Winter weekenders: 21 Australian festivals worth travelling for from May to August 2025
Celebrity cooking classes, live music under the stars, author talks, art fairs and film screenings – there are plenty of free and ticketed events to explore during the cooler months
Beyond big-ticket winter festivals such as Sydney’s Vivid, Hobart’s Dark Mofo and Melbourne’s Rising, there’s a bounty of smaller events taking place across Australia. Whether you’re interested in food, music, film, visual arts or words, you’ll find a festival worth booking a weekend around.
May
New South Wales
Narooma Oyster festival
Friday 2 May to Sunday 4 May
On the south coast of NSW, winter oyster season begins with a literal bang – there are fireworks on the Friday night. In addition to tasting stands from oyster farmers across the region, Narooma’s Oyster festival features live music, demonstrations from big-name chefs such as Analiese Gregory and Nornie Bero, a hotly contested shucking championship – plus market stalls, street theatre and bars from local breweries, distilleries and winemakers. There’s also visual art curated by the town’s spring arts festival River of Art and fancier events such as a sunset champagne and oyster cruise for those who’d like to splash out. Entry to the festival’s main day on Saturday costs $45; Friday night’s “warm-up” party is $25; and entry on Sunday is free, as is entry for kids under 16 any day of the event. If you can’t get accommodation in Narooma, there are shuttle bus services from surrounding towns, between Batemans Bay, Bermagui and Merimbula.
Make Good festival, Bundanon
Saturday 17 May and Sunday 18 May
Dedicated to improving your life and the planet, Make Good at Kangaroo Valley gallery Bundanon has assembled a lineup including beloved Gardening Australia presenter Costa Georgiadis, permaculture expert and Milkwood Bakery co-founder Kirsten Bradley and Why Are We Like This? author Zoe Kean for a weekend of talks and hands-on demonstrations. There’ll be kid-friendly art tours, workshops on woven jewellery making by Wiradjuri fibre artist Jessika Spencer and even a wooden-spoon carving session – plus a Saturday night chamber concert by Bronzewing. Events are individually ticketed, starting at $18 for talks and more for workshops, with discounts available if you attend more than one thing over the weekend.
South Australia
Tasting Australia
Friday 2 May to Sunday 11 May
Tasting Australia is one of Australia’s most established food festivals, bringing together a lineup of international and local chefs for dining events, demonstrations and masterclasses. Entry to the festival’s main hub in Adelaide is free (though you will have to pay for your food and drink) and comes with a side of live music and visual arts. The festival’s main draw are the 150 ticketed experiences that take place not just in Adelaide, but all around South Australia. This year’s lineup includes an Indigenous Ingredients 101 cooking class with Indigiearth’s Sharon Winsor ($79, Adelaide); a Filipino buffet on the Eyre Peninsula ($70) and more extravagant events including a four-course wine-matched seafood lunch on Kangaroo Island ($249).
Tasmania
Australian Music Theatre festival, Launceston
Wednesday 21 May to Sunday 25 May
Show tunes take over the town of Launceston in late May. Ticketed shows include Johanna Allen singing Harold Arlen, a Friday night cabaret and a new staging of 1970s Broadway hit Working, updated to include stories from Tasmanian locals. For free, you can see a choir in a pub, follow singers through Launceston’s harvest market, visit a late-evening “Diva Den” or take part in a community singalong. There’s also an extensive education program to coach would-be triple threats in singing, acting and dancing alongside masterclasses taught by Caroline O’Connor, Mark Vincent and Alinta Chidzey.
June
New South Wales
Open Field 2025 Arts festival, Berry
Friday 13 June to Sunday 15 June
It is only the second outing for this biannual contemporary arts festival in the Shoalhaven, first held in 2023. While this year’s full lineup is yet to be announced, you can expect some risk-taking programming alongside family events. Already on the agenda is a local First Nations takeover of Berry Rural Youth Hall, overseen by Amanda Jane Reynolds and a performance work by Kenneth Lambert that includes a fleet of choreographed vacuum cleaners.
StoryFest, Milton, Ulladulla and Mollymook
Friday 19 June to Sunday 22 June
This festival on the south coast of NSW takes a broad approach to storytelling, with programming spanning fiction, poetry, food and song. The lineup includes Stephanie Alexander, Tim Ross and Gina Chick – plus free poetry with breakfast at delightful Milton cafe Pilgrims. Several events have already sold out, so it is worth planning ahead for this one. A bit further south, from Batemans Bay to Eden, there’s also a month-long celebration of mushrooms, Fungi festival, which opens Friday 20 June.
Northern Territory
Barunga festival, Katherine and surrounds
Friday 6 June to Monday 9 June
Held in a small Indigenous community 80km south of Katherine, the impressive musical lineup – including Thelma Plum, the Milla Brothers J-Milla and Yung Milla, East Journey, Rrawun Maymuru and Kootsie Don – is just the beginning of Barunga’s programming. Showcasing arts and culture from around the Katherine and Arnhem Land regions, the festival includes a sports carnival, market stalls from some of the Territory’s top arts centres and workshops including traditional weaving, cooking demonstrations and bush medicine. During the festival, Barunga’s population increases tenfold, so visitors are encouraged to camp. An adult three-day festival pass costs $134.13, including camping; with extra fees for powered and unpowered caravan sites.
Queensland
Vision Splendid Outback film festival, Winton
Friday 27 June to Saturday 5 July
Outback Queensland’s annual film festival is solely focused on Australian cinema and frequently hosts premiere screenings alongside retrospectives, a short film competition and family friendly movies. This year’s lineup is yet to be announced but film fans can look forward to the setting – The Proposition and Mystery Road were both filmed in and around Winton. While you’re in the area, you can get your Jurassic (and Triassic, and Cretaceous) Park on at the Australian Age of Dinosaurs museum.
