Month by Month
Top Events
Adelaide Fringe, February
Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras, March
Byron Bay Bluesfest, April
AFL Grand Final, September
Tropfest, December
January
January yawns into action as Australia recovers from its Christmas hangover, but then everyone realises: 'Hey, this is summer!' The festival season kicks in with sun-stroked outdoor music festivals; Melbourne hosts the Australian Open tennis.
zSydney Festival
It's big' says the promo material. Indeed, sprawling over three summer weeks, this fab affiliation of music, dance, talks, theatre and visual arts – much of it free and family-focussed – is an artistic behemoth (www.sydneyfestival.org.au).
zMONA FOMA
In Hobart, MONA FOMA (MOFO; www.mofo.net.au) is MONA’s Festival of Music & Art. Under the auspices of Brian Ritchie, the bass player from the Violent Femmes, it’s as edgy, progressive and unexpected as the museum itself.
zAustralia Day
26 January is Australia's 'birthday' (www.australia-day.com) – the date when the First Fleet landed in 1788. Australians celebrate with picnics, barbecues, fireworks and, increasingly, nationalistic flag-waving, drunkenness and chest-beating. In less mood to celebrate are the Indigenous Australians, who refer to it as Invasion Day or Survival Day.
3Tamworth Country Music Festival
This late-January hoedown (www.tamworthcountrymusicfestival.com.au) in northern New South Wales is all about big hats, golden guitars and some of the finest country music you’ll hear this side of Nashville, Tennessee (mostly Australian acts, with a few world-class internationals).
February
February is usually Australia's warmest month: hot and sticky up north as the wet season continues, but divine in Tasmania and Victoria. Everywhere else, locals go back to work, to the beach or to the cricket.
zAdelaide Fringe
All the acts that don't make the cut (or don't want to) for the more highbrow Adelaide Festival end up in the month-long Fringe (www.adelaidefringe.com.au), second only to Edinburgh's version. Hyperactive comedy, music and circus acts spill from the Garden of Unearthly Delights in the parklands.
March
March is harvest time in Australia's vineyards and in recent years it has been just as hot as January and February, despite its autumnal status. Melbourne's streets jam up with the Formula One Grand Prix.
zSydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras
A month-long arts festival (www.mardigras.org.au) culminating in a flamboyant parade along Sydney's Oxford St on the first Saturday in March attracts 300,000 spectators. Gyms empty out, solariums darken, waxing emporiums tally their profits. After-party tickets are gold.
zWOMADelaide
This annual festival of world music, arts, food and dance (www.womadelaide.com.au) is held over four days in Adelaide's luscious Botanic Park, attracting crowds from around Australia. Eight stages host hundreds of acts. It's very family friendly and you can get a cold beer, too.
April
Melbourne and the Adelaide Hills are atmospheric as European trees turn golden then maroon. Up north the rain is abating and the desert temperatures are becoming manageable. Easter means pricey accommodation everywhere.
3Byron Bay Bluesfest
Every Easter, Byron Bay on the NSW north coast swells to breaking point with rock, folk and blues fans, here for a five-day extravaganza of rootsy tunes (www.bluesfest.com.au). Tickets are pricey, but the line-up is invariably awesome (Lenny Kravitz, Ben Harper, Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy, Paul Kelly...).
May
The dry season begins in the Northern Territory, northern Western Australia (WA) and Far North Queensland: relief from humidity. A great time to visit Uluru (Ayers Rock), before the tour buses arrive in droves.
2Whale Watching
Between May and October along the southeastern Australian coast, migrating southern right and humpback whales come close to shore to feed, breed and calf. See them at Hervey Bay (NSW), Warrnambool (Victoria), Victor Harbor (South Australia), Albany (WA) and North Stradbroke Island (Queensland).
June
Winter begins: snow falls across the Southern Alps ski resorts and football season fills grandstands across the country. Peak season in the tropical north: waterfalls and outback tracks are accessible (accommodation prices less so).
zLaura Aboriginal Dance Festival
Sleepy Laura, 330km north of Cairns on the Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, hosts the largest traditional Indigenous gathering in Australia (www.lauradancefestival.com). Communities from the region come together for dance, song and ceremony. The Laura Races and Rodeo happen the following weekend.
2Ski Season
When winter blows in, snow bunnies and powder hounds dust off their skis and snowboards and make for the mountains (www.ski.com.au). Victoria and NSW have the key resorts; there are a couple of small runs in Tasmania too.
