Great Barrier Reef Festival 2025

Talia Jones

Updated Tue 15 Jul 2025

Your Guide to the Great Barrier Reef Festival 2025

The eagerly awaited Great Barrier Reef Festival is returning to the streets of Airlie Beach! From the August 1st to August 3rd, Airlie will be lit up with colour, lights and crowds to celebrate our local natural wonder! Hosted by Cruise Whitsundays, the Great Barrier Reef Festival highlights the best of the Whitsundays through art, music, cuisine, and performance. You can expect live music, family-friendly events, parades, competitions, show rides, informative reef talks, and more over the duration of the weekend!

Why celebrate the Great Barrier Reef?! The reef is known as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World! And Airlie Beach wouldn't be the town it is today if it weren't for that fabulous wonder. Not only is the Great Barrier Reef a beautiful sight, it is also home to thousands of diverse marine species! By joining in and celebrating the reef, you can learn about its rich history, fun facts, and why we want to protect it!

Here's what you can expect at the 2025 Great Barrier Reef Festival in Airlie Beach!

Great Barrier Reef Festival 2025 Calendar

Below you’ll find a schedule of all the activities happening over the weekend including times, venues and entry fees.

IMMERSE Art Installations

Image source: Great Barrier Reef Festival

• When: 1st August to 3rd August
• Where: Airlie Beach Foreshore
• Entry Cost: FREE

Immerse Whitsundays is an illuminated reef-inspired art installation which will be displayed along Airlie Beach's foreshore. Airlie's iconic fig tree will be lit up to look like an underwater world with marine sculptures and colourful lights hanging from the branches. The art is created by local artists using recycled plastic and marine debris. There will also be sculpture workshops held prior to the event where adults and children alike can create their own marine sculptures. 

Coral Sea Marina Resort Lantern Parade

Image source: Great Barrier Reef Festival

• When: 1st August at 5:30pm to 7:00pm
• Where: Coral Sea Marina
• Entry Cost: FREE 

The lantern parade is not to be missed! This event is a crowd pleaser and a festival highlight for many. The parade begins at the Coral Sea Marina and follows the Bicentennial Boardwalk all the way to Airlie's foreshore. All are welcome to join in the parade, you just need to bring a lantern along. If you don't have a lantern there will be lantern-making workshops held prior to the event. If you're looking for somewhere to enjoy the parade if you aren't participating, then we recommend Sorrento's at Coral Sea Marina as it sits right on the boardwalk! The Welcome to Country and traditional dance will also be held there too!

Firework Sunset Sail on Camira

• When: 1st August at 5:30pm to 8:45pm
• Where: Cruise Whitsundays Terminal, Port of Airlie
• Entry Cost: $135 for Adults

Each year during the Great Barrier Reef festival, Camira hosts a sunset sail to watch the spectacular fireworks display. The sunset sail is all-inclusive with alcoholic beverages (wines, ciders and beers), and tasty food platters for you to enjoy. The sunset sail is the ideal way to kickback and unwind after a busy day of festivities, plus what better place to watch the fireworks?!

Fireworks on the Foreshore

Image source: Great Barrier Reef Festival

• When: 1st August from 6:00pm to 11:00pm
• Where: Airlie Beach Foreshore
• Entry Cost: FREE to watch from the beach

Watch Airlie Beach's foreshore come to life with the annual Great Barrier Reef festival fireworks show! The festivities will kick off with a Welcome to Country, a Smoking Ceremony, traditional dance and a whale story performed by the Yooribaya Cultural Experiences group. Prior to the fireworks, the foreshore will be jam-packed with illuminated lights, night markets, live music and carnival rides. At 8:30pm the sky will come to life, so be sure to bring along a picnic rug and make yourself comfortable on the foreshore to watch the show!

