Cairns Festivals and Events

Cairns does not really do a quiet season. In the space of a year the town hosts a nine-day chamber music festival, a rodeo an hour up the range, a bull-riding and country music weekend in a cane paddock, an Ironman, a festival dedicated to flying foxes, and ten days of free live music on the Esplanade. Something is on most weekends, and a fair chunk of it costs nothing.

This page is our running calendar for the whole region: Cairns city, the northern beaches, the Atherton Tablelands, Port Douglas and the Daintree, and the southern corridor down to Innisfail. We check it every Monday against the organisers’ own websites, and we say plainly when a date has not been announced yet rather than guessing at it. If you are building a trip around one of these, book flights and rooms early. A big weekend empties the town of accommodation faster than most visitors expect.

Dates below are confirmed at the source unless the entry says otherwise. Prices are in AUD and were correct when we last checked.

What’s on in Cairns right now

Everything here is confirmed and still to come. Last checked Tuesday 29 September 2026. For the week ahead in more detail, see Cairns this week.

October 2026

• SIX60, Friday 2 October, Munro Martin Parklands. Doors 5pm, show 6pm. Adult $89, youth 12 to 17 $59, child 5 to 11 $29, under 5s free.
• Mood Swing and Chevy Bass, Friday 2 October, Tanks Arts Centre. The full spring season is in our Tanks and CPAC what’s on guide.
• The Billy Joel Experience, Friday 2 October, Cairns Performing Arts Centre.
• Gordonvale Cottage Markets, Saturday 3 October from 7am, Norman Park. Also 7 November and 5 December.
• Macy Gray, The Encore Tour, Saturday 3 October, Cairns Performing Arts Centre.
• Palm Cove Markets, Sunday 4 October, 8am to 2pm, Williams Esplanade. Also 1 November and 6 December. These run on selected months only, not every month, so check the dates page before you drive up.
• Bell Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Tuesday 6 October, Cairns Performing Arts Centre.
• Sydney Comedy Festival Showcase, Tuesday 6 October, Tanks Arts Centre.
• Savannah in the Round, 8 to 11 October, Mareeba. Bull riding, country and roots acts, and camping in a paddock an hour up the range. Day tickets from $129, season pass $359, and kids 12 and under are free but still need a ticket issued. Full run-down in our guide to doing Savannah in the Round from Cairns.
• Adventure Reels Tour, Thursday 8 October, Cairns Performing Arts Centre.
• Cairns Taipans home games at the Convention Centre on Thursday 8 October (Brisbane Bullets), Sunday 25 October (New Zealand Breakers) and Saturday 31 October (Melbourne United).
• Understory High Film Festival, Friday 9 October, Tanks Arts Centre.
• Cairns Pride Festival, listed as 9 to 25 October. Treat these dates as provisional. The organiser’s own website now states the 2026 range on its home page, but the 2026 calendar is published only as an image and its event pages still list 2025 events, so confirm directly before booking travel around it.
• ICONIC 2026, Saturday 10 October, Cairns Performing Arts Centre. Cairns State High School’s annual showcase of music, dance, drama and film, 7.30pm. Adult $36, concession and child $20.
• RACE Showcase X, Thursday 15 October, Cairns Performing Arts Centre. Redlynch State College marks ten years of its arts courses of excellence with current students and alumni on stage, 6.30pm. Adult $40, concession $30, child $20, family $40.
• Lior with Camerata, Friday 16 October, Tanks Arts Centre.
• Tide of Terror, Friday 16 and Saturday 17 October, Douglas Sailing Club, Port Douglas. Sea Circus Productions’ third Halloween show, with aerials, fire and dance on the beachfront. Gates 5pm, show 6.30pm, ticketed, costumes encouraged. Reported by Cairns Local News on 28 September 2026.
• North Queensland Sportstar Awards, Saturday 17 October, Tanks Arts Centre.
• A Gershwin Gala Spectacular, Saturday 17 October, Cairns Performing Arts Centre.
• Cairns Show Auto Spectacular, Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 October, Cairns Showgrounds. The Cairns Show Association’s car weekend: Show N’ Shine judging, dyno runs, vehicle displays, trade stands, free kids’ rides, live music and a Saturday evening charity auction. Saturday 9.30am to 5pm, Sunday 9.30am to 4.30pm, public entry by the Mulgrave Road ticket box. Adult $15, concession $10, children 10 to 14 $10, under 10s free, family of two adults and two children $40.
• Lizard Island Black Marlin Classic, 18 to 23 October. The blue-ribbon event of the northern marlin season, fished off Lizard Island.
• Tablelands Folk Festival, 23 to 25 October, Yungaburra. Sometimes called the Yungaburra folk festival, which is the same event under a local name.
• The Melbourne Ska Orchestra show that was booked for Saturday 24 October at Tanks has been moved to Friday 19 February 2027. Ticketlink says it is contacting ticket holders. It is in the 2027 list below.
• The Big Chillout: Motown Spectacular, Saturday 24 October, Cairns Performing Arts Centre.
• Tanks Markets, Sunday 25 October, 8am to 1pm, free. Held under and around the old wartime fuel tanks next to the Cairns Botanic Gardens.
• Celebrating Gimuy 60, 150 Years, Yidinji Gala Dinner, Friday 30 October, Cairns Convention Centre. Ticketed.
• Queen: Bohemian Rhapsody, The Born To Love You Tour, Friday 30 October, Cairns Performing Arts Centre.
• The Next Wave: Enter Stage Right, Friday 30 October, and Tullara’s Rebound album launch, Saturday 31 October, both Tanks Arts Centre.
• Marty Sheargold, The Red Card Tour, Saturday 31 October, Cairns Performing Arts Centre Studio.
• Rooms tighten in the last week of October: the Asia-Pacific Health Leadership Congress takes over the Convention Centre from 28 to 30 October. It is a trade event, not one you can wander into, but it does move a lot of beds. Worth knowing if you are still deciding where to stay.

