Cairns Vibrance

With thanks to our sponsor ■

FRI 25 AUG - SUN 3 SEP 6.30PM - 10.00PM CAIRNS ESPLANADE FREE After a resounding success in 2022, Reef Lights returns to Cairns Esplanade for Cairns Festival 2023! The city of Cairns lights up in celebration of Tropical North Queensland through this

Welcome to Cairns Festival 2023, where creativity comes alive and cultural vibrancy knows no bounds. As the Arts & Cultural Capital of FNQ, Cairns invites you to immerse yourself in an extraordinary showcase of talent, innovation, and imagination. Th

FREE FRI 25 AUG - SUN 3 SEP 7.00PM - 11.00PM CAIRNS CITY LIBRARY, 151 ABBOTT ST Cairns City Library façade will light up with AGB Events collaborating with renowned multi-disciplinary local artist Roland Nancarrow. BY BONEMAP TUE 29 AUG 6.30PM, 7.30P

SATURDAY 26 AUGUST FROM 5.30PM STARTING FROM FOGARTY PARK It’s a dazzling display of entertainment that captivates both the young and the young at heart. With colourful floats, talented performers, and an electric atmosphere, the Grand Parade is a mu

FRI 25 - SUN 27 AUG WESTERN EVENTS LAWN FREE Step into a world of pure musical magic at the Cairns Esplanade Main Stage and get ready to be dazzled by an explosive fusion of pulsating beats, soulful melodies, and captivating energy that will leave yo

FREE DANCE BY MIRIKI PERFORMING ARTS PERFORMANCES: FRI 25 AUG 6.00PM, SAT 26 AUG 12.30PM & 5.00PM SUN 27 AUG 6.00PM WED 30 AUG 6.00PM EASTERN EVENTS LAWN Gulgi-barra (meaning Sand People) is a new dance work that pays homage to the ancient Gulgi-barr

FRI 25 - SUN 3 SEP* See website for performance times COURT HOUSE GALLERY FRONT LAWN Festival HQ Stage, the beating heart of excitement and entertainment throughout the Cairns Festival. As the sun sets, this stage comes alive with an array of captiva

BY SPARE PARTS PUPPET THEATRE FRI 25 - MON 28 AUG See website for performace times LAGOON PLAZA Leor, a glowing, giant illuminated puppet will take centre stage, as he lives and breathes with your help. Experience the wonder of String Symphony togeth

An Extension of Myself UNTIL SUN 3 SEP COURT HOUSE GALLERY A collection of artworks exploring the complex relationship between creativity and identity, exploring the many facets of Thomas Chen’s identity through prints and mixed media pieces. The Dua

SAT 2 SEP 6.30PM - GATES OPEN 5.30PM MUNRO MARTIN PARKLANDS With over 150 million streams worldwide and growing, The Jungle Giants are fast becoming an unstoppable force. Regarded as Australian indie rock royalty, this is a band driven by optimism, c

FRI 25 AUG 10.00AM | 6.00PM CPAC THEATRE Roald Dahl’s gruesome twosome, The Twits, are ready to delight and disgust, in equal measure! Mr and Mrs Twit are the nastiest couple you could ever hope (not) to meet. Both are on a quest to be meaner than th

FRI 1 & SAT 2 SEP 8.00PM TANKS ARTS CENTRE, TANK 3 Bite Club features Brisbane’s award-winning cult-cabaret mischief-makers, circus stars, and heart-stopping hooligans Briefs Factory, as they join forces with much celebrated and sainted songbird Saha

SAT 2 SEP 5.30PM - 9.00PM FLECKER GARDENS, CAIRNS BOTANIC GARDENS A night for the jazz lovers! Grab a picnic, a blanket or chair, and come revel in the heart, soul and complex chords of jazz. Featuring an outstanding lineup of jazz musicians, this fe

SUN 3 SEP 9.00AM-3.00PM TANKS ARTS CENTRE, CAIRNS BOTANIC GARDENS, COLLINS AVENUE, COMMUNITY GARDENS Carnival on Collins is the annual street party celebrating life in the tropics, set in the lush surrounds of the Tanks Arts Centre and Cairns Botanic

For all your Cairns Festival live theatre and big-ticket events, the CPAC and Munro Martin Parklands precinct is brimming with performances and experiences that celebrate, connect and inspire Far Northern cultural rapture! Queensland Symphony Orchest

