Lifestyle
Best Australian festivals to visit in 2022 and 2023 (Part A)
- Vivid Sydney – May 27 to June 18, 2022
Vivid is famous for turning Sydney into a nocturnal playground, illuminating the Harbour City’s best-known buildings with incredible free lightshows. But there’s much more to it than that: a program of talks and big ideas, and live music from the likes of Marcia Hines and Cate Le Bon.
- Broken Heel Festival – September 18-12, 2022
The best-named event on this list, Broken Hill’s Broken Heel Festival celebrates the anniversary of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert with a smorgasbord of drag-themed fun. Fabulous is the key word here, with the nation’s leading drag queens and kings taking over the town with cabaret, comedy, live music, markets and a giant parade down the main drag.
- National Cherry Festival – December 4, 2022
The southern NSW town of Young hosts a huge tribute to the cherry once a year. Live music, fireworks and outdoor dining are a given, but it’s the pip-spitting and pie-eating contests that keep visitors coming back.
- RISING – June 1-12, 2022
Starting on the first night of winter, Melbourne’s Rising festival has been three years in the making. Though it takes place across the city, one of the key places to visit will be The Wilds, a riot of sculpture, performance, kids’ events, international food and an ice rink in the Sidney Myer Music Bowl.
- Falls Festival – December 2022 to January 2023
It’s been a rough couple of years for Falls. Bushfires and the pandemic have meant the Victorian version of the music festival has been cancelled three years in a row. But now it’s back at a new site, Pennyroyal Plains in Murroon, two hours from Melbourne. If you want to party your way into 2023, there’s no better place.