Add these hot-ticket events to your calendar and discover why Tasmania’s reputation for entertainment is on the rise. With its world-class food and wine festivals, plus cutting-edge music and art, the Apple Isle punches well above its weight in the culture stakes.

The Falls Music & Arts Festival, Marion Bay

One of the most highly anticipated events on Australia’s music calendar, Falls Festival at Marion Bay hosts big-name musicians from around the globe, as well as interactive arts, sustainable initiatives and delicious local food. Since its inception in 2003, the festival has hosted internationals such as Vampire Weekend, Fleet Foxes and Arctic Monkeys. The 2015/2016 festival includes Weird Al Yankovic, Bloc Party and Art vs Science among a packed field of other international and local talents. With a backdrop of pristine coastline, just an hour’s drive from Hobart, the festival offers the ultimate New Year’s party experience. 

Festival of Voices

This 10-day festival, running annually in July, showcases a stellar line-up of singers, choristers and conductors. Staged across historic venues throughout Hobart, the festival attracts artists from Australia and abroad and has played host to Grammy award-winning Sweet Honey in the Rock, Ella Hooper, Darren Percival, Wes Carr and cabaret superstar Lady Rizo. 

MONA FOMA

The Museum of Old and New Art: Festival of Music and Art is curated by Brian Ritchie of the Violet Femmes, and offers an eclectic and eccentric mix of avant-garde orchestra, installations and performances staged across Hobart throughout January. The festival’s sibling, Dark Mofo, celebrates the capital’s winter solstice with public sound, art, and film installations, extending the experimental themes presented at MONA. 

The Taste of Tasmania

Held on Hobart’s waterfront to coincide with the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, Taste of Tasmania showcases the island’s produce and producers and has become one of Australia’s most popular food festivals. Attracting about 300,000 hungry revelers each year, the festival includes pop-up dinners, tasting tours, cooking demonstrations, and a twilight cinema and has cemented Tasmania’s reputation as a food lovers’ playground.

Tasmanian International Arts Festival

The biennial Tasmanian International Arts Festival (formerly Ten Days on the Island) presents a wide-ranging program of international and local artists whose work celebrates island culture. Events are spread across Tasmania and include theatre, music, dance, visual arts, comedy, cabaret and circus. 

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