Townsville Events and Festivals

Townsville festivals and events focus on sports, music, the arts, and fishing and most of them are suitable for families. Hotels fill up during the bigger events, such as Australia Day, Anzac Day, and the Billfish Challenge, so be sure to book well ahead if you plan on being in Townsville for any of these occassions.

New Year: in Townsville is a big affair where all the hotels and resorts get in on the act with lots of arranged entertainment. There is also plenty of street entertainment on New Year’s Eve with parties going off all over town.

Australia Day: is the biggest day of the year in villages, towns and cities throughout the country. Celebrating the day when Captain Phillips landed at Sydney Cove, Townsville stages some special events throughout the day to mark the public holiday.

North Queensland Wetlands Festival: is a fun day for the entire family, attracting hundreds of people who come to enjoy the displays and activities. Kids will particularly enjoy this event.

Ingham Art Festival: features displays of contemporary works by artists from Townsville. Some of the artwork is for sale and there is plenty of food and drink to boot.

Anzac Day: commemorates the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who landed at Gallipoli in Turkey during WWI, as well as fallen comrades of other hostilities. Observed on 25 April, Townsville sees parades along the Strand with veterans from WWII and the Korean and Vietnam wars also participating.

Australian Italian Festival: is held in nearby Ingham to celebrate north Queensland’s Italian heritage with lots of spaghetti eating and Italian wines.

Mingela Rodeo: is celebrated in nearby Mingela, with bull and bronco riding, barrel racing, and steer wrestling. The Mingela Rodeo is lots of fun and a good event for the whole family.

Ingham Country Music Festival: features competitions in country music song writing, singing and performing at the Ingham Show Ground over the June long weekend.

Australian Festival of Chamber Music: features 12 days of international chamber music with around 20 to 30 soloists and chamber musicians giving concerts and providing tuition. The festival often includes many distinguished artists and covers a range of chamber music styles.

Townsville Show: is an agricultural gathering with bags of family entertainment and a large amusement area for kids, as well as handicrafts and farm animals.

Billfish Challenge: is a popular angling event on an international level, with top anglers visiting from all four corners of the globe to hook the best catch along with the hefty prize money.

Fishing Competitions: along with August’s Billfish Challenge, the month of September sees a number of fishing events held at Townsville’s beaches, waterways and dams.

Great Tropical Jazz Festival: is held on Magnetic Island and often referred to as the Magnetic Island Jazz Festival. Three days of jazz feature some fairly big names and the event is comparable with Sydney’s Manly Beach Festival.

Aquatic Festival: at the popular Mission Beach to the north of Townsville is another fun family day out with outrigger and tinnie races, sand modelling, beach volleyball and many other interesting thrills.

Maraka Festival: is the most important festival to be held in Ingham and goes off every year for two weeks in October. The festival is great for kids with events including an arts and crafts showcase, a spot-the-window competition, pet parade, fence-painting, orchid display, cycle races and the Gala Ball. A procession, Mardi Gras and fireworks displays finish off the event on the final day.

Home Hill Harvest Festival: is held annually during the first week of November and marks the start of the peak holiday season with fun parades, elaborate float displays, costumed locals and a fair amount of eating and drinking.

Christmas: is celebrated with vigour in Townsville with parties going off in the town and its suburbs, as well as fairs and huge firework displays. Expect a festive feel to take over the town despite the hot weather.