The Adelaide Festival of Arts, also known as the Adelaide Festival, is one of the festivals of arts, an annual art festival which takes place in Adelaide in southern Australia in March. It is considered the most famous festival in Australia and is one of the most significant international festivals of the arts.

Adelaide Festival comprises many events, usually including opera, theatre, dance, classical and contemporary music, cabaret, literature, visual art and new media. The four-day world-music event, WOMADelaide, and the literary festival, Adelaide Writers' Week, form part of the Festival. The festival originally operated biennially, along with the (initially unofficial) Adelaide Fringe; the Fringe has taken place annually since 2007, with the Festival of Arts going annual a few years later, in 2012. With all of these events, plus the extra visitors, activities and music concerts brought by the street-circuit motor-racing event known as the Adelaide 500, locals often refer to the time of year as "Mad March".

The festival receives tourists from both the State and from abroad. This jewel is one of Australia’s greatest art celebrations and catches the imagination of the world’s viewers.

Where: Adelaide

When: March

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is the largest stand-alone comedy festival and the second-largest international comedy festival in the world. The festival runs every year from March to April and lasts four weeks in Melbourne.

The MICF welcomes hundreds of musicians from around the world. The festival is organized to benefit local musicians. The festival has featured talent shows, performances, improvisational theatre, discussions, musical events, and art expositions, while the mainstream is stand-ups and cabarets. One of the most important forums for the emergence and establishment of popular comics in the world, this festival offers shows from funny to stunning stage art.

Where: Melbourne, Victoria

When: March - April

There isn’t anything more than that in Australian festivals. New Year’s Eve is an unforgettable celebration. This is one of the world’s most important and famous free activities, and the crowd continuously increases at midday.

Major Australian cities have special New Year’s Eve events that include parades, music and entertainment. Celebrities are often invited as guests of honor or hosts for large New Year’s Eve events. New Year’s Eve balls are popular and have various themes such as masquerade, black-tie and formal wear, tropical, or gangster and glamor. Prizes for most intriguing or best-dressed outfits are awarded at these events. Many people also prepare their New Year’s resolutions for the next day.

Many Australians celebrate New Year’s Eve on boat cruises, urban parklands or beaches. Others hold special parties or barbecues at their own homes. Public countdowns to New Year's Day are made at large events in major cities, such as Sydney, and are often televised so those at home can join in the celebrations. As the clock strikes midnight to mark New Year’s Day, fireworks are launched to farewell the old year and to welcome the new year. People often hug, shake hands or kiss each other on the cheek to show their joy and appreciation for the old and new years. Many people also toast their glasses and drink champagne or wine to commemorate this occasion.

When: December 31st

The Byron Bay Bluesfest, one of the biggest and most famous festivals in Australia is an Australian annual music festival held in Byron Bay, New South Wales, during the Easter weekend.

The festival was founded by Dan Doeppel and Kevin Oxford in 1990 and is run by Peter Noble who joined Oxford for the 1994 event. It has been held at several locations in and around Byron Bay and is currently held at Tyagarah, 11 km (6.8 mi) north of Byron Bay town. Originally running for four days, it now runs for five days, from Thursday to Monday.

The Byron Bay Bluesfest features a large selection of blues and roots performers from Australia and around the world and is one of the world's leading contemporary music festivals. It is a paradise for music fans, with large grocery stores, licensed bars, quick-food corners, and beer counters added to the overall appeal.

Where: Byron Bay, New South Wales

When: April

The Melbourne International Arts Festival (formerly Melbourne Festival) is a major international festival of arts. The spirit of Australia’s dance, theater, literature, circuses, performing arts, multimedia festivals, and celebrations is reflected in the whole of Melbourne, Australia.

More than 400,000 participants participate in the festival. Epic presentations of art have been noted throughout the festival. It is one of the most successful festivals in Australia and provides an insight into the changing cultural dialogue between the artists and their public world-wide and art installations.

First established in 1986, the Melbourne International Arts Festival is one of the most significant festivals in Australia together with the Sydney Festival and the Adelaide Festival of Arts.

Where: Melbourne

When: October

Parrtjima is the only light festival of its kind, showcasing some of the oldest continuous Indigenous cultures on earth through the latest technology. It is considered one of Australia’s most stunning festivals.

Located in Alice Springs Desert Park, Araluen Arts Centre and Alice Spring’s Todd Mall, the festival includes ten nights of daily film, installations, workshops, music, talks and light shows with world-class artists and performers from across Australia. The festival revolves around the country’s indigenous musicians. The aim is to raise awareness of the former but unexplored aboriginals’ art forms and to show their magnificent artworks while also encouraging others to be informed about their rich culture and history.

Parrtjima is a visually spectacular way to experience the culture, art and country of not only the Red Centre, but Australia itself and is a must-do addition to everyone’s bucket-list.

Where: Alice Springs

When: April

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.

The Woodford Folk festival experience is deep, rich and colorful. 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 rainforest trees, orchids, ferns and sedges, planted to create a habitat for butterflies and wildlife.

The festival program features concerts, dances, street theatre, writers’ panels, film festival, comedy sessions, acoustic jams, social dialogue and debate, folk medicine, an entire children’s festival, an environmental program featuring talks, debates and films, art and craft workshops, circus performances and workshops, late night cabarets, parades and special events including the spectacular fire event.

The festival streets are lined with restaurants, cafes, stalls, bars, street theatre and parades. Tree-filled campgrounds, butterfly walks, ponds and wildlife complete the picturesque site. The festival appeals to a diverse audience with all ages and many nationalities attracted each year. It’s a magical experience, and one not to be missed.

Where: Woodford, Queensland

When: December 27th - January 1st

The Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival features a premier series of Group 1 races run in Victoria across September – November each year, headlined by the four-day Melbourne Cup Carnival.

Meetings held during the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival include the Caulfield Carnival, the Geelong Carnival, the Moonee Valley Carnival, the Flemington Spring Carnival and the Sandown Spring Carnival. Additionally, some of Australia’s premier racecourses schedule a “breakfast with the stars” where guests can watch the horses perform track activities.

The Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival race days offer punters plenty of action, Group races to bet on and feature the world’s best horses with the top odds on events like the Melbourne Cup open all year long at bookmakers around the country.

Where: Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, Victoria

When: September - November

One of the most famous festivals in Australia, this three-week long celebration of LGBT rights is well known for the parade held at the end of the festival. Organized in Sydney for the past forty years now, the world’s largest gay festival, Mardi Gras, is attended by over 200,000 people every year. You will find people from all over the world in Sydney uniting in this mad and exhilarating celebration of pride, self-expression, and love.

The festival includes a variety of events such as the Sydney Mardi Gras Parade and Party, Bondi Beach Drag Races, Harbour Party, the academic discussion panel Queer Thinking, Mardi Gras Film Festival, as well as Fair Day. The colorful, exuberating Mardi Gras parade captures everyone’s imagination, with tourists and spectators joining in the celebrations. You could say that it is one of the national festivals of Australia.

Where: Sydney, New South Wales

When: Second Thursday in February - First Saturday in March

Vivid Sydney is an annual festival of light, music and ideas, held in Sydney, Australia. It includes outdoor immersive light installations and projections, performances by local and international musicians, and an ideas exchange forum featuring public talks and debates with leading creative thinkers.

This event takes place over the course of three weeks in May and June. The centerpiece of Vivid Sydney is the light sculptures, multimedia interactive work and building projections that transform various buildings and landmarks such as the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge in and around the Sydney central business district into an outdoor night time canvas of art.

Where: Sydney, New South Wales

When: May 27th - June 18th