New South Wales
Bundanon, once the home of painter Arthur Boyd, is hosting a show that casts an overdue spotlight on the women artists spanning five generations of the Boyd family. Photograph: Zan Wimberley
Icons of Pop Art: Warhol and Lichtenstein, Mudgee
Two of the 20th century’s most influential artists, Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein have works on display at Mudgee Arts Precinct. Visitors can take a look at Warhol’s iconic Campbell’s soup cans up close, or get comically existential with Lichtenstein’s Reflections on the Scream.
On now until 15 March 2026.
The Hidden Line: the Art of the Boyd Women
Once the home of Arthur Boyd and his wife, Yvonne – where their homestead and his chaotic artists’ studio remain immaculately preserved for public tours – Bundanon is hosting a show that casts an overdue spotlight on the women artists spanning five generations of the Boyd family.
The exhibition, in Shoalhaven NSW, opens with a startling salon hang: the Boyd women as subjects, painted by each other and also by Arthur, his friend Sidney Nolan and father Merrick Boyd. The breadth of these women’s talent is on display in the following rooms, across landscape and narrative painting; ceramics, sculpture and design.
The photography of Mary Nolan (née Boyd) is a highlight. Her candid black and white photos, largely of the women in her family and life, have never been shown before. They call back to a simpler, more innocent time, while also somehow looking like stills from a Haim music video. Leave a few hours for this one.
Myths, Monsters and Martians, Coffs Harbour
The National Cartoon Gallery holds the country’s largest collection of cartoons. In a news cycle that seems to defy reality, their latest exhibition has a fantastical bent, showcasing 150 works by Australian cartoonists and illustrators that make sense of the world through allegory and imagination. Kids will love it, but adults are in on the joke as well.
On now through to 1 March.
A Soft Place to Stand, Newcastle
How do we embrace tenderness in hard times? Independent contemporary art space The Lock-Up has invited eight artists, including multidisciplinary practitioner Nicole Smede and media collective Friends with Computers, to meditate on the theme of softness through installations, films and animation.
Opening party 13 December, on until 3 May.
Community festival Tumbafest has a big lineup that includes Ben Lee, Pseudo Echo and cover band par excellence Furnace and the Fundamentals. Photograph: Tumbafest
Illawarra folk festival, Bulli
Over three days, more than 100 artists – plus food vendors, instrument makers, crafters and poets – descend on Bulli to dance around maypoles, drop in on jam sessions and listen to a round-the-world tour’s worth of music in beautiful surrounds. This year’s lineup includes Australian favourites like Felicity Urquhart and the Stiff Gins, plus acts from the UK, Ireland, Canada and Sweden. Attenders can camp on site or visit for a day.
On 16 to 18 January.
Tumbafest, Tumbarumba
Songs float through the Snowy valley during Tumbafest, a community festival with a big lineup that includes Ben Lee, Pseudo Echo and cover band par excellence Furnace and the Fundamentals. Alongside the main stage, there are also markets dedicated to local produce, craft and a bar devoted to the region’s cool climate wines.
On 21 and 22 February.
Queensland
Alongside music, the Woodford folk festival also features activities including comedy, dance, circus, meditation and freshwater swimming. Photograph: Janine Israel/The Guardian
Good as Gold, Rockhampton
Past winners of Queensland’s richest art prize, the Gold award, come together in the Rockhampton Museum of Art’s summer exhibition. Expect to see works from some of Australia’s most celebrated contemporary artists including Del Kathryn Barton, Tony Albert and Ben Quilty.
On now through to 1 March.
Woodford folk festival, Woodford
One of Australia’s biggest and most beloved festivals will not disappoint this year and next, with a six-day, star-packed lineup that includes Barkaa, Electric Fields, Sarah Blasko, Katie Noonan and San Cisco, plus a diverse range of international acts. Alongside music, there’s also comedy, dance, circus, meditation and freshwater swimming when you need to cool off. Drop in for a day, or camp for the duration.
On 27 December to 1 January.
The outdoor stage at Aacta’s Gold Coast festival, Hota. Photograph: Tourism Queensland
Aacta festival, Gold Coast
Fans and film-makers come together at the Gold Coast’s major cultural centre, Hota, during the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts’ (Aacta) five-day festival. There are more than 50 free events, plus ticketed highlights like the national premiere screening of Baz Luhrmann’s EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert and $10 talks from screenwriters David Williamson (Gallipoli) and Tony McNamara (Poor Things).
On 4 to 8 February.
Stanthorp’s harvest festival includes grape crushing, apple peeling competitions, open gardens and long lunches. Photograph: Tourism Queensland
Apple and Grape, Stanthorpe
A celebrated growing region’s biennial harvest celebration turns 60 in 2026, with grape crushing, busking championships, apple peeling competitions, open gardens and long lunches. Many of the festival’s events, including cooking demonstrations, screenings, carnivals and exhibitions, are free. And while there’s no such thing as a free lunch, when it’s catered by the granite belt’s producers, the prices don’t feel too steep.
On 27 February to 8 March.
South Australia
The world championship tuna toss at Port Lincoln’s Tunarama festival. Photograph: Fran Solly
Big Sky, Saltbush Country and Barnbul, Mount Gambier
The Limestone Coast’s art and cultural centre, the Riddoch, has a trio of First Nations exhibitions on over the summer. Barnbul offers visitors young and old the chance to get creative through weaving and drawing, using the area’s native plants. Saltbush Country features works from Aboriginal artists working around South Australia, while Big Sky showcases prominent contemporary visual artists including Beaver Lennon and Ian Abdulla.