November 2026

• Cairns Taipans home games at the Convention Centre on Thursday 5 November (Illawarra Hawks), Friday 13 November (Sydney Kings) and Friday 20 November (Perth Wildcats).
• Bullhorn and Fat Picnic, Saturday 7 November, Tanks Arts Centre.
• Dance Force Tour, Friday 13 November, Cairns Performing Arts Centre.
• Celia Pacquola, Gift Horse, and Ashes To Ashes, a David Bowie experience, both Saturday 14 November, Cairns Performing Arts Centre.
• Understory Film Festival screening and awards, Saturday 21 November, Tanks Arts Centre.
• T20 Cairns Gold Clash, Sunday 22 November, Cazalys Stadium. Team Footy against Team Cricket, which is exactly as silly and as fun as it sounds. More in our Gold Clash guide.
• Tex Perkins and Matt Walker, Friday 27 November, Tanks Arts Centre.
• Christmas Tree Light-up, Sunday 29 November, Esplanade Lagoon Plaza. Three performances of Dusty the Christmas Beetle and Friends, lights switched on at 7pm, done by 8pm. The Esplanade closes between Spence and Shields streets. Free, and the pick of the year’s free family nights alongside the rest of our free things to do in Cairns.
• Tanks Markets, Sunday 29 November, 8am to 1pm. Last one of the year, as the markets pause over the wet.
• Morning Melodies: The Best of Bublé Christmas Experience, Monday 30 November, Cairns Performing Arts Centre.

