Entertainment
28 August, 2026
Party time!
CAIRNS is preparing for 10 days of music, art, performance and community celebrations as Cairns Festival returns during the city’s 150th anniversary year.
The 2026 festival runs from Friday, 28 August to Sunday, 6 September, with more than 49 free and 10 ticketed events across the city’s cultural and entertainment precincts.
Cairns Mayor Amy Eden said the anniversary would add another dimension to the festival, with the Grand Parade among the major attractions.
“The colour, the vibe, the energy, the music. It’s truly palpable,” she said.
“This is all part of Cairns putting itself forward, being a destination, but being a great place to live for our locals.”
The ‘Fun in the Sun’ themed Grand Parade will return to the Esplanade on Saturday 29 August.
Mayor Eden said the revival was already generating nostalgia in the community.
“We’re bringing back the fun in the sun, and it’s funny because a lot of people that haven’t known about it have gone, ‘Oh, remember when it was fun in the sun? I wish that would come back.’ And I’m like, ‘This is your year, baby. This is your year.’”
CYCAS Circus will again take part after appearing in the past 22 Cairns Festival Grand Parades. Founder and Lead Teacher Patti Burnheim said students would bring a range of circus skills to the procession.
“You’re going to have students on stilts, unicycles, hula hooping, swinging poi, all different types of circus skills will be following us in great costumes,” she said.
“They’ve been working really hard on it.”
The group will be joined by Serenity Therapy Farm’s miniature donkey, with Ms Burnheim saying the festival brought together people from across the city.
“You know, it’s the multiculturalism. It’s people from all different walks of life and cultures coming together and celebrating Cairns.”
Another major feature will be Canvas of Cairns, transforming the Esplanade with light, projections and storytelling.
Laser Vision art director Angela Davis said this year’s production would draw on the city’s 150th anniversary and the natural environment.
“So this year we’re celebrating 150 years of Cairns. So the show is going to be really about the passage of time and the cycles of nature,” she said.
“We’re really celebrating the seasons of Cairns and looking at nature.”
Ms Davis said the water show would feature a new live element, while installations around the lagoon would include interactive displays, lasers and lighting effects.
“It’s really important to us that we work with local artists,” she said.
“We work with not only traditional artists that provide a lot of the art that we include in the light installations, but also musicians.”
The wider program includes Queensland Symphony Orchestra at Munro Martin Parklands, live performances on the Festival Main Stage, activities at Tanks Arts Centre and the Carnival on Collins finale on 6 September, featuring more than 200 market stalls, local food, live music and roving performers.
Mayor Eden said events such as the festival also had an economic role in the city, particularly following a difficult start to the year.
“We know that activation and festivals and events are a big part, not only of our identity and who we are, but making sure that we’re driving our local economy,” she said.
“To have all of these visitors here, to have them spending money, you can feel that little bit of joy in the community.”
