Queensland, Australia — Events
Florida Renaissance Festival
Step back into the 1600s at the extraordinarily popular Florida Renaissance Festival, a month-long celebration of “olde times and monstrous pomp.” Taking their cue from Shakespeare’s immortal words, “All the world’s a stage/And all the men and women merely players”, each year the organizers of the festival manage to transform Quiet Waters Park into a Renaissance-era village, replete with jesters, falconers and artisans selling hammered pewter, lute-playing minstrels, jousting knights, and beer by the stein. Make sure to dress like a lord or a lady - unless, of course, you want to stick out.
Brisbane Queer Film Festival
The largest festival celebrating queer cinema in Queensland and the third largest queer film festival in Australia, the annual Brisbane Queer Film Festival showcases cinema by and for the gay community. Established in 2000, the selection of films usually includes a variety of shorts, features and documentaries from around the world. This festival contains films that are unclassified and therefore the entire festival is rated R. Films in this festival are legally restricted to people 18 years or older. For more information: info@brisbanepowerhouse.org
Caxton Street Seafood and Wine Festival
What began in 1994 as a small community event has snowballed into one of Brisbane’s most popular festivals on the social calendar, attracting around 15,000 revelers. Traditionally held on the Sunday of the Labor Day long weekend, the festival features three stages places around the street as well as entertainment in most of the venues catering to the thousands of street party goers who attend the annual event. And the reason most of them are even here in the first place is of course the local Queensland seafood and wine.
Goomeri Pumpkin Festival
You may be asking yourself what the appeal is in rolling a pumpkin down a hill. That’s the same question the Goomeri Pumpkin Festival’s 15,000 visitors also ask themselves before heading down to get involved in the celebrations and tomfoolery of great entertainment, dancing, fun competitions, delicious food and good old country hospitality, besides the highlight - the legendary Great Australian Pumpkin Roll, of course. Hundreds of market stalls line the streets selling more pumpkin produce such as pumpkin soup, pie and even pumpkin fudge!
Wintersun Festival
Each year in June, Surfers paradise comes to life in a celebration of all things 50s. From classic cars, Cadillacs and polka dots to Elvis Pressley, poodle skirts and beehive hairdos, Tweed Heads-Coolangatta is awash with 50s paraphernalia and the sound of rock ‘n roll. With Street parades, floats, car exhibitions, and live entertainment taking place in the parks and streets of Coolangatta and a total of 100 performing throughout the festival, there’s enough 50s charm and excitement for everyone.
World's Greatest Pub Fest
While normally, getting drunk and being involved in breaking a Guinness World Record are mutually-exclusive activities - a notable exception is made each year in the town of Maryborough, Queensland, during the World’s Greatest Pub Fest. The record in question is ‘Most Participants in a Pub Crawl’ - a pub crawl being a quintessentially Australian tradition, of moving from bar to bar around town, having a drink (or two or three) in each.
Opera in the Outback
Opera in the Outback - a unique outdoor music event - is fast becoming one of Australia’s most beloved annual festivals. Undara Volcanic National Park, and more specifically, the Ooramin Place Amphitheater, with its impeccable acoustics, plays host to this interesting mix of high culture in a robust bushland setting. Traditionally, the festival opens with a theater performance on the first night, followed by two nights of high-quality opera (including musical accompaniment from a full symphony orchestra).