Revvin the Reef Car Show

Image source: Great Barrier Reef Festival

• When: August 2nd from 10:00am to 2:00pm.
• Where: The Main Street of Airlie Beach (Shute Harbour Road)
• Entry Cost: $15 Per Vehicle, $10 Per Bike

Revvin the Reef is a car show that features an impressive array of hot rods, muscle cars, motorbikes, trucks, and vintage vehicles in Airlie Beach. From sleek, new cars to classic 1950s automobiles, there's something for everyone! Even if you aren't a car enthusiast, the show will still be worth attending as the main street will be buzzing with live music, stalls and more!

Rotary Street Parade

• When: August 2nd from 5:00pm to 6:00pm
• Where: Main Street of Airlie Beach
• Entry cost: FREE for not-for-profit & sponsors and $50 for businesses.

The Rotary Street Parade is another highlight of the Great Barrier Reef Festival. The community comes together for the parade to showcase the Whitsundays’ best businesses, schools, community groups and dancers! This year’s theme is ‘Above and Below’ so expect to see wacky and creative reef-themed floats. If you don't have access to a float but you still want to enter, you can simply walk the parade in costume on foot! Cash prizes will be awarded for the best business, the best not-for-profit and the most creative float. You really don't want to miss the event so be sure to head into town early to catch a great viewing spot!

Saturday Beats on the Beach

Image source: Great Barrier Reef Festival

• When: Saturday, August 3rd from 6:00pm to 10:30pm
• Where: Airlie Beach Foreshore
• Entry Cost: FREE

Saturday Beats on the Beach will see Airlie's foreshore coming to life after the sun goes down! Live music will takeover with four top bands set to keep you dancing all night. The lineup includes Baldi & Heidi, ObiSun, Caravana Sun, and Nostalgia Cabaret. There will also be pop-up bars and food available from the Whitsunday Foodservice. The event is free to watch from the park or you can purchase a ticket to enter the bar for $10.

Ark Energy Family Fun Day

Image source: Great Barrier Reef Festival

• When: Sunday, August 4th between 10:00am and 2:00pm
• Where: Airlie Beach Foreshore
• Entry Cost: FREE

Ark Energy are sponsoring this Family Fun Day event filled with exciting activities the whole family can enjoy! The activities include crazy races, juggling shows, donut eating competitions, circus workshops, treasure hunts, face painting, DJ workshops, and more! Throughout the day there will be interactive educational presentations on the Great Barrier Reef. Daydream Island will be presenting corals from their on-island Living Reef, and the Ngaro and Giya Traditional Owners will be running workshops where kids can enjoy storytelling, weaving, ocre painting and more! Make sure you keep Sunday free so you don't miss this exciting free event the whole family can enjoy!

Whitsunday Escape Recyclable Regatta

Image source: Great Barrier Reef Festival

• When: Sunday, 4th August between 8:30am and 11:00am
• Where: Airlie Beach Foreshore
• Entry Cost: FREE 

The Whitsunday Escape Recyclable Regatta is a festival favourite with schools, community groups and tourism operators taking part in the event. The aim of this event is for participants to build a raft out of recyclable materials and attempt to race around markers off Airlie's main beach. There will be four divisions; Children Aged 6-12 Years, Children Aged 13-17 Years, Adults 18+, and Local Businesses. This entertaining event will be sure to put a smile on your face so be sure to head to the foreshore to watch! 

*There will be lifeguards and crew in the water to ensure everyone remains safe. 

Visit The Great Barrier Reef

If you want to fully immerse yourself in the Great Barrier Reef experience, why not spend a night there! Drift off to sleep to the soothing sounds of the ocean and wake to a sunrise over the reef. We offer various options to from sleeping under the stars on a pontoon to jumping on a yacht and feeling like a true sailor. We recommend checking out Reefsleep or Reefsuites Underwater Hotel for a luxurious night on the reef or booking a private charter for an exclusive night on the Whitsunday waters.

For more information on the Great Barrier Reef Festival contact our travel experts via our live chat!