December 2026

• Cairns Taipans home games at the Convention Centre on Saturday 5 December (South East Melbourne Phoenix), Saturday 12 December (Brisbane Bullets), Sunday 20 December (Perth Wildcats) and Thursday 31 December (New Zealand Breakers). The club also lists a home fixture against the Adelaide 36ers on Wednesday 9 December with the venue still to be confirmed.
• Jeff Martin, Saturday 5 December, Tanks Arts Centre. The voice and guitar of Canadian band The Tea Party, solo and stripped back, 7.15pm. $55 in advance, $65 at the door. Rose Watts’ exhibition Communing opens in Tank 4 the same day.
• Tanks Blues: Backsliders, Friday 11 December, Tanks Arts Centre. Dom Turner’s long-running Australian blues outfit, doors 6.30pm, show 7.15pm. $45 in advance, $55 at the door.
• The Greatest Christmas Show, Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 December, Cairns Performing Arts Centre.
• Council has not yet published dates for Carols in the Park or the New Year’s Eve fireworks. Both ran in 2025 and both are likely to return, but the pages still carry last year’s dates, so we are not repeating them here. We will add them the week they go up.
• Queensland school holidays start Saturday 12 December and run to 26 January, which is the busiest stretch of the year for accommodation. It is also the middle of the wet season, so build a rain plan into any outdoor event you buy tickets for.

January 2027

• Cairns Taipans home games at the Convention Centre on Saturday 9 January (Tasmania JackJumpers) and Sunday 31 January (South East Melbourne Phoenix). The last home game of the regular season is Friday 12 February against the Adelaide 36ers.
• Council Ticketlink has nothing listed at Tanks or the Performing Arts Centre in January. The theatre year restarts in February, see the 2027 list below.

Dates already locked in for 2027

If you are planning a trip a long way out, these are the events with confirmed 2027 dates. Everything else on the calendar below is still to be announced.

• Vika and Linda, Where Do You Come From?, Friday 5 February, Tanks Arts Centre. Moved from 18 September 2026. Ticketlink is contacting ticket holders.
• Melbourne Ska Orchestra, Monte Loco Rides Again, Friday 19 February, Tanks Arts Centre. Moved from 24 October 2026.
• ABBA Thank You For The Music, Friday 19 February, Cairns Performing Arts Centre.
• Seventh Wonder performs Fleetwood Mac Orchestrated, Friday 26 February, Cairns Performing Arts Centre.
• Randy Feltface, Gimmick, Saturday 27 February, Cairns Performing Arts Centre.
• Ovation, Sunday 28 February, Cairns Performing Arts Centre. Four Australian singers, a pianist and a string quartet on musical theatre and opera favourites, 3pm.
• Lenny Pearce, Toddler Rave, Saturday 13 March, Cairns Convention Centre.
• Jon Cleary and The Absolute Monster Gentlemen, Sunday 14 March, Tanks Arts Centre. New Orleans piano and deep-groove soul, 7.15pm.
• The Beatles Anthology, Saturday 20 March, Cairns Performing Arts Centre.
• Feast of the Senses, Sunday 21 March, Jack Fossey Park, Innisfail. The market and feast day is confirmed; the rest of the multi-day program is not out yet.
• Dolly and Kenny Forever, Saturday 3 April, Cairns Performing Arts Centre. Tribute to the Parton and Rogers songbook, 7.30pm.
• The Traveling Wilburys Collection, Saturday 10 April, Cairns Performing Arts Centre.
• Cairns Children’s Festival, Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 May. Council has this as a save-the-date, so the venues and program are still to come.
• Port Douglas Carnivale, Thursday 20 to Sunday 23 May. Street parade, long lunches and a week of pop-ups through Port Douglas.
• Choirboys, Great Australian Rock N Roll Stories, Friday 21 May, Cairns Performing Arts Centre. Songs and stories from the band, 18 plus only, 7.30pm.
• Cairns Airport Ironman Cairns and Ironman 70.3 Cairns, Sunday 13 June. Both races run the same day. Entries are open, with the full at $1,355.01 and the 70.3 at $675 including fees. Early-entry flexibility benefits close on 7 October 2026.
• Great Barrier Reef Masters Games, Wednesday 23 to Sunday 27 June, Cairns. This one is biennial, so 2027 is the next edition after 2025.
• Malanda Show, Friday 25 to Sunday 27 June. Indoor exhibits move to the Big Pub ballroom this year while the showgrounds pavilion is rebuilt.
• Atherton Show, Monday 28 and Tuesday 29 June.
• Australian Eagles Show, Heartache Tonight Tour, Saturday 3 July, Cairns Performing Arts Centre, 7.30pm.
• Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, Thursday 8 to Sunday 11 July, Cairns. The 2027 theme is Superhighway. Venues for 2027 have not been published yet.
• Mareeba Rodeo, Friday 9 and Saturday 10 July, Kerribee Park, Mareeba.
• Cairns Marathon Festival, Sunday 11 July. Distances from 2km to the full 42.2km. It has sold out seven years running, so if you want a start line get on the waitlist rather than waiting for general entry.
• Cairns Show, Wednesday 14 to Friday 16 July, Cairns Showgrounds. The Friday is the Cairns show holiday.
• Australian Festival of Chamber Music, 23 to 31 July, Cairns. Nine days, and now genuinely a Cairns event: the festival moved north from Townsville from 2026, with concerts at the Performing Arts Centre, St Monica’s Cathedral and Bulmba-ja.
• Lano and Woodley In Space, Saturday 18 September, Cairns Performing Arts Centre, 7.30pm.

