The best Aussie winter family festivals

As winter officially sets in, Australian Traveller searches for family friendly festivals that will entertain and astound.

With the cold air finally arriving, skies turning grey and gas bills increasing exponentially, now is the perfect time to explore Australia’s family festivals. There will be freshly fallen snow, luminous installations, evocative activities, quirky events and the opportunity to observe our country’s artistic talent. All you need is a sense of adventure and a few festive plans.

To help fill the calendar, AT has been on the lookout for exciting events unfolding across the country, winter warmers the family will not want to miss.

1. The Antarctic Midwinter Festival, Hobart

Rug up this winter and see a breath of ice and Deep Ocean hit Australia’s Antarctic Port. From June 18-21 the innovative Antarctic Midwinter Festival celebrates Tasmania and Antarctica’s historic and living connections by uniting exceptional exhibitions, performances, tours and social events. It’s an opportunity for adventurers and amateur scientist to enjoy the planet’s last pristine wilderness.

If the world of Antarctic science and exploration captures your family’s imagination, check out A Midwinter’s Night at the Museum at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. The combination of strange creatures, deep space and weird science is guaranteed to entertain.

Photography buffs can also enter The Extreme Environment Photographic Competition by submitting images from remote parts of the globe. For more events visit www.antarctic-tasmania.info

2. The Light in Winter, Melbourne

Federation Square gives us a bright reason to apply the layers and head for the city. Directed by Robyn Archer, The Light in Winter is a light-based festival uniting artists, designers and communities in exploring concepts of light, enlightenment and hope.

13 installations created by part of Melbourne’s multicultural community make up the spectacular display, “The Light in Winter". The works explore the cultural significance of light, warming the city’s seasonally chilled heart as just one of the exhibitions on show.

Families can also celebrate the Winter Solstice by packing a picnic and enjoying live music and performance to herald the arrival of longer and brighter days. For information see www.fedsquare.com or call 03 9655 1900.

3. Winter Magic Festival, Blue Mountains

Watch the Winter Magic Festival transform one of Australia’s most spectacular regions as local musicians, mask makers, dancers, poets, clowns and choirs sprinkle winter magic and wonder around Katoomba.

There’s the inevitable embarrassment or chance to demonstrate unexpected skating prowess at this year’s outdoor ice rink, inside the picturesque Carrington Place town square. Alternatively, you can show your “universal" appreciation when The Winter Magic Grand Parade celebrates the International Year of Astronomy.

Festival favourites, including ArtStreet and the Short Film Festival, will again turn Katoomba’s main streets into a visually exciting artistic space. To discover more visit www.wintermagic.com.au

4. Mary Poppins Festival in the Park, Maryborough

For a storybook escape to the Queensland coast in the winter school holidays, Hervey Bay is “practically perfect", with the Mary Poppins Festival in the Park landing gracefully on their shores on July 5.

The world famous nanny works her magic to transform Richmond and Wharf Street into the fantasy Cherry Tree Lane, with young and old invited to meet Mr Banks, the Bird Lady, The Chimney Sweep and Mary Poppins herself. Countless activities, rides, steam trains, brass bands and fine arts and crafts markets to amuse all and cap off a weeklong event to honour the Mary Poppins author PL Travers, who was born in Maryborough in 1899.

Hervey Bay celebrates the Mary Poppins Festival by offering accommodation packages to suit all price ranges.

5. Alice Springs Beanie Festival, Alice Springs

Once a humble “beanie party", the distinctive Alice Springs Beanie festival is ideal for fans of all things warm and woolly.

From June 26-28, be enthralled by beanie central, otherwise known as the Araluen Cultural Precinct, the centrepiece for the festive long weekend. Here the mayhem and thrill of the beanie chase takes place as you search for the perfect beanie from more than 4000 on display and up for sale.

Music, workshops, kids craft, Beanie Olympics and a signature teashop make this the perfect winter remedy. The Opening Night party is also not to be missed – enjoy the entertainment and see the prize-winning beanies paraded under the stars.

Visit www.beaniefest.org to learn about the festival and year-round Beanies, Baskets and Bush tucker tours.

6. City of Perth Winter Arts Season

A rich tapestry of arts events will keep sandgropers warm throughout the cooler months. From June 1 to August 30, the Perth Winter Arts Season embraces the State’s growing creative scene through diverse stage performances, arts organisations and exhibitions.

To mark the largest festival to date, watch parents behaving badly and uncensored playgroup politics in the delightful stage production God of Carnage. The Museum of Performing Arts will also present the moving ANZAC Coves, named in honour of the troupe of soldier entertainers who dodged bullets and bombs to perform on the battlefronts of Europe.