Big Sky, Saltbush Country and Barnbul are on now through to 26 January.
Tunarama festival, Port Lincoln
The world championship tuna toss, where visitors and locals compete by hurling a 10kg rubber tuna, may be the centrepiece of Eyre peninsula’s seafood festival but not every activity requires a good arm. Alongside other competitions including sand sculpting, boat building and a triathlon, there are parades, markets featuring local producers, dinners and a concert headlined by the Living End and Hot Dub Time Machine.
On 16 to 18 January.
Tasmania
Visitors to Cygnet’s folk festival can expect dance parties, sea shanty sing-alongs and family-friendly performances. Photograph: Steven Pearce/Tourism Tasmania & Steven Pearce Photography
Heartwood: Tasmanian Women in Timber, Launceston
Design Tasmania celebrates female furniture-makers, sculptors and jewellers this summer, featuring works from the early 20-century Arts and Crafts movement through to today. As well as viewing beautiful objects, visitors will get a sense of the craft and skill that goes into working with wood.
On now to 8 February.
Cygnet folk festival, Cygnet
With a jam-packed lineup of Australian and international artists across 11 stages, Cygnet’s folk festival spreads across the entire town. Visitors can expect dance parties, sea shanty sing-alongs and family-friendly performances from acts like the Vegetable Plot. There will be a live in-conversation session with Ben Walter and Bob Brown; Brown will also participate in a special performance, Carnival of the Animals, which interrogates extinction and preserving what remains.
On 9 to 11 January.
Evandale’s National Penny Farthing championships include a 32km road race. Photograph: Rob Burnett
National Penny Farthing championship, Evandale
Forget the Tour de France, going fast on two wheels is that much harder when one is tiny and the other enormous. The National Penny Farthing championships feature multiple competitions, including a 32km road race, a balance-challenging slalom and an amateur race for those new to old-time bicycles. There are also spectator tickets if you’re content to sit back and watch.
On 21 February.
Victoria
The Debutante by Marrithiyel fashion designer Paul McCann is on display at the Warrnambool Art Gallery. Photograph: C Capurro
Wonderland on the Murray sand sculpture trail, Echuca-Moama
The banks of the Murray River are falling down the rabbit hole this summer, with large-scale Alice in Wonderland-themed sand sculptures installed across the border between Victoria and NSW, starting at the Port of Echuca and ending at the Kerrabee Soundshell public reserve in Moama. Free to the public, it will take about 30 minutes to complete the whole trail on foot.
On 13 December to 9 March.
The Regional, Warrnambool
The Warrnambool Art Gallery (affectionately known as the Wag) has made five major new commissions from leading contemporary artists – Atlanta Eke, Gus Franklin, Paul McCann, Bronwyn Razem and Peter Tyndall – on display for the first time this summer. The artists’ works span dance, sound, fashion, weaving and painting, all interrogating the metropolitan/regional divide. Alongside the new works is an extensive public program, including guest lectures and a kids’ dance workshop taught by Eke.
On now to 15 March.
A mussel boat at the Portarlington mussel festival. Photograph: Shannyn Higgins/Shannyn Higgins/Visit Victoria
Portarlington mussel festival, Portarlington
The Bellarine goes all out to celebrate an underrated shellfish during the mussel festival, with hourly cooking demonstrations, stalls selling mussels in many permutations and a pier full of mussel farmers selling their harvest fresh off the boat. Alongside the seafood there’s live music, art exhibitions and bars serving local beer and wine.
On 10 January.
Ocean Sounds, Phillip Island
The Teskey Brothers, the Presets and Thelma Plum headline this music festival on an island off an island. Ocean Sounds has big picnic energy, with blankets and children both strongly encouraged, and local cheeses and wines available on site.
On 10 January.
The stellar line-up at Echuca-Moama’s Riverboats music festival includes Living End, Baker Boy, Xavier Rudd and Emma Donovan. Photograph: Visit Victoria
Riverboats music festival, Echuca-Moama
The Living End, Baker Boy, Xavier Rudd and Emma Donovan are just the tip of the lineup at Riverboats, a three-day festival on the banks of the Murray. Guests are free to pass in and out of the festival area as they please (not always a given at this kind of event), and children are welcome. Away from the main stage, one of the weekend’s highlights is a series of paddle steamer sideshows, where artists serenade passengers on one-hour river cruises.
On 13 to 15 February.
Western Australia
Radical Futures, statewide
Artists and galleries from across Western Australia are participating in the state’s third regional arts triennial. In December shows will be staged in Albany and Kalgoorlie-Boulder; in January it is Margaret River and Esperance’s turn, while in February Busselton will host site-specific works of land art, ceramics, painting, weaving and sculpture in the old courthouse complex.
Radical Futures exhibitions are on now to 29 March, with a showcase at Perth’s John Curtin Gallery opening September 2026.
Nannup music festival
Whether you’re interested in punk acts, sound baths, country or hip-hop, you’ll find something appealing on Nannup music festival’s diverse lineup. The festival has a major focus on new talent, including an emerging artist award and a student showcase; but there are plenty of old hands playing too. The three-day camping festival also features food stalls, workshops and children’s entertainment, plus several nearby venues host free shows throughout the festival’s duration.
On 27 February to 2 March.
Guardian Australia travelled to Bundanon as a guest of the gallery.