The Cairns events calendar, month by month

Here is how the year usually falls. Where an organiser has not announced next year’s dates, we give the most recent confirmed edition so you can see roughly where in the month it lands, and we say that it is unconfirmed rather than dressing up a guess as a date.

January and February

The quietest stretch for organised events, and for good reason: it is the peak of the wet, the monsoon trough can park itself over the coast for a week at a time, and stinger season is in full swing. Tanks Markets are on hiatus, the outdoor festival calendar is empty, and school holidays run to 26 January. What still runs: the night markets, Rusty’s, the Kuranda markets, and the Taipans at the Convention Centre through to February. It is a fine time to be here if you plan around rain, and our rainy day guide exists for exactly this window. Three February 2027 dates are already on the council box office calendar: an ABBA tribute on Friday 19 February, Fleetwood Mac Orchestrated on Friday 26 February and Randy Feltface on Saturday 27 February, all at the Performing Arts Centre.

March

Feast of the Senses in Innisfail is the one to build a weekend around, and it is confirmed for Sunday 21 March 2027. It is a tropical fruit festival in the best sense: rambutan, mangosteen, jackfruit and things you will not have eaten before, plus a street feast down the main drag. Late March is also when the wet starts loosening its grip and the fruit season peaks. Two indoor dates are locked in for the same month: Lenny Pearce’s Toddler Rave at the Convention Centre on Saturday 13 March, and The Beatles Anthology at the Performing Arts Centre on Saturday 20 March.

April and May

The weather turns and the calendar wakes up. Tanks Markets restart in April and run on the last Sunday of the month through to November, skipping August. Port Douglas Carnivale takes the third weekend of May in 2027 (20 to 23 May), and the Cairns Children’s Festival lands the weekend before it, 15 and 16 May 2027. The Children’s Festival is the biggest family weekend on the regional calendar: the 2026 edition drew 19,724 people across two days with 40 performances, and more than 90 per cent of it was free. If you are travelling with kids, that weekend is worth planning around, and our Cairns with kids guide covers the rest of the trip. The Traveling Wilburys Collection plays the Performing Arts Centre on Saturday 10 April 2027.

June

Dry season proper, and the busiest month of the year for events. Ironman Cairns and Ironman 70.3 both run on Sunday 13 June 2027, which fills the city and closes roads along the Captain Cook Highway to Palm Cove. The Great Barrier Reef Masters Games follow from 23 to 27 June 2027. Up on the Tablelands the show circuit starts: Malanda 25 to 27 June, Atherton 28 and 29 June. Two smaller ones round out the month, both unconfirmed for 2027: Cairns Ecofiesta, a free one-day sustainability festival at Munro Martin Parklands that ran on 21 June 2026, and the Cairns Bat Festival, run by the Bats and Trees Society, free, held at Wharf One Cafe on 28 June 2026. June is also the start of whale season and the best month to be here, which is why our winter guide gets the most traffic of anything we publish.

July

The busiest month on the calendar, and the one where accommodation gets genuinely hard.

