Festival

Winners of the annual Gomaren & Doctor’s Creek Focus on Farms photography competition will be announced at the Jacaranda Day festival in Goombungee this Saturday, 5 November. “No matter where you live, the connection to farming is an important part of our identity as Australians”: competition coordinator Jean Gundry ... the primary school category within the competition has a focus on insects.

Emma Pritchard. A member of the LGBTIQA+ community and a proud Indigenous woman from Gubbi Gubbi Country, Amanda Daffey is the first candidate to assume the title of Jacaranda Ambassador in the 88-year history of the Grafton Jacaranda Festival after the Jacaranda Festival Committee announced in February that Australia’s oldest floral festival would become a gender-neutral event in 2022.

Emma Pritchard. An exuberant crowd turned back the clock to the 1950s and 1960s at Market Square on October 30 as Retrofest 2022 rocked Grafton’s popular recreational area beneath the blossoming jacaranda trees. A vivid celebration of vintage fashions, classic cars and all things rock ‘n’ roll, the annual event is one of the most popular festivities during the Grafton Jacaranda Festival...

Emma Pritchard. As vibrant explosions of mauve and lilac blossoms engulf the streets in a collage of colour each spring, we know the jacaranda season has arrived, and as a community, we come together to celebrate the Grafton Jacaranda Festival.  An esteemed annual event, rich in local history, culture and tradition, the oldest floral festival in Australia draws people from across the country, and the world, to the Clarence Valley each year.

It was a joyful, heartfelt gathering at Woodfordia on Saturday night. Around 300 organisers, producers, staff, committee, volunteers and friends launched our programme for the festival this year. It felt like a new beginning.

Erica Boyington, Meredith Schinckel. August 12 and 13th saw fifteen young Naracoorte musicians travel plus one adult musician travel to Mt Gambier to compete in the music division of the Eisteddfod, held at Wehl Street theatre. An Eisteddfod is a wonderful opportunity for budding musicians to gain practice and confidence with performing, while benefitting from expert feedback.

Emma Pritchard. The phenomenal beauty of the blossoming jacaranda trees in See Park, Grafton, is an extraordinary sight to behold during the day. And their astonishing colours will once again light up the night sky during the 2022 Grafton Jacaranda Festival ... the event encourages locals and tourists to wander through See Park after dark and enjoy a twilight picnic or relaxing visit ...

A teenager was ensuring the blacksmithing trade was front and centre for the millennial generation at the Good Old Days Festival in southern NSW. Joe Reedy, of Wallabadah in northern NSW, donned his leather apron and was kept busy working the hot forge and hammering out draught horseshoes and fire pokers for an appreciative audience at the festival at Barellan on October 1-2.

The Old Days Festival set a new single day attendance record and one of the nation's biggest gatherings of draught animals as it roared back to life over the holiday weekend after a two-year hiatus ... The most experienced teamsters in the country assembled to showcase horses, camels, bullocks, donkeys and goats all in harness and hauling wagons, ploughs, water carts, buggies, sleds, sulkies and timber jinkers.

District Council of Cleve

Samuel Davis. Music is a family business in Cape York. And for Black Image Band’s Vince Harrigan, it all started in the backyard playing for aunties, uncles and cousins ... This week, the group were one of two Cape-based acts to perform at Savannah in the Round festival in Mareeba featuring stellar acts including the Waifs, King Stingray, Shannon Noll and more.

Overcast skies and cold dismal weather did not deter the public from celebrating Narrandera’s free-ranging koalas at the inaugural Koala Festival on Saturday. The indoor/outdoor event was held at the Narrandera Showground with families arriving en mass to participate in the festivities, all of which were free, courtesy of a NSW Government grant. Almost 1000 festival-goers attended the event.

Prepare your pre-loved goods, your home, unit, garage, street or the school yard as the Scenic Rim community joins in this year's national festival of pre-loved stuff. Residents are invited to do their part towards building a circular economy and hold their own event over the Australia-wide Garage Sale Trail events held on 12 - 13  and  19 - 20 November...

Narrandera's treetop residents will take centre stage at the inaugural Koala Festival at the Narrandera Showground on Saturday ... It is being held to promote Narrandera’s free-ranging koala colony ... the colony is Narrandera’s tourism trump card and one of the shire’s greatest natural assets.

Sarah Martin. Glastonbury, Burning Man and Woodford have nothing on the special vibes of Wallaby Creek Festival, according to international didgeridoo and dance music phenomenon Ganga Giri, who is one of the headline acts at the event. The quietly-spoken musician credits his success to energy, his mum, and a dream as a kid.

Dunolly will come alive next month as the Gold Rush Festival makes its exciting return on the 22nd and 23rd of October. Events will get underway at the Dunolly Music Festival at the Dunolly Golf Club from 4pm to 10pm where Bebop-alula, Grim Fawkner, Chenai Boucher, Devils Brew and The Groove Dudes, will take to the stage.

Rick Powell has made the drive from Belyando Crossing to Camooweal for the last 20 years and he says he'll keep coming until he's no longer able to. "I just love it," he said from the Camooweal Drovers Festival on Friday afternoon ... While droving has disappeared from the Australian bush lifestyle, Rick said the festival must live on.

The Territory’s iconic Barunga Festival is set to take place from 12-14 August, with thousands of attendees from across the Territory and Australia set to descend upon the remote community for the three-day cultural extravaganza.

For one night only - Sunday 28 August - the Whyalla Left Hand Club will come to life, hosting visiting and local music acts as part of the Festival of Small Halls Winter Tour.

There has never been a better time to visit Mullewa than right now. As the bush blooms all eyes are on the flourishing heart of wildflower country ... “Mullewa really is the place to be this time of year and it is not just about the wildflowers,”: City of Greater Geraldton Mayor Shane Van Styn

This year’s Desert Harmony Festival has been hailed a success with more than 3,000 people passing through the gates over the Picnic Day long weekend. The Barkly Regional Arts’ event featured 27 performances, an extensive workshop series and an art fair over four days in Tennant Creek, the annual festival provided an opportunity to celebrate and showcase talented creatives from the Barkly region alongside some special guest performances.

More than $5 million was pumped into the local economy in the first half of the year thanks to two local festivals, economic data shows. The Port Fairy Folk Festival and Long Weekend Street Fair, held in March, and the Koroit Irish Festival, held in late April, resulted in a $5,118,949 increase in spending across the Moyne Shire. Spending associated with The Port Fairy Folk Festival and the Port Fairy Street Fair totaled $3.58M, up 40 per cent from the previous year when the festival was postponed due to Covid.