Events & Festivals

Australia events & festivals

Vivid Sydney, the Melbourne Cup, the Australian Open, Australia Day and Splendour in the Grass — Australia's festivals and when to plan around them.

By the australiawow editorial teamUpdated 2026-07-08

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2 min read·1 sections

Full guide coming soon

Vivid Sydney, the Melbourne Cup, the Australian Open, Australia Day and Splendour in the Grass — Australia's festivals and when to plan around them. We're writing the full guide now — in the meantime, the related guides below cover the same trip from a nearby angle.

Guide notes· Last reviewed 2026-07-08▾

We keep big-picture advice stable (routes, neighborhoods, pacing). For time-sensitive details like opening hours or ticket rules, double-check official sources close to your travel dates.

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Australia Day

26 January — Australia's national public holiday, commemorating the First Fleet's 1788 arrival at Sydney Cove. A fixed date, and also the subject of ongoing public debate, which this page states without taking a side.

Hobart's summer festivals

Hobart summer festivals

Hobart's summer festivals

Hobart's late-December-into-January stretch: the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race's dramatic finish, the Taste of Summer waterfront food festival (formerly Taste of Tasmania) — and the now-ended MONA FOMA, whose 16-year run finished in 2024.

Splendour in the Grass, Byron Bay

Splendour in the Grass

Splendour in the Grass, Byron Bay

For two decades widely described as one of Australia's biggest winter music festivals at North Byron Parklands — currently on hiatus after cancellations in 2024 and 2025, with its longtime festival site on the market and no confirmed return date.

Sydney New Year's Eve fireworks

Sydney NYE

Sydney New Year's Eve fireworks

Sydney Harbour's New Year's Eve fireworks — the 9pm family show, the midnight show, and how one of the first major cities in the world to see in the new year turns its Harbour into the stage.

The Australian Open, Melbourne

Australian Open

The Australian Open, Melbourne

Melbourne Park's Grand Slam: the first of tennis's four majors each year, played on hard courts through January, with Rod Laver Arena as its centre-court finale.

The Melbourne Cup

Melbourne Cup

The Melbourne Cup

"The race that stops a nation": Flemington Racecourse's first-Tuesday-of-November showpiece, run since 1861, a Victorian public holiday, and the centrepiece of Melbourne's Spring Racing Carnival.

Vivid Sydney

Widely described as Sydney's biggest winter event: three-odd weeks of light projections across the Harbour, a Vivid Music program of gigs and club nights, and Vivid Ideas talks — running most years since 2009.