• Cairns Indigenous Art Fair, Thursday 8 to Sunday 11 July 2027, confirmed, theme Superhighway. The 2026 fair ran 9 to 12 July at Tanks Arts Centre, with satellite programs at The Mill in Stratford and Cairns Art Gallery. Opening night is ticketed, the Friday to Sunday public program is free. It is the single best thing on the regional arts calendar.
• NAIDOC Week, unconfirmed for 2027. Ran 5 to 12 July 2026 with the theme “50 Years of Deadly”. The convention is the first week of July, Sunday to Sunday, but the national committee has not published 2027 yet.
• Cairns Marathon Festival, Sunday 11 July 2027, confirmed.
• Mareeba Rodeo, Friday 9 and Saturday 10 July 2027, confirmed. The 2026 rodeo ran 10 and 11 July at Kerribee Park with a parade and queen crowning on the Friday night. Worth pairing with a night in Mareeba.
• Innisfail Show, unconfirmed for 2027. Ran 9 and 10 July 2026 at Pease Park.
• Cairns Show, Wednesday 14 to Friday 16 July 2027, confirmed, at the Cairns Showgrounds. The 2026 show ran 15 to 17 July. The Friday is a regional public holiday, so the town half shuts.
• Australian Festival of Chamber Music, 23 to 31 July 2027, confirmed.
• Cairns Italian Festival, unconfirmed for 2027. Ran 23 July to 2 August 2026 as a region-wide program taking in Cairns, Atherton, Dimbulah, Gordonvale, Innisfail, Mareeba, Mossman, Port Douglas, Silkwood, Tully and Yungaburra.

August

Still dry, still busy, and the month with the most local flavour. The Japan Bon Dance Festival, run by the Japanese Society of Cairns, is free and held at Fogarty Park; it ran on 15 August 2026 and 2027 is unconfirmed. The Cairns Ukulele Festival came back in 2026 after a ten-year gap, running 26 to 31 August across the CBD with busking pitches down Shields Street, and whether it becomes annual again is still an open question. The Cairns Amateurs is the big social fixture: Amateur Cup Day ran Saturday 22 August 2026 at Cannon Park, with the Presidents Luncheon at $345 for members and $370 otherwise, and the Party Zone at $142.48. It now sits under the Cairns Jockey Club’s Cairns Super Carnival banner and 2027 dates are still to be announced. Note that Tanks Markets skip August.

September

The Cairns Festival straddles the month boundary. In 2026 it ran 28 August to 6 September: ten days, most of it free, spread across the Esplanade, Munro Martin Parklands, Tanks and the Botanic Gardens. Council has not published 2027 dates. Our write-up of the free live music program gives a sense of the scale. September also opens the marlin season on the outer reef, which runs through to December, and the Cairns Bluewater Billfish Tournament sits mid-month. For 2027 the Queensland Game Fishing Association lists 1 to 4 September as dates approved with sanctioning pending, and the club has not published them yet, so treat that as unconfirmed. Queensland school holidays run the second half of September into early October, so this is a genuinely busy fortnight. Down the highway at Innisfail, the Tropical Art Deco Festival runs Wednesday 16 to Sunday 20 September 2026, built around what Cassowary Coast Regional Council calls Australia’s most concentrated area of art deco buildings, with soirees, dining, fashion, vintage cars and jazz. The council notes some costs apply, so it is a mix of free street-level things and ticketed events. Our Innisfail art deco guide covers the buildings the rest of the year.

October

Savannah in the Round is the headline: four days of country and roots music, bull riding and camping at Mareeba, 8 to 11 October 2026. The Tablelands Folk Festival at Yungaburra takes the following weekend, 23 to 25 October. Cairns Pride Festival sits across the middle of the month, though as noted above the published dates need confirming with the organiser. The Lizard Island Black Marlin Classic runs 18 to 23 October. For 2027 the Queensland Game Fishing Association lists 24 to 29 October as dates approved with sanctioning pending, unconfirmed by the club so far. October is also when the shoulder season pricing ends and the build-up starts: humid, sticky, still mostly dry.

