The Down Under is awash with travellers and abound with remote adventures and cosmopolitan cities. It has beautiful nature, unique landscapes, a mixture of cultures and loads to do. Australia also hosts a number of brilliant festivals every year, with events dedicated to food, drink, cinema, theatre, arts, music and plenty more.
Many of Australia’s festivals are weird and wacky, including Tunarama, an event which promotes the tuna-fishing heritage of Port Lincoln. Local people pay homage to their favourite fish by… throwing it around in tuna-tossing competitions. The festival also hosts music, food and live entertainment, so it’s not all bizarre. Other strange festivals include the Beer Can Regatta, in which sailing boats are constructed from beer cans, and The Elvis Festival, where coiffed wannabees dress up as the king of rock and roll and shake their hips to some tributary fun.
Music festivals in Australia cover loads of genres and styles, and some of the biggest and best include the dance-oriented DEFQON.1, Woodford Folk Festival, with its alternative entertainment and bohemian atmosphere, and Falls Festival, which happens around the turn of the year. Many of Australia’s music festivals are inner-city affairs, while others take advantage of the vast swathes of remote land.
If you’re keen to eat your way through Australia, there are ample opportunities to do it. You can get your bellyful at events such as Noosa International Food and Wine Festival, the practical and hands-on Kangaroo Island Food Safari, where you can take part in demonstrations, classes and expeditions, and Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, which hosts hundreds of events including feasts dedicated to particular countries, wine tasting sessions and plenty of food trucks.
Artistic and cultural festivals in Australia provide loads of opportunities for culture vultures to get their hands on – and their brains around – plenty of unique and interesting works. Events such as Perth International Arts Festival, Tasmania’s Ten Days on the Island and Melbourne International Arts Festival offer lots of dance, theatre, cinema, exhibitions, installations and lots of new and established brains in the worlds of creativity and craft.
Many festivals also celebrate the diverse nature of the country, including Chinese New Year celebrations, Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and events to celebrate the indigenous people of Australia.