Cairns Events, Things to Do and Festivals 2014 / 2015

(Cairns, Far North Queensland - QLD, Australia)

The festivals of Cairns are certainly plentiful and take place all through the calendar, often providing tourists with a choice of things to do when they arrive.

Festivals in Cairns range from international cricket and rugby tournaments staged at Cazaly's Stadium (formally the Bundaberg Rum Stadium), to jazz events, film festivals, carnival parades and winter solstice celebrations. Especially notable is the annual Festival Cairns (first held in 1962), which takes place in late August / early September each year over a two-week period and includes a number of reef and dive activities, musical performances, food and wine, cultural demonstrations and a parade of lights, watched by more than 20,000 spectators.

General Information

The main local events are as follows:

• Cairns Blues Festival - early May (during the Queensland Labor Day weekend), a weekend event at Fogarty Park, on the Esplanade
• Adrenaline Film Festival - late May, with skydiving, white water rafting, bungee jumping and kite surfing
• Festival of Sport - early June, with sorting events based at Fogarty Park and the Cairns Esplanade
• Winter Solstice Celebration and Sustainable Lifestyle Gathering - mid-June, based within the Atherton Tableland
• Cooktown Discovery Festival - mid-June, celebrating the famous landing of Captain James Cook in 1770, in nearby Cooktown
• Cairns Ukulele Festival - early July, with ukulele performances along the Esplanade
• Cairns Show - mid-July, a family-orientated agricultural show staged at the Cairns Showground over a three-day period, dating back to 1891 and attracting in excess of 70,000 visitors each year
• Underwater Film Festival - early August, based at the Civic Theatre and regularly attracting more than 25,000 visitors
• Cairns Cup Carnival - early August, a horse-racing event with six races, at Cannon Park
• Cairns Tropical Pride Festival - late August, featuring the Grand Parade, market stalls, live music, parties and fireworks
• Indigenous Art Fair - late August / early September, at the Tanks Arts Centre, the Cairns Regional Gallery and the Centre of Contemporary Arts (CoCA), celebrating the visual arts and music of the local community
• Cairns Festival - late August / early September, based around the Botanical Gardens, City Place, City Place Hub, Civic Theatre, Esplanade, Marina Point, Palm Cove and the Pier
• Carnival on Collins - early September, an event for all the family, with live entertainment of all kinds of Collins Avenue
• Street Buskers Festival - late September, held on the streets around the city centre, shopping malls, parklands and the Esplanade, with more than 50 shows
• Labour Day - 1st Monday in October (ACT, NSW, QLD, SA)
• Tropical Writers Festival - mid-October, at the Shangri-La Hotel on Pierpoint Road, next to the marina