November

The build-up is on properly now. T20 Cairns Gold Clash at Cazalys Stadium on Sunday 22 November 2026 is the loudest thing in town, and the Christmas Tree Light-up on the Esplanade on Sunday 29 November is the free one worth turning up to. The last Tanks Markets of the year fall on the same day. Stinger season is back from around the start of the month, so check the netted swimming enclosures before you plan a beach day.

December

Carols in the Park at Munro Martin Parklands and the New Year’s Eve fireworks are the two council fixtures, both unconfirmed for 2026 at the time of writing. The Performing Arts Centre runs a Christmas show, and the Taipans have five home games. School holidays start 12 December. Book early: December through January is the tightest accommodation window of the year despite being the wettest.

Markets and what’s on every week

If you are here for a few days and want something on without buying a ticket, the markets are the reliable answer. All of these are confirmed at the operator’s own website.

• Rusty’s Markets, 57 to 89 Grafton Street, Cairns. Friday and Saturday 5am to 4pm, Sunday 5am to 3pm. The one locals actually shop at. Our Rusty’s guide covers what to buy and when to get there.
• Cairns Night Markets, 54 to 60 Abbott Street. Open every day of the year, 4.30pm to 10.30pm, with the food court running from 11am to 10.45pm. See our night markets guide.
• Tanks Markets, Collins Avenue, Edge Hill. Last Sunday of the month, 8am to 1pm, April to November excluding August. Free.
• Port Douglas Sunday Markets (Cotters Market), Market Park on Wharf Street, adjoining Anzac Park. Sundays 8am to 1.30pm.
• Port Douglas Wednesday Markets, Port Douglas Marina. Wednesdays 11am to 5pm, April to October, plus Wednesdays over the Christmas school holidays.
• Kuranda Heritage Markets, Rob Veivers Drive. Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 3.30pm.
• Kuranda Original Rainforest Markets, Therwine Street. Open daily, but the hours published by the market and by the village association contradict each other, so ring ahead on 07 4095 2991 if you are making a special trip.
• Yungaburra Markets, fourth Saturday of the month January to November, 7.30am to 12.30pm. In December they move to the third Sunday.
• Mareeba Markets, Centenary Park. Second and fifth Saturday of the month, 7.30am to 12.30pm.
• Mount Molloy Markets, QCWA Hall. First Saturday, 7am to noon.
• Palm Cove Markets, Williams Esplanade. Selected months only, usually the first Sunday, 8am to 2pm. Check the dates before you go, because they skip months.
• Smithy Community Markets, Smithfield Shopping Centre, and Gordonvale Cottage Markets, Norman Park, both run monthly. Dates are in the what’s-on block above.

One correction worth making, because a lot of older travel articles still carry it: there is no longer a Sunday market on the Cairns Esplanade. Council’s markets listing does not include one.

Free things that run all year

Cairns Regional Council runs a free fitness timetable on the Esplanade, no booking, just turn up and check in on the day. Sessions get cancelled at short notice in bad weather.

• Seniors exercise, Monday 9.30am to 10.30am, Fogarty Park
• Beach volleyball, Tuesday 5.30pm to 6.30pm, Esplanade volleyball court
• Zumba, Tuesday 5.30pm to 6.30pm, Fogarty Park
• Aqua Zumba, Wednesday 5.30pm to 6.30pm, and Saturday 9am to 10am, at the Esplanade Lagoon
• Pilates, Thursday 6.30am to 7.30am, Fogarty Park
• Sahaja yoga meditation, Saturday 7.30am to 8.30am, eastern event lawn near the Lagoon

The Botanic Gardens run free guided walks too, no booking needed: a general gardens tour Monday to Friday at 10am from outside Friends House, a bird watching walk every Tuesday at 7.30am, and a gardens and Tanks precinct heritage tour on Thursdays at 10am from the visitor centre.

