Visitors tend to assume a regional city means slim pickings for live music and theatre. Cairns quietly puts that to bed every year, and the spring 2026 season is a decent example: Vika and Linda, SIX60, Macy Gray, Kate Ceberano, Bell Shakespeare and the Sydney Comedy Festival showcase, all inside about six weeks.
Here is what is coming up, and why one of these venues is worth seeing whatever is playing.
Tanks Arts Centre, the venue that is the attraction
Tanks is three enormous World War Two naval fuel tanks, built into the base of Mount Whitfield and now used as galleries and a live music venue. Tank 5 is the one that hosts gigs. It is a concrete drum with the acoustics you would expect from a concrete drum, and the effect is genuinely unlike anywhere else you will see a band.
Better still, it sits inside the Cairns Botanic Gardens, so an evening show comes with rainforest, a walk and the option of dinner in Edge Hill beforehand.
Worth knowing that Tanks is not only a music venue. Tank 4 runs visual arts exhibitions alongside the gigs in Tank 5, so there is often something on during the day as well as at night. The full programme is on the Tanks Arts Centre website.
Coming up at Tanks:
- Passport to Airlie, Sunday 13 September
- Exhibition Launch: ENERGY 2026, Friday 18 September, in Tank 4
- Vika and Linda, Friday 18 September, on the “Where Do You Come From?” tour. Nearly four decades in, touring their first predominantly original album since 1996.
- Tiki Taane, One Man Band, Saturday 19 September
- Yoga plus Live Music, Saturday 26 September
- Sunny Coast Rude Boys, ska, Sunday 27 September
- Teeny Tiny Stevies, Monday 28 September, which is the one to know about if you have small children
- Mood Swing and Chevy Bass, Friday 2 October
- Sydney Comedy Festival Showcase, Tuesday 6 October
- Understory High Film Festival, Friday 9 October
- Lior with Camerata, Friday 16 October
- Melbourne Ska Orchestra, Saturday 24 October
- Tullara, Rebound album launch, Saturday 31 October
- Bullhorn and Fat Picnic, Saturday 7 November
- Tex Perkins and Matt Walker, Friday 27 November
Cairns Performing Arts Centre
CPAC is the modern one, on the corner of Sheridan and Florence Streets in the city, with a main theatre and a smaller studio space. It is where the touring theatre and the bigger tribute shows land.
- Paul Tabone Salutes Andrea Bocelli, Friday 11 September
- The Eagles Greatest Hits, Saturday 12 September
- Kenny Rogers and Friends, Saturday 19 September
- Morning Melodies, Monday 21 September
- Kate Ceberano, Australian Made Tour, Friday 25 September
- Bell Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Tuesday 6 October
- The Billy Joel Experience, Friday 2 October
- Macy Gray, The Encore Tour, Saturday 3 October
- Adventure Reels Tour, Thursday 8 October
- A Gershwin Gala Spectacular, Saturday 17 October
- Queen Bohemian Rhapsody tribute, Friday 30 October
- Marty Sheargold, The Red Card Tour, Saturday 31 October
- Celia Pacquola, Gift Horse, Saturday 14 November
Munro Martin Parklands
SIX60 play Munro Martin Parklands on Friday 2 October. Munro Martin is the outdoor one, a restored heritage park in the city with a grassed amphitheatre, and on a dry season evening it is about as pleasant as an outdoor gig gets.
Booking
All of the above sell through Ticketlink, which is Cairns Regional Council’s own ticketing service, so you are buying direct rather than through a resale site. Prices and availability change, and the listing above is a snapshot taken on 8 September 2026, so check the Ticketlink events page for the current program.
A tip for anyone planning a trip around a show: the calendar runs about seven months ahead, further than most regional venues, so it is worth a look early. There are already dates on sale into 2027.
More on what is on around the region in our Cairns festivals and events calendar, and see the Cairns city guide for what else is nearby.
Program detail from the Ticketlink events listing, checked 8 September 2026. Confirm dates, times and prices with Ticketlink before booking travel.