The presence of Australian superstar Ben Lee proves that the unorthodox and embracing season has something for everyone. For a complete program visit www.perthwinterarts.com.au

7. 2009 Whaletime Playtime Festival, Victor Harbour SA

Two days of fun and excitement will capture the imagination children as the 2009 Whaletime Playtime Festival splashes around from July 4-5.

Exceptional SA performers including the innovative Ticklish Allsorts and the Amazing Drumming Monkey’s will help bring the aquatic world to life. Don’t miss Victor Harbor’s much-loved Professor Blubber and keep an eye out for Henrietta the Humpback.

This year’s festival coincides with the opening of SA’s Whale Watching Season, making it a rare family experience. Exposure to these magnificent mammals and original event is an apt reminder of the need to conserve and protect our natural surroundings. Find a full program at www.whaletimeplaytimefestival.com.au

Abandoned mills and forgotten paper plants are finding second lives – and helping redefine a city long underestimated.

Just 15 years ago, Federal Mills was a very different place. Once among the most significant industrial sites in Victoria, the historic woollen mill was one of a dozen that operated in Geelong at the industry’s peak in the mid-20th century, helping the city earn its title as ‘wool centre of the world’. But by the 1960s global competition and the rise of synthetic fabrics led to the slow decline of the industry, and Federal Mills finally shuttered its doors in 2001. Within a few years, the abandoned North Geelong grounds had become makeshift pastoral land, with cows and goats grazing among the overgrown grass between the empty red-brick warehouses. It was a forgotten pocket of the city, all but two klicks from the bustle of the CBD.

Geelong cellar door wine bar — Geelong has shed its industrial identity to become an innovative urban hub with reimagined heritage spaces. (Image: Ash Hughes)

Federal Mills: from forgotten factory to creative precinct

Today, the century-old complex stands reborn. The distinctive sawtooth-roof buildings have been sensitively restored. An old silo is splashed with a bright floral mural, landscapers have transformed the grounds, and the precinct is once again alive with activity. More than 1000 people work across 50-plus businesses here. It’s so busy, in fact, that on a sunny Thursday morning in the thick of winter, it’s hard to find a car park. The high ceilings, open-plan design, and large multi-paned windows – revolutionary features for factories of their time – have again become a drawcard.

Paddock Bakery andPatisserie — Paddock Bakery and Patisserie is housed within the historic wool factory. (Image: Gallant Lee)

At Paddock , one of the precinct’s newer tenants, weaving looms and dye vats have been replaced by a wood-fired brick oven and heavy-duty mixers. Open since April 2024, the bakery looks right at home here; the building’s industrial shell is softened by ivy climbing its steel frames, and sunlight streams through the tall windows. Outside, among the white cedar trees, families at picnic benches linger over dippy eggs and bagels, while white-collar workers pass in and out, single-origin coffee and crème brûlée doughnuts in hand.

Geelong: Australia’s only UNESCO City of Design

Paddock Bakery can be found at Federal Mills. (Image: Gallant Lee)

“A lot of people are now seeing the merit of investing in Geelong,” says Paul Traynor, the head of Hamilton Hospitality Group, which redeveloped Federal Mills. A city once shunned as Sleepy Hollow, and spurned for its industrial, working-class roots and ‘rust belt’ image, Geelong has long since reclaimed its ‘Pivot City’ title, having reinvented itself as an affordable, lifestyle-driven satellite city, and a post-COVID migration hotspot.

And the numbers stand testament to the change. In March 2025, and for the first time in its history, Greater Geelong became Australia’s most popular regional town for internal migration, overtaking Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. Current forecasts suggest Geelong will continue to outpace many other Australian cities and towns, with jobs growing at double the rate of the population.

Tourism is booming, too. The 2023-24 financial year was Geelong and The Bellarine region’s busiest on record, with 6.4 million visitors making it one of the fastest-growing destinations in the country. It’s not hard to see why: beyond the city’s prime positioning at the doorstep of the Great Ocean Road, Geelong’s tenacity and cultural ambition stands out.

As Australia’s only UNESCO City of Design, Geelong is swiftly shaking off its industrial past to become a model for urban renewal, innovation, sustainability and creative communities. The signs are everywhere, from the revitalisation of the city’s waterfront, and the landmark design of the Geelong Library and Heritage Centre and Geelong Arts Centre, to the growing network of local designers, architects and artists, and the burgeoning roster of festivals and events. That’s not even mentioning the adaptive reuse of storied old industrial buildings – from Federal Mills, to Little Creatures’ brewery ‘village’ housed within a 1920s textile mill – or the city’s flourishing food and wine scene.

