreams come to life. In their words, they want to make “the impossible possible” for our audiences and our artists. Brisbane Festival took over from The Warana Festival, which had been running since 1961.
16. AFL Grand Final Day
- When: Last Friday of September
- Where: Melbourne
One of the biggest events of the year is the AFL Grand Final day, which takes place on the last Friday of September. At midday, a huge parade in Melbourne opens up the Australian Football League Final, which takes place the following day.
The event is so important to the people of Victoria, that it’s a public holiday in Victoria. The parade is definitely worth catching if you’re in Melbourne on this day. You’ll find the streets lined with people eager to watch the players on their floats, see the mascots waving, and hear the marching bands play.
17. Rabbits Eat Lettuce Festival
You wouldn’t guess it from the name, but the Rabbits Eat Lettuce festival is all about freedom, love, music, art, and performance. You’ll see live dance music performed on colourful, artistically designed stages and see art installations across the grounds.
Set in a stunning natural environment, connect with nature and music together, engage in yoga workshops, or share stories with other festival goers.
Rabbits Eat Lettuce started in 2008 as a Tribal Easter party in New South Wales but quickly grew into something more. The festival began as a forest dance party and it still is today. It’s a little bit hippy, but that’s why we like it.
18. Woodford Folk Festival
Another top music festival in Australia that you must check out is the Wood-Ford Folk Festival. It’s one of the biggest folk festivals in Australia and, in many people’s opinion, one of the best contemporary music festivals in Aus hands-down. It’s like the Woodstock of Australia!
The festival grounds are located in a rural, forested location that’s home to the Jinibara Nation. The event traditionally takes place over the Easter weekend.
As well as enjoying folk music, you can also get involved with the folk scene by taking a workshop. You can learn arts and crafts, jewelery or leather sandal making, and herbal first aid. You can also attend talks about self-improvement among other topics. Come away from this festival with not only fond memories but new skills and a positive mindset.
For music lovers looking for festivals to attend in Australia that also offer a rewarding experience, be sure to add this to your bucket list.
More Australia Travel Tips
While you’re planning your visit to Australia, you may find these resources useful!
Which of these festivals or events in Australia are you looking forward to? Let us know in the comments!
