Festival

Lockhart and District Community held another very successful and enjoyable Spirit of the Land Festival on the weekend of 11 and 12 October. It is 19 years since the first very small festival was held during one of Lockhart's most challenging droughts. Over the years it has grown into a vibrant community event.

As community excitement begins to grow as fast as the purple petals on the famous jacaranda trees which line the streets of Grafton start to blossom, thousands of visitors from across the country and overseas will journey to the Clarence Valley over the next two weeks to share in the history of the annual festivity while immersing themselves amongst local attractions and jollities throughout an exuberant 10 day program.

Joey Reedy is a stock agent, bullock driver, bush poet and budding auctioneer all at the tender age of 18 but can now add one of the nation's up and coming teamsters to his bow. Joey was the winner of the inaugural Tim Peel Cup at the 2025 Good Old Days Festival at Barellan on 5 October.

The Clarence Valley Independent’s Grafton Journalist Emma Pritchard had an informal meeting with Clarence Valley Council (CVC) General Manager Laura Black last week on October 7 in relation to leaked internal emails which have been linked to the termination of more than 100 semi-permanent holiday caravans from four Council managed caravan parks and the subsequent community criticism Council is currently facing after many labelled the contents as inappropriate and insensitive.

Madison Eastmond. The region was in full bloom last weekend as the Riverland Rose and Garden Festival celebrations began for 2025. The 2025 program kicked off the weekend with a number of popular returning components, including the Renmark Institute floral display, Gala Dinner, and the Festival Fair.

As October arrives, so too does the first flush of mauve from Australia’s beloved jacaranda trees. I trace the jacaranda’s journey from the dry slopes of the Andes to its spectacular springtime display in towns like Grafton, where more than 1,700 trees transform the streets into rivers of purple. With the bloom set to reach its dazzling peak in just a fortnight, it’s the perfect moment to celebrate this fleeting spring spectacle.

A team of 62 heavy horses was harnessed to pull an antique wagon in a record-breaking event at the Barellan Good Old Days Festival at the weekend. It outnumbered the previous Australian record of 50, set in Queensland in the 1980s and a 50-horse hitch in Canada in 1995.

Rodney Stevens and Emma Pritchard. A leaked internal Clarence Valley Council email concerning the award-winning Jacaranda Festival and the eviction of 136 semi-permanent caravans from Council managed caravan parks has been labelled ‘inappropriate’ and ‘insensitive’ by both the Mayor and a Jacaranda Festival Committee member.

The Creative Streets Festival will take Armidale' creative scene to new heights with a spectacular lineup of entertainment that will ignite your imagination and celebrate our region’s vibrant spirit ... This isn’t just a festival, it’s a creative collision of art, music, ideas, and community.

The Australian Burlesque Festival’s Big Tease Soiree returns to Araluen Arts Centre in 2025 for another dazzling year, celebrating an incredible 16 years of vintage glamour, seductive artistry, and world-class burlesque.

McLaren Vale’s Grenache & Gourmet, the festival for curious palates, returns this Friday 19 September to Monday 6 October, enticing visitors to explore and experience all that Fleurieu Peninsula has on offer.

Dalgarno Street, Coonabarabran, will burst into life on Saturday 20 September 2025, as Warrumbungle Bloomfest returns with an evening of light, music, food, and community spirit under the night skies of Australia’s only Dark Sky Park. Now in its second year, Bloomfest is completely free and family-friendly, making it one of the most accessible festivals in regional NSW.

For four days a year, pride in The Centre's art closes "the gap" as people, black and white, from near and far, stream in to Alice Springs for Desert Mob. They celebrate ancient stories kept alive on paper and canvas, on clay vessels or as sculptures made from metal, wire or grasses.

"This year we have a full line-up of 30 acts for the stages, a Youth program, a Children's Festival program and Workshops! Cape York Folk Club Inc. are proud to present headliners like Anthony Forrest, Fat Picnic and Kingfisha, who will have the crowd pumping to sublime reggae, dub and modern rock!

It wouldn’t be a 20 year celebration of the Big Sky Readers and Writers Festival without a stellar line-up of special guests and an exciting programme to match! With this year’s theme “A Celebration of Stories”, special guests include multi-award winning actress, author and former Geraldton local Tasma Walton, novelists Catherine Greer and Stefanie Koens, musician and crime author Dave Warner, and so many more.

The next Nhill Book Fair will be held on September 7, from 10-2 at 44 Victoria St (next to Lowana), in conjunction with the second birthday celebrations at LOL next door. At this book fair there will be a large selection of Walkabout magazines available.

The world record of a 50-horse hitch set 30 years ago will be broken in Australia at the 2025 Good Old Days Festival at Barellan by the greatest horse teamsters of the modern-day era. Bruce Bandy, Barellan, Steve Johnson, Lake Cargelligo, and Aleks Berzins, Exeter, will combine their Clydesdale, Australian Draught and Suffolk Punch horses to create a mega team of more than 50 horses pulling an historic Bennett wagon ...

Victoria’s High Country comes alive again this spring for the Mountain Cattlemen’s Association of Victoria’s Annual Get Together. Held in Molyullah from October 17 to 19, 2025, this vibrant three-day festival is a spectacular celebration of heritage, horsemanship, and high country spirit.

The Mundi Mundi Plains were shaking today as 6,779 festival-goers lined up in formation for the final ever Nutbush Dance World Record Attempt at the Broken Hill Mundi Mundi Bash – smashing the previous record - held by the event - of 6,594 dancers.

On Monday, Chinese and North Indian dance routines gave a vibrant prelude to the exciting program that awaits visitors to the International Street Fiesta at Toowoomba's Queens Park on Saturday, November 1.

Yorke Peninsula will come alive from August 15 to 24 when the GROUNDED YP Art Festival returns with more than 30 workshops, performances, events and exhibitions across the region ... "The festival enriches our arts and culture scene, supports local businesses, strengthens community pride and welcomes visitors to experience the beauty and hospitality of our region": Molly Flanagan-Sjoberg.