Are you an artist or are you working with artists on a creative project in Cairns? Is there a professional development opportunity on the horizon that would help you improve your skills? Cairns Regional Council may be able to help you achieve your go

Cairns Regional Council is offering free one-on-one sessions to meet potential applicants who are keen to receive advice on preparing Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF) applications. Large grants of up to $10,000 will be available when the next ma

POETIC CHAOS $500 CASH SUPPORT Jade Schuck and Clara Satzke from Poetic Chaos were awarded $500 to assist with the costs of advertising and promotion for the release of their second single, Watered Down. The Small Arts Grant covered a professional ph

CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF UNDERSTORY FILM FESTIVAL Saturday 18 November at Munro Martin Parklands + INTRODUCING Friday 6 October at Tanks Arts Centre ENTRIES NOW OPEN + $5,000 in cash to be won + Two separate festival events + Free to enter + Open to a

Inspirational creative works are developed in inspiring and interesting working spaces. In Cairns, there are several ways to track down access to spaces. The Cairns Arts and Culture Map website lists both Cairns Regional Council and private spaces wi

Part cabaret, part circus, part comedy, and a whole lotta fun. Bite Club is a late-night home for the wild, the weird and the whacky, and definitely the spot where you want to be this Cairns Festival. Bite Club, the new incarnation from the award-win

A range of gifts, souvenirs and books and from local designers and artists. Open 8.30am - 4.00pm Monday to Friday and 9.30am - 2.00pm Weekends and Public Holidays. Various days Community workshops range from Botanical Drawing and Basketry Weaving to

Cairns Libraries offer events and activities for all ages! Build, create, connect, and learn at one of our free events. No bookings required. eAudiobooks eBooks eBooks in Foreign Languages eLearning for all ages eMagazines eMovies and Documentaries e

This exhibition showcases underwater images from members of the Nautilus Scuba Club Cairns who have entered the club’s annual underwater photo competition. The categories include Macro, Portrait, Wide Angle and Behaviour. They provide the viewer with

An Extension of Myself is a collection of artworks exploring the complex relationship between creativity and identity. This exhibition invites an exploration of the many facets of Thomas Chen’s identity through a diverse collection of prints and mixe

Located in Mossman Gorge Aboriginal Community, on the border of the Daintree National Park, Yalanji Arts nurtures and develops artists to showcase culture and generate individual and community growth. This exhibition of textiles and free-form ceramic

After touring their sophomore release Exit/Eject throughout Japan in 2019, progressive hard-core rockers Forest. have remained unstoppable across QLD over the last few years. Supporting Aussie punk and metal legends Northlane, Alpha Wolf, Polaris, Cl

The Barber of Seville is a musical masterpiece with a storyline that would be equally at home in a Hollywood rom-com. Opera Australia’s finest voices and a live orchestra deliver a score that is instantly familiar from renditions in movies, cartoons,

The artists set to combine their passion for environment, art, and the senses. Sēnsus: To See, To Feel, To Hear (residency), responds to the region’s natural landscape through exploratory works focusing on sensory experience. Two workshops and an inf

New Zealand music icon Bic Runga is bringing her upcoming Acoustic Tour to Australia this August 2023, celebrating the 20-year anniversary since the release of her eleven-time platinum, best-selling album Beautiful Collision. Bic Runga is one of New

Proudly hosting a kaleidoscope of culture, arts, music, comedy, visual arts, and family events, Cairns Festival revels in the beauty and rich cultural heritage of living where the sun and sand meet the city. But where are the best spots to get the be

Find your voice. Tell your story. Connect with your people. You’ve got 20 slides at 20 seconds each to tell an audience your story about the thing that makes you tick. Japanese for ‘chit chat’, PechaKucha 20x20 is a free storytelling platform that ce

Roald Dahl’s gruesome twosome The Twits are ready to delight and disgust, in equal measure! Mr and Mrs Twit are the nastiest couple you could ever hope (not) to meet. Both are on a quest to be meaner than the other – but is there someone out there wh

An immersive, interactive experience, part installation, part performance, part banging dance party. A speculative fabulation. A non-binary, de-capitalised, de-colonised, de-extinction future imagining. Hot & Heavy by The Ironing Maidens is an aural,

There are few trajectories in Australian music more remarkable than that of Cub Sport. Since they emerged as a promising young indie band in the early-2010s, this four-piece Brisbane indie-pop band have become known for their powerfully energetic, mu