Live sport in Cairns

The Cairns Taipans play NBL home games at the Cairns Convention Centre, which is a genuinely good venue for it: steep, loud and close to the court. Home fixtures for the 2026-27 season are 23 September, 8, 25 and 31 October, 5, 13 and 20 November, 5, 9, 12, 20 and 31 December 2026, then 9, 27 and 31 January and 12 February 2027. Tickets go through the NBL and the club rather than the venue.

Beyond that: the T20 Cairns Gold Clash at Cazalys Stadium in November, Ironman in June, the Cairns Marathon Festival in July, and the game fishing tournaments from September. There is no Big Bash fixture, no NRL premiership match and no Supercars round in Cairns for this season, whatever older articles suggest.

When the town fills up

Three things drive accommodation prices here, and none of them is the weather.

Queensland school holidays are the big one. For the rest of 2026 and into 2027 they fall 19 September to 5 October, 12 December to 26 January, 26 March to 11 April, 26 June to 11 July, and 18 September to 4 October. Domestic families book Cairns hard in those windows.

Event weekends are the second. Ironman in June, the Cairns Show and Chamber Music in July, the Amateurs in August and the Cairns Festival across late August and early September all move a lot of beds. Savannah in the Round takes Mareeba’s rooms and pushes overflow back down the range into Cairns.

Public holidays are the third. Queensland’s 2027 holidays are published: 1 January, 26 January, Easter from 26 to 29 March, Anzac Day observed on 26 April, Labour Day 3 May, King’s Birthday 4 October, and the Christmas cluster. The Cairns annual show public holiday has not been gazetted for 2027 yet, so do not trust any 2027 date you see for it. In 2026 it was Friday 17 July.

If you are working out how to move between all this, our guides to airport transfers and getting around without a car will save you some money, and the 3 day, 5 day and 7 day itineraries are built to slot a festival weekend in without wrecking the rest of the trip.

Common questions

What is the biggest festival in Cairns?

The Cairns Festival, run by Cairns Regional Council. It runs about ten days across late August and early September, most of it free, and it takes over the Esplanade, Munro Martin Parklands, Tanks Arts Centre and the Botanic Gardens. In 2026 it ran 28 August to 6 September.

What is on in Cairns this weekend?

Check the what’s-on block at the top of this page, which we update every Monday, then cross-check against Tourism Tropical North Queensland’s regional calendar and Cairns Regional Council’s events directory. Between those three you will not miss much. There is no single official week-by-week calendar covering the whole region, whatever any one site claims.

When is the best month for festivals in Cairns?

July, by a wide margin: the Indigenous Art Fair, NAIDOC Week, the Cairns Show, the marathon, the Italian Festival, Mareeba Rodeo and the Chamber Music festival all land in it. June is a close second and has better odds on a free room.

Are Cairns festivals free?

A surprising number are. The Cairns Festival is mostly free, the Children’s Festival was more than 90 per cent free in 2026, the Indigenous Art Fair’s weekend program is free, Ecofiesta and the Bat Festival are free, Tanks Markets are free, and the Christmas Tree Light-up is free. The ticketed ones tend to be the touring shows at the Performing Arts Centre, Savannah in the Round, and the sporting events.

Does anything happen in Cairns during the wet season?

Less, and it moves indoors. December through March is the thinnest part of the calendar, with the Performing Arts Centre and the Taipans carrying most of it, plus the markets that run year-round. Feast of the Senses in late March is the first proper festival of the year. Our wet season guide is honest about what that time of year is actually like.

How we keep this page current

Every Monday we go back through the organisers’ own websites and Cairns Regional Council’s Ticketlink listings, drop anything that has been and gone, add anything newly announced, and note where a source has gone stale. Aggregator sites are not used as a source for dates, because too many of them recycle last year’s copy without a year on it. We found several doing exactly that while building this page.

If an event is missing, or a date here does not match what the organiser is telling you, let us know and we will check it and fix it. Official sources worth bookmarking yourself: Cairns Regional Council’s events directory and Ticketlink box office, Tourism Tropical North Queensland’s what’s-on calendar, and the individual event websites linked through this page.