Event date: 17 December 2025
Come along to Maffra's family event in the main street and get all the good vibes of Christmas, at the annual Maffra Christmas Festival. Market stalls, food trucks, kids entertainment and roaming entertainment.
Event date: 18 - 19 April 2026
The award winning National Tourism Accredited Laura Fair is a major rural festival of the Southern Flinders Ranges, held over two days annually in Laura on the first weekend of April and typically attracting 10,000 to 15,000 patrons.
The Laura Fair was first held in 1980, the brainchild of Rocky River Historic and Art Society member Dick Biles. It has been held every year since except during the COVID years. Originally started as a way to promote art and culture in the area, the resounding success of the first year led to the formation of a separate committee to undertake organisation of the event. Since 1981 the wholly volunteer driven Laura Fair Committee has been responsible for this.
The event has since grown into one of the major festivals of our region and has an important economic benefit for businesses around the region. It is the main annual fundraising avenue for many local community groups.
Our family focused event provides a wonderful country experience, with free entertainment over the whole weekend. Our event features a Street Parade with a themed costume parade put together by the local school, beautiful PADARC vintage cars, SES, CFS and local business floats, two stages of live entertainment playing all weekend, as well as roving performers and buskers, Sideshow Alley and the Showmen’s Guild of South Australia rides, on Saturday night there’s food stalls, licensed bar and Entertainment until 10pm. Golden North Ice-Cream Eating Competition, Boot toss competition, Old Courthouse Art Gallery exhibition and over 100 stalls selling a huge variety of handcrafted items, as well as food and refreshment stalls catering to a wide range of tastes.
Laura is a vibrant, artistic rural community with a population of approximately 650, situated beside the Rocky River and amongst the rolling hills of the Southern Flinders Ranges. Our event is wholly driven by a small volunteer committee and a large contingent of casual volunteers who assist with various aspects of the event.
The Woodford Folk Festival is held annually over six days and six nights, from Dec 27th through to January 1st. More than 2,000 local, national and international, artists, musicians and presenters put on over 438 acts to an audience of an estimated 132,000 people. The festival begins each year with the iconic Opening Ceremony and closes with the spectacular showcase, the Fire Event on New Year’s Day. This year will be the 35th Woodford Folk Festival and the 28th held at Woodfordia. It is the largest gathering of artists and musicians in Australia.
The Woodford festival experience is deep, rich and colourful. It is based on a vision of inclusive and creative community, culture and tradition passed through generations, expressed through story and ceremony. The site, a former barren dairy farm, has been lovingly regenerated with over 120,000 subtropical rain forest trees, orchids, ferns and sedges, planted to create a habitat for butterflies and wildlife.
Woodfordia is transformed into a village that hosts over 25,000 daily patrons, performers, stallholders, volunteers and organisers. As many as 2,680 volunteers across 162 departments are at the heart of the organisation and contribute to the setup and day-to-day running of the festival. During the event, the festival is actually the 67th largest town in Australia.
Each year construction begins in early December and continues up until Christmas Day. Over 450 contractors and volunteers build the village. Many come from around the world to be part of the festival build and then stay for a week after to pull the event down.
WE HAVE BEEN LONGING TO ANNOUNCE THIS NEWS SINCE WHAT SEEMS LIKE FOREVER – WOODFORD FOLK FESTIVAL IS BACK!
Change has been more of a constant these past couple of years and that will continue into the future. The return of the festival this year will see some venues retired, some taking a year off, others returning in full glory along with some new kids on the block.
The programme will continue to have the diversity, excellence and depth that Woodford patrons have revelled in over the years.
Tickets will be capped this year to make sure we get the comfort level just right.
We will be launching tickets in June – make sure you are signed up to our mailing list stay up to date.