DISCOVER: CAIRNS FESTIVAL THROUGH NEW EYES

Step Inside Catch Of The Day!

Catch of the Day! turns Tank 4 at Tanks Arts Centre into a bold, larger-than-life magazine universe. One moment you are reading the headlines. The next, you are part of them. Find survival tips for 2026 at Cossie Livs Corner. Try to hook a cheeky croc in the Catch a Croc competition, six holes of hard-hitting mini golf. Confess something questionable to the resident agony-toad aunt. Check the horoscopes for advice that may be alarmingly accurate. Then take the selfie that proves all of this actually happened. Bold, nostalgic, interactive and gloriously strange, Catch of the Day! is the kind of exhibition where every page brings another surprise.

When: Friday 28 August to Sunday 6 September
Where: Tanks Arts Centre
MORE INFO

Rummage Through The Off The Wall Art Sale

Part jumble sale. Part swap meet. Part treasure hunt. Off The Wall Art Sale takes over Tank 3 with paintings, prints, sculptures, materials, oddities and unexpected finds pulled from studios, under beds and who knows where else. Serious collector or professional rummager, everyone is welcome. There are treasures and take home items at every turn. This creative collection is all a part of the Tanks Twilight Markets, Cairns Festival Edition. As the sun slides down, the Tanks precinct becomes an after-dark playground of art, food, DJs, bars, mini golf, live music and mild chaos. Come for the art sale. Stay for the discovery mission.

When: Friday 28 August. 5pm to 10pm
Where: Tanks Arts Centre
MORE INFO

See Double With Craig & Karl

Colour gets louder at the Court House Building and Court House Lawn with Craig & Karl: Double Vision, a vibrant celebration of one of Queensland's most internationally successful creative partnerships. Craig Redman and Karl Maier began their creative journey as students at Queensland College of Art & Design, before building a global career defined by bold colour, graphic precision, optimism and infectious visual energy. Double Vision brings their three-decade collaboration into focus, exploring identity, community, imagination and the creative power of seeing things from more than one perspective. Bright, playful and instantly recognisable, this is art that refuses to whisper, filling the building and spilling beyond with outdoor installations. Discover it all at the epic launch party, which turns up the dial and transforms the space into a full festival precinct. Up Late performances, DJ Bcharre, roving surprises, dazzling visuals and enough colour to make standing quietly in the corner feel like the wrong choice.

When: Free Launch Event — Thursday 3 September, 5pm to 8.30pm. Exhibition during Cairns Festival - Friday 4 to Sunday 6 September
Where: Cairns Art Gallery, Court House Building and Court House Lawn
MORE INFO

Three Exhibitions, Three Ways To Look Again At NorthSite

NorthSite Contemporary Arts presents three exhibitions that move between water, climate, memory, youth, resilience and the marks left across the landscape. Together, they ask audiences to slow down, look again and consider how the world around us shapes the way we live, gather, survive and imagine what comes next. From intricate printmaking and Persian mythology to tropical nights captured in oil and aerial views of a scarred, regenerating land, each exhibition offers a different way of seeing. Discover all three during Cairns Festival. Come for a quick look, stay longer than planned, and leave with a fresh perspective on nature, change and connection.

When: Exhibition during Cairns Festival - Mon 24 Aug - Sat 5 Sep | Mon – Fri 10:00am – 5:00pm | Sat 10:00am – 4:00pm
Where: NorthSite, 96 Abbott St, Cairns
MORE INFO

Too Little, Too Much — By Niloufar Lovegrove

Too Little, Too Much explores our relationship with water in its many forms (clouds, rain, rivers, floods) and the ways it shapes where and how we live. Combining traditional printmaking techniques with the mythologies of ancient Persia, the exhibition reflects on the impact of climate change in contemporary Australia. Drawing on stories of gods, natural forces and human responsibility, the works examine the tension between prosperity and environmental imbalance. Through intricate hand-printed imagery, the exhibition invites audiences to consider our connection to the natural world and the role we each play in restoring balance and imagining creative responses to environmental change.
When: 28 August to 6 September. Festival viewing hours: Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm. Saturday, 10am to 4pm.
Where: NorthSite Contemporary Arts.
MORE INFO

