Date: 16/10-11/12/26
The Brigalow Arts Festival is the Banana Shire’s largest exhibition of visual arts in a professionally judged open art award. 2026 will mark the festival’s 30th anniversary. The festival program also offers artists and arts enthusiasts the opportunity to take part in networking events, practical workshops and to enhance skills in creative business development.
The exhibition component of the Brigalow Arts Festival is suitable for artists of any career stage across all artistic mediums. Categories encompass painting, printmaking, drawing, photography, digital arts, textiles, sculpture and decorative arts.
For artists, the Brigalow Arts Festival is the perfect way to build an audience, receive award recognition, sell works and exhibit in a professional gallery environment. For audiences, it is the ideal way to experience a cross-section of local arts, support artists and discover the stories that are being told in our region.
The Woodford Folk Festival is held annually over six days and six nights, from Dec 27th through to January 1st. More than 2,000 local, national and international, artists, musicians and presenters put on over 438 acts to an audience of an estimated 132,000 people. The festival begins each year with the iconic Opening Ceremony and closes with the spectacular showcase, the Fire Event on New Year’s Day. This year will be the 35th Woodford Folk Festival and the 28th held at Woodfordia. It is the largest gathering of artists and musicians in Australia.
The Woodford festival experience is deep, rich and colourful. It is based on a vision of inclusive and creative community, culture and tradition passed through generations, expressed through story and ceremony. The site, a former barren dairy farm, has been lovingly regenerated with over 120,000 subtropical rain forest trees, orchids, ferns and sedges, planted to create a habitat for butterflies and wildlife.
Woodfordia is transformed into a village that hosts over 25,000 daily patrons, performers, stallholders, volunteers and organisers. As many as 2,680 volunteers across 162 departments are at the heart of the organisation and contribute to the setup and day-to-day running of the festival. During the event, the festival is actually the 67th largest town in Australia.
Each year construction begins in early December and continues up until Christmas Day. Over 450 contractors and volunteers build the village. Many come from around the world to be part of the festival build and then stay for a week after to pull the event down.
WE HAVE BEEN LONGING TO ANNOUNCE THIS NEWS SINCE WHAT SEEMS LIKE FOREVER – WOODFORD FOLK FESTIVAL IS BACK!
Change has been more of a constant these past couple of years and that will continue into the future. The return of the festival this year will see some venues retired, some taking a year off, others returning in full glory along with some new kids on the block.
The programme will continue to have the diversity, excellence and depth that Woodford patrons have revelled in over the years.
Tickets will be capped this year to make sure we get the comfort level just right.
We will be launching tickets in June – make sure you are signed up to our mailing list stay up to date.
Dates 01/08-04/08/2026
Yarntarnpa Kululu-jju Nyinta (Living together as One)
A celebration of culture, community, and creativity in the heart of the Barkly. This year's festival theme, Yarntarnpa Kululu-jju Nyinta, acknowledges the diversity of the people in the Barkly region which continues to enrich the cultural fabric of the community.
Caters for people with sufficient mobility to climb a few steps but who would benefit from fixtures to aid balance. (This includes people using walking frames and mobility aids) Caters for people who use a wheelchair. Welcomes and assists people who have challenges with learning, communication, understanding and behaviour. (includes people with autism, intellectual disability, Down syndrome, acquired brain injury (ABI), dyslexia and dementia)