July
Pubs with open fires, cosy coffee shops and empty beaches down south; packed markets, tours and accommodation up north. Bring warm clothes for anywhere south of Alice Springs. Don't miss 'MIFF'.
3Melbourne International Film Festival
Right up there with Toronto and Cannes, MIFF (www.miff.com.au) has been running since 1952 and has grown into a wildly popular event; tickets sell like piping-hot chestnuts in the inner city. Myriad short films, feature-length spectaculars and documentaries flicker across city screens from late July into early August.
6Beer Can Regatta
The NT festival calendar is studded with quirky gems like this one at Darwin's Mindil Beach, where hundreds of 'boats' constructed from empty beer cans race across the shallows (www.beercanregatta.org.au). Much drinking and laughter: staying afloat is a secondary concern.
August
August is when southerners, sick of winter's grey-sky drear, head to Queensland for some sun. Last chance to head to the tropical Top End and outback before things get too hot and wet.
zCairns Festival
Running for three weeks from late August to early September, this massive art-and-culture fest (www.cairns.qld.gov.au/festival) brings a stellar program of music, theatre, dance, comedy, film, Indigenous art and public exhibitions. Outdoor events held in public plazas, parks and gardens make good use of Cairns' tropical setting.
September
Spring heralds a rampant bloom of wildflowers across outback WA and Sout Australia (SA), with flower festivals happening in places such as Canberra and Toowoomba. Football finishes and the spring horse-racing carnival begins.
zBrisbane Festival
One of Australia's largest and most diverse arts festivals runs for 22 days in September and features an impressive line-up of concerts, plays, dance performances and fringe events around the city (www.brisbanefestival.com.au). It finishes off with 'Riverfire', an elaborate fireworks show over the river.
3Australian Rules Grand Final
The pinnacle of the Australian Football League (AFL; www.afl.com.au) season is this high-flying spectacle in Melbourne, watched (on TV) by millions of impassioned Aussies. Tickets to the game are scarce, but at half-time everyone's neighbourhood BBQ moves into the local park for a little amateur kick-to-kick.
October
The weather avoids extremes everywhere: a good time to go camping or to hang out at some vineyards (it's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it...). After the football and before the cricket, sports fans twiddle their thumbs.
3Jazz in the Vines
There are lots of food-and-wine festivals like this across Australia's wine regions (Barossa, McLaren Vale, Yarra Valley...). The Hunter Valley's proximity to the Sydney jazz scene ensures a top line-up at Tyrrell's Vineyard (www.jazzinthevines.com.au).
November
Northern beaches may close due to 'stingers' – jellyfish in the shallow waters off north Queensland, the NT and WA. Outdoor events ramp up; the surf life-saving season flexes its muscles on beaches everywhere.
3Melbourne Cup
On the first Tuesday in November, Australia's (if not the world's) premier horse race chews up the turf in Melbourne (www.melbournecup.com). Country towns schedule racing events to coincide with the day and the country does actually pause to watch the 'race that stops a nation'.
6Margaret River Gourmet Escape
Western Australia's contribution to the national circuit of fine food-and-wine fests (www.gourmetescape.com.au). The line-up of celebrity chefs is impressive: dozens of culinary doyens plating up seriously good food. But it's the Margaret River wines that really steal the show.
1Sculpture by the Sea
In mid-November, the cliff-top trail from Bondi Beach to Tamarama in Sydney transforms into an exquisite sculpture garden (www.sculpturebythesea.com). Serious prize money is on offer for the most creative, curious or quizzical offerings from international and local sculptors. Happens on Perth’s Cottesloe Beach in March.
December
Ring the bell, school's out! Holidays begin two weeks before Christmas. Cities are packed with shoppers and the weather is desirably hot. Up north, monsoon season is under way: afternoon thunderstorms bring pelting rain.
3Tropfest
The world's largest short-film festival (www.tropfest.com.au) happens on Sydney's grassy Centennial Park one Sunday in early December. To discourage cheating and inspire creativity, a compulsory prop appears in each entry (eg kiss, sneeze, balloon). And it's free!
2Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
The world’s most arduous open-ocean yacht race is the 628-nautical-mile Sydney to Hobart (www.rolexsydneyhobart.com) departing Sydney Harbour on Boxing Day. The winners sail into Hobart around December 29... four days at sea is a good excuse for a party!