The Slipping World — By Tia Adoberg

The Slipping World explores release, resilience and the ways we navigate an increasingly chaotic world. In recent years, it has become important to reflect on how we process and discharge uncertainty, grief, joy and survival. Inspired by the energy of tropical nights, music, hospitality culture and the social landscapes of Cairns, this series of oil paintings captures fleeting moments of youth, movement and connection emerging from darkness. Referencing Shakespeare's line, "let the world slip; we shall never be younger," the works celebrate our instinct to keep dancing, gathering and finding light through turbulent times.
When: 28 August to 6 September. Festival viewing hours: Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm. Saturday, 10am to 4pm.
Where: NorthSite Contemporary Arts.
MORE INFO

Nature's Dialogue: Shifting Views — By Georgina Hutchinson And Melissa Waters

In Nature's Dialogue: Shifting Views, the artists' aerial perspectives of the land reveal scars of bushfires and floods, chaotic and unintentional marks that become symbols and signs written in an unknown language. They are textures and arrangements that we need to decipher and comprehend, traces in the landscape that speak of cycles of growth, decay, regeneration and renewal, where nature tells us to slow down, to open our eyes, and to imagine the land as a living archive. For these artists, nature is a book beneath our feet, an ongoing dialogue between the natural world and our own search for understanding.
When: 28 August to 6 September. Festival viewing hours: Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm. Saturday, 10am to 4pm.
Where: NorthSite Contemporary Arts.
MORE INFO

Carry The Message With Juubu Junggan

Before you were, you were called. Step into Country as Juubu Junggan transforms the Bulmba-ja Arts Centre theatre into the landscapes of Gimuy (Cairns) and its surrounding region through immersive panoramic projections, powerful dance and original storytelling. This compelling new production by Miriki Performing Arts explores the life of the messenger, from the moment they are called, through their journey across Country, to the legacy they leave for future generations. Drawing on the rich cultural significance of the Aboriginal message stick as a symbol of communication, trust and connection, the work weaves together contemporary performance and ancient storytelling traditions. At its heart, this is a story about purpose. About the messages we inherit, the responsibilities we carry, and the wisdom we pass on. The message is now yours to carry.

When: Thursday 3 September, 6.30pm (Opening Night) | Friday 4 September, 6.30pm | Saturday 5 September, 12.30pm Matinee and 6.30pm (Closing Night).
Where: Bulmba-ja Arts Centre
Tickets: Adults $28 | Concessions/Students $14
BOOK TICKETS

See The Esplanade In A Whole New Light

Canvas of Cairns transforms the Esplanade Festival Hub into a playground of light, sound, projection, water and movement. Created by internationally acclaimed multimedia specialists Laservision, the experience brings together 15 free large-scale installations designed to be explored, touched, followed and discovered. Watch the lagoon glow like a reef after dark. Step through changing seasons shaped by earth, wind, fire and water. See familiar fish sculptures become luminous swimmers, chase projected crocodiles and crabs, walk through a storm made of light, or transform into a tropical creature in real time. This is not an artwork you simply stand back and admire. You are reflected, refracted and woven into the experience. Look closer. Move through it. See Cairns differently.

When: Canvas of Cairns - 6.30pm to 10pm. Cycles Lagoon Show - 7pm, 8pm, 9pm. Friday 28 August to Sunday 6 September.
Where: Esplanade Lagoon Precinct
MORE INFO

Discover How One Voice Becomes Many

VOICES by Pulsing Heart turns light, sound and movement into a hands-on festival experience on the Esplanade's Eastern Event Lawn. The interactive sculpture features 50 translucent spinning tubes, each holding a different voice. Spin one and the sound begins. As more people join in, the lights brighten, the choir builds and the full soundscape rises around you. Designed for all ages and abilities, VOICES can involve up to 100 people at once. It is playful, immersive and made to be discovered together. Step in, spin a tube and see what your voice adds.

When: 12pm to 10pm. Friday 28 August to Sunday 6 September
Where: Cairns Esplanade, Eastern Lawn
MORE INFO

That is the beauty of DISCOVER. It asks you to look at familiar things from an unfamiliar angle. A gallery becomes a giant magazine. A landscape becomes a language. Fish glow, trees speak and one spinning tube becomes a choir.

Cairns Festival 2026 is calling. Bring your curiosity. Bring your imagination. Bring someone willing to confess something to an agony-toad aunt. Step inside. Look closer. See Cairns Festival through new eyes.

The Fun Doesn't Stop Here

Cairns Fest isn't here for a long time, but it's here for a good time! Here's some more inspo to help you make the most of the 10 days.