Hope is an all-new concert by 3-time Grammy®-winning Soweto Gospel Choir, celebrating songs and anthems from the Freedom movement of Nelson Mandela’s South Africa, back to the Civil Rights Movement of Martin Luther King’s 1950’s America. Hope opens w

Queensland Symphony Orchestra returns to Cairns for a spectacular concert experience. Chief Conductor Umberto Clerici will lead the musicians in a performance that promises to delight the senses. The program begins with Peter Sculthorpe’s Earth Cry,

Bite Club features Brisbane’s award-winning cult-cabaret mischief-makers, circus stars, and heart-stopping hooligans Briefs Factory, as they join forces with much celebrated and sainted songbird Sahara Beck. In an event sautéed in a hedonistic haze,

With well over half a billion streams worldwide and the #1 ARIA-charting fourth album Love Signs under their belts, The Jungle Giants are undeniably Australian indie-rock royalty. Known for delivering explosive, high-energy live performances, the ban

Young artists share their creative energy and insights in this annual student exhibition, bursting with innovative, high-quality works that will engage and inspire you. ENERGY is a presentation of visual art produced by school students across the reg

The Queensland Regional Art Awards (QRAA) is an annual visual arts prize and exhibition for established and emerging artists living in regional, rural, and remote Queensland. The 2022 QRAA explored the concept of ‘Reframe’, calling artists to enter w

The Australian Watercolour Muster features an exhibition of watercolour paintings by artists from around the nation, and a five-day public program of workshops and events. The goal of the Australian Watercolour Muster is to create a broader platform

Australian Watercolour Muster Biennale 2023 will feature an amazing selection of workshops with tutors from around the world, as well as two Picnic and Paint events - designed to take you to experience the amazing colours and shapes of our Indigenous

Hidden identities and unrequited love! Viola is shipwrecked and believes her twin Sebastian lost to the ocean. Washed up in a strange new land, determined to survive, Viola disguises herself as a man named Cesario and finds work with Duke Orsino, onl

Hot Potato Band’s larger-than-life brass collective is a breath of fresh air, setting a new bar for energetic and interactive musical performances. Finding home in Sydney, Australia, their positive coastal energy pushes euphoric boundaries in their b

Vessels, Vehicles, Velocity (vroom, vroom, vroom) is a collection of reminiscences – some real, having actual coordinates in the space-time continuum, and others fantastical. Vivid moments in time or in the architecture of Ian’s imagination, are all

Classical Serenade is NQ Chamber Orchestra’s second concert for 2023. In this event we look forward to welcoming as our soloists, the husband and wife team who are the Directors of the Atherton Chamber Music Festival - guitarist Simon Thielke and vio

A phenomenal physical performance exploring all forms of rotation, 360 ALLSTARS connects the street with the elite to deliver a supercharged urban circus. Boasting a stellar cast of World Champion and World Record holding artists and athletes, 360 AL

Whether you’re a musician, comedian, dancer, performer, stand up poet, or anything to do with the arts, we’d love to hear from you! The Cairns Performing Arts Centre Studio is set to be an incubator for fresh new creative work in Cairns. Launch Pad i

Meet Tammy Tooth who’s on the brink of a most epic existential midlife crisis. An unexpected quirk of fate sends her back in time to come face to face with her 15 year old self in her teenage bedroom, giving her the chance to ask the big questions, r

Yuwi based indie powerhouse Tia Gostelow is releasing her third album Head Noise in August and is overjoyed to announce her national tour. Tia and her band are hitting the road this September, October and November with handpicked supports from Tia’s

Busby Marou. Two lifelong mates from Rockhampton in North Queensland, with seamless harmonies and effortless acoustic guitars, best known for their distinctly Australian storytelling and gifted musicianship. On this tour showing off their 5th studio

Following their 2022 performances of Swan Lake, the Royal Czech Ballet return to Australia with their presentation of the classic masterpiece, Sleeping Beauty. Sleeping Beauty follows the story of Princess Aurora. When the bad fairy Carabosse is not

All tickets for Tanks Arts Centre, Cairns Performing Arts Centre and Munro Martin Parklands events are sold through Ticketlink. ONLINE ticketlink.com.au PHONE 1300 855 835 IN PERSON Box Office Cairns Performing Arts Centre Corner of Sheridan & Floren

ARTS AND CULTURAL HAPPENINGS OF CAIRNS REGIONAL COUNCIL ■