Five unique Tassie festivals to check out

While everyone is well and truly familiar with ever popular Dark Mofo – spicing up Hobart’s nights in June this year – there are plenty more festivals that’ll warm up Tassie’s cool months with great music, bright colours, delicious food and amazing discoveries. With new day sailings added in July and August… all is left to do is plan your trip to align with one of these unmissable festivals!

With a diverse program showcasing unique experiences across food, science, nature and art, ECHO Festival is a true feast for the senses. Taking place from 8-10 April in Swansea, on the East Coast, the festival this year is themed around the importance of Kelp Forests – the largest marine algae in the world, which plays a vital role in the region’s ecosystems.

The festival includes music performances, gin and whiskey tastings, a three-course ‘Native Bounty Feast’ crafted with Indigenous and local ingredients, and a Science Bar where to sip on kelp concoctions created by the masterminds of Beaker Street, making ECHO Festival one of Tassie’s unmissable events this season.

A true celebration of the wilderness, the Festival of Fagus’ main act is one of Tasmania’s favourite natural events: the turning of the fagus – the only winter deciduous species in the state.

Admire the spectacular display of colours amid the alpine settings of Cradle Mountain from 24 April to 8 May, and celebrate Tasmania’s wilderness with a variety of events, photography and arts workshops and masterclasses, and even helicopter tours. Don’t miss out on the daily guided hikes through Cradle Mountain: follow expert local guides as they take you right where fagus hides!

The East Coast's most loved town is bringing back its popular light show for 2022. From 1-31 July at 6.30pm sharp, Bicheno Beams will light up the town's sky with awe-inspiring laser light shows.  

How does it work, you ask? Picture a silent disco… accompanied by an amazing light show and fresh air! The show’s soundtrack is streamed through your very own device (headphones are a must) to avoid disturbing the local penguin population, and while you get cosy with blankets and your choice of hot drinks, the laser lights will light up the sky over Bicheno.

Celebrating 20 years with this edition, the Devonport Jazz festival is ready to bring the buzzing coastal city back into the groove from 22-25 July.

Even if this year’s line-up is yet to be announced, expect to see international and local artists perform during the four days, as well as a myriad of events taking place in venues across the city, warming up the cool nights of Devonport to the sound of jazz.

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Always wondered how life is at -40ºC and love all things Antarctica? This is the perfect festival for you. The Australian Antarctic Festival is a biennial event bringing the shores of Antarctica to Hobart’s waterfront, allowing visitors to discover more about Australia’s research program and come up close with all their equipment.

Head to the Mawson’s Hut Replica Museum between August 24 and 28 and inspect research vessels, admire icebreakers and Antarctic helicopters, and find out more about life below zero with lecturers, tours and exhibitions. Fans of the fascinating southern lights can gather every night during the festival to go on the hunt for nature's most incredible show, following expert guides.

Need even more reasons to visit Tassie in the colder months? We’ll give you five reasons to visit the island state here. 

Information included in this blog is correct at the time of publishing. Please contact individual operators for further information.