Tasmania
Festival of Voices, Hobart
Friday 27 June to Sunday 6 July
Now in its 20th year, this festival caters to singers of all stripes, from choral to musical comedy, to those who would prefer to just sit back and listen. In addition to performances and singalongs, there are a huge range of workshops covering everything from songwriting to protecting your vocal cord health. The festival begins with the Big Sing, a massive free event where everyone is encouraged to lend their voice.
Victoria
Woodend Winter Arts festival
Friday 6 June to Monday 9 June
Now in its 20th year, the Macedon Ranges festival has highbrow energy, with classical and jazz music and lectures on literature, design and visual arts. Highlights include an eight-cello ensemble playing Bach, Tchaikovsky and Philip Glass, and a talk by Beatrice Faust biographer Judith Brett. Most events are individually ticketed, with concerts priced at $48 for adults and talks at $25; but there’s also a free exhibition with demonstrations from local artists.
East Gippsland Winter festival
Friday 20 June to Sunday 20 July
Now in its fifth year, this month-long festival spans the entire East Gippsland region, combining lantern light and projections with an expansive and eccentric program of events. The full lineup will be announced in May, but highlights so far include a medieval fire festival (complete with costumes) an op-shop ball and a scarecrow-making competition.
Western Australia
Ningaloo Sky festival, Exmouth
Friday 27 June to Sunday 29 June
Right in the middle of whale shark season, the Coral Coast has a new biennial festival. While the lineup is yet to be announced, the event is set to include food stalls, live music, ticketed dinners, a night-time drone show and talks about astronomy.
July
Queensland
Cairns Indigenous Arts Fair
Thursday 10 July to Sunday 13 July
You don’t have to be in the market for a masterpiece to get something out of Cairns Indigenous Arts Fair – although with 600 visual artists participating, there will be plenty of options to buy art. The festival also features live music, food stalls, fashion, performances, talks and workshops. Much of the programming is free, while tickets to the opening night party and weekend performances are all $50 and under.
Australian Festival of Chamber Music, Townsville
Friday 25 July to Saturday 2 August
Featuring 20 ticketed concerts, including seven full-length evening performances at Townsville’s Civic theatre, the Australian Festival of Chamber Music also has free programming all week on the Civic theatre’s forecourt. Most tickets are priced between $40-$100, but under-30s can access $30 tickets for many shows. In addition to a broad repertory from baroque to contemporary classical, there are lectures paired with music on topics such as the ageing brain and the connections between music and the natural world.
Bleach* festival, Gold Coast
Thursday 31 July to Sunday 10 August
Held at public art gallery Hota, what started as a surf festival has now expanded into a major contemporary arts event. This will be the first year visual artist Michael Zavros takes the helm as guest creative director. While the program is yet to be announced, you can expect free and ticketed shows and exhibitions, including some by international artists, accompanied by an extensive food and drink offering.
Victoria
Island Whale festival, Phillip Island
Friday 11 July to Sunday 13 July
Would-be marine biologists of all ages can get their cetacean fix on shore at this festival, which features educational exhibits, talks from researchers, film screenings and of course the chance to watch passing humpback and southern right whales. The event’s full program is yet to be announced, but weekend-long entry to the main festival hub is $30 for a family of four. If you’re really lucky, you may even spot an orca during your visit.
August
New South Wales
Byron writers’ festival
Friday 8 August to Sunday 10 August
A writers’ festival that’s structured like a music festival; instead of buying tickets to individual events, you buy day or weekend passes that give you access to all the talks. This lets you take a punt on authors you might not be familiar with, or hop from talk to talk. This year’s program is still to be announced, but last year’s event featured Irish writer Caoilinn Hughes, Richard Flanagan, Bob Brown and the launch of Rebecca Huntley’s memoir Sassafras.
Northern Territory
Country to Couture and Darwin Aboriginal Art fair
Tuesday 5 August and Thursday 7 August to Sunday 10 August
The Northern Territory’s massive showcase of First Nations creativity kicks off with a runway show like no other, Country to Couture, where art centres, designers and creatives come together from across Australia to stage a catwalk that features song, dance and one-off pieces of wearable art. This is followed by an art fair featuring works from more than 70 art centres, held in the Darwin Convention Centre. The event also takes in the National Indigenous Fashion Awards, and includes talks, demonstrations and kid-friendly activities. The fashion portions of the event are ticketed, but Daaf is free to attend.
Queensland
Moreton Bay Food + Wine festival
Friday 22 August to Sunday 24 August
For three days, the waterfront at Woody Point will transform into a sprawling outdoor market with food and drink from some of the region’s best restaurants and bars. Visitors can expect demonstrations and talks by well-known chefs, headlined by Ready Steady Cook’s Miguel Maestre, plus live music and degustation dinners. Tickets for this year’s festival go on sale in May and it is worth planning ahead as two of the event’s three-day run sold out in 2024.
Tasmania
Beaker Street, Hobart
Tuesday 12 August to Tuesday 19 August
Mixing science and art, Beaker Street features talks, performances, markets and hands-on demonstrations. Previous years have included pop-up Finnish sauna tents, talks by Tim Flannery, Phillip Adams and the team from podcast Science Vs, and a stage show about menopause. The festival mixes free and ticketed events, with the annual highlight a selection of field trips that explore the nature surrounding Hobart, from glow worm caves to platypus walks.
Victoria
Winter Sounds, Daylesford
Thursday 14 August to Monday 18 August
The producers behind Riverboats Music festival (which was headlined by the Cruel Sea and Dan Sultan last year) will take over small venues across Daylesford and surrounds – from churches to country to halls to a vintage train – for a series of intimate concerts at this new festival. The lineup will be announced in June.