The rise of a food and wine destination

Restaurant 1915 is housed within a restored former boiler house. (Image: Harry Pope/Two Palms)

Traynor credits now-closed local restaurant Igni, which opened in 2016, as the turning point for Geelong’s hospo industry. “[Aaron Turner, Igni’s chef-patron] was probably the first guy, with all due respect, to raise the bar food-wise for Geelong,” he says. “People now treat it really seriously, and there’s clearly a market for it.” While Igni is gone, Turner now helms a string of other notable Geelong venues, including The Hot Chicken Project and Tacos y Liquor, all within the buzzy, street art-speckled laneways of the CBD’s Little Malop Street Precinct. Many others have also popped up in Igni’s wake, including Federal Mills’ own restaurant, 1915 . Housed within the cavernous boiler house, 1915’s interior is dramatic: soaring, vaulted ceilings with timber beams, exposed brick, a huge arched window. The share plates echo the space’s bold character, playing with contrast and texture, with dishes such as a compressed watermelon tataki, the sweet, juicy squares tempered by salty strands of fried leeks, and charred, smoky snow peas dusted with saganaki on a nutty bed of romesco.

The Woolstore , one of The Hamilton Group’s most recent hospo projects, opened in February. It occupies a century-old riverside warehouse and exudes a more sultry, fine dining ambience. Much like Federal Mills, the blueprint was to preserve the original brickwork, tallowwood flooring and nods to the building’s former life. That same careful consideration extends to the well-versed, affable waitstaff as well as the kitchen. Head chef Eli Grubb is turning out an eclectic mix of ambitious and indulgent mod Oz dishes that deliver: strikingly tender skewers of chicken tsukune, infused with hints of smoke from the parrilla grill, and glazed with a moreish, sweet gochujang ‘jam’; nduja arancini fragrant with hints of aniseed and the earthy lick of sunny saffron aioli; and golden squares of potato pavé, adorned with tiny turrets of crème fraîche, crisp-fried saltbush leaves, and Avruga caviar, to name but a few stand-out dishes.

Woolstore menu — Woolstore’s menu is designed for sharing.

Breathing new life into historic spaces

On the city’s fringe, hidden down a winding side road with little fanfare, lies a long-dormant site that’s being gently revived. Built from locally quarried bluestone and brick, and dating back to the 1870s, the complex of original tin-roofed mill buildings is lush with greenery and backs onto the Barwon River and Buckley Falls; the audible rush of water provides a soothing soundtrack. Fyansford Paper Mill is one of few complexes of its time to survive intact. It feels steeped in history and spellbindingly rustic.

“We were looking for an old industrial place that had some charm and romance to it,” explains Sam Vogel, the owner, director and winemaker at Provenance Wines which moved here in 2018. When he first viewed the building with his former co-owner, it was in such a state of disrepair that the tradie tenant occupying the space had built a shed within it to escape the leaking roof and freezing winter temperatures. “To say it was run down would be an understatement,” he notes. “There was ivy growing through the place; the windows were all smashed. It was a classic Grand Designs project.”

Provenance Wines moved to Fyansford Paper Mill in 2018. (Image: Cameron Murray Photography)

The team has since invested more than a million dollars into their new home. Where paper processing machinery once sat, wine barrels are now stacked. Vaulted cathedral ceilings are strung with festoon lights, and hidden in plain sight lies a shadowy mural by local street artist de rigueur Rone – one of only three permanent works by the artist.

While the award-winning, cool-climate pinot noir, riesling and chardonnay naturally remain a key draw at Provenance, the winery’s restaurant is a destination in itself. Impressed already by whipsmart service, I devour one of the most cleverly curated and faultlessly executed degustations I’ve had in some time. It’s all prepared in a kitchen that is proudly zero-waste, and committed to providing seasonal, ethical and locally sourced meat and produce under head chef Nate McIver. Think free-range venison served rare with a syrupy red wine jus and a half-moon of neon-orange kosho, shokupan with a deeply savoury duck fat jus (a modern Japanese take on bread and drippings), and a golden potato cake adorned with a colourful confetti of dehydrated nasturtiums and tomato powder, and planted atop a sea urchin emulsion.

handcrafted pieces — Bell’s handcrafted functional pieces on display.

The complex is home to a coterie of independent businesses, including a gallery, a jeweller, and its latest tenant, ceramicist Elizabeth Bell, drawn here by the building’s “soul”. “There’s so much potential for these buildings to have new life breathed into them,” says Bell, whose studio is housed within the old pump room. “Even people in Geelong don’t know we’re here,” she says. “It’s definitely a destination, but I like that. It has a really calming atmosphere.”

A Melbourne transplant, Bell now feels at home in Geelong, which offers something Melbourne didn’t. “If this business was in Melbourne I don’t think it would’ve been as successful,” she notes. “It’s very collaborative in Geelong, and I don’t think you get that as much in Melbourne; you’re a bit more in it for yourself. Here it’s about community over competition.”