Tasmania Events Sampler

The following is a sample of annual events taking place in Tasmania. Images are available for many of these events. For a complete list of events or for more information, visit www.discovertasmania.com/events This calendar was compiled in December 2004; all information is subject to change.

December 28, 2004- January 9, 2005
Taste of Tasmania/Hobart Summer Festival, Hobart
On Hobart’s waterfront, celebrate Tasmania’s variety of outstanding food and wine at Taste of Tasmania.  Set opposite Hobart’s historic Salamanca Place during the Hobart Summer Festival, the Taste presents a range of international cuisine based upon Tasmania’s renowned local produce and provides a forum for entertainers from around the world. www.hobartsummerfestival.com.au

 
 
January 7 – 9, 2005
Cygnet Folk Festival, Cygnet
Experience “Laughter, Lags and Larrikins” at this year’s 23rd annual Cygnet Folk Festival, one of Tasmania’s premier cultural events. Tap your feet to a variety of music and dance over three days. www.cygnetfolkfestival.org

 
 
January 26, 2005
Australia Day Great Wheelbarrow Race, Poatina
Celebrate Australia’s national birthday, capturing the true Aussie spirit with FREE festival activities for the whole family. The highlight of the day is the grueling 2.5 mile Great Wheelbarrow Race where competitors trek through bushland and ford creeks, while pushing a daring passenger in a wheelbarrow!
+61 3 6397-8280; poatina@fusion.org.au

 
 
January – May 2005
Blooming Tasmania , Statewide  
SIGNATURE EVENT – IMAGES AVAILABLE
 

 
Blooming Tasmania is a celebration of the State’s diverse horticultural and botanical delights. Watch the distinct seasonal characteristics of Tasmania’s gardens but also the effects of this phenomenon on the broader landscape and the Tasmanian lifestyle.  Tasmania has a large number of open gardens throughout the state, many of historical significance. A Blooming Tasmania brochure can be downloaded at www.discovertasmania.com

 
 
February 5, 2005
Great Abalone Bake-off, St Helens
Join the St Helens community and watch 15 local chefs compete for the perpetual trophy, followed by free abalone tasting with locally produced Hazards Ale and award-winning Freycinet wines.
www.netasmania.com.au/online/db/20020106-0.html

 
 
February 5 – 13, 2005
Great Tasmanian Bike Ride, Statewide
Discover Tasmania’s isolated West Coast wilderness with cyclists from around the globe on the 2nd Great Tasmanian Bike Ride. From picturesque rural Deloraine take in Cradle Mountain and Strahan before heading to Hobart for the ride’s finishing line. This event will be held biannually until 2013. www.bv.com.au

 
 
February 11 – 13, 2005
Festivale, Launceston
Launceston comes alive to celebrate the Arts, Food, Wine and Entertainment. Discover an array of local gourmet delicacies displayed by Launceston restaurants and producers, and outstanding Tasmanian wines from the nearby Tamar Valley Wine Trail. Local talent and international buskers descend on historic City Park, providing lively entertainment while enjoying the local gourmet delights! www.festivale.com.au

 
 
February 12, 2005
The Century Ride, Longford Area
SIGNATURE EVENT – IMAGES AVAILABLE
 

 
This annual event is a sight to be seen, with Pennyfarthing devotees participating in a marathon, one-day 100-mile race.  Less committed riders can try their hand at a range of shorter races at the Evandale Village Fair and Pennyfarthing Championship the following week, an event that draws about 50 competitors and more than 10,000 spectators.  www.evandalevillagefair.com
 

 
February 12 – 14, 2005
2005 Australian Wooden Boat Festival, Hobart
SIGNATURE EVENT – IMAGES AVAILABLE
 
Every two years on Hobart’s historic waterfront, hundreds of wooden boats pack the dock, ranging from large working and cruising vessels, square-riggers, yachts and steamboats, to tiny rowing boats, canoes, and dinghies. From February 12-14, 2005, visitors from around the world gather to witness the first ever “Viking invasion of Tasmania” with authentic Denmark reproductions of Viking ships, the quick ’n’ dirty boat-building competition and the Parade of Sail, while sampling Tasmania’s succulent seafood. www.awoodboatfest.com

 
 
March 13 – 14, 2005
Taste of the Huon 2005, Ranelagh
Join the annual celebration of the Huon Valley’s bountiful harvest. From food stalls with delectable samples to cooking demonstrations using local produce, graze on the fine foods in the festival atmosphere. +61 3 6234-784

 
 
March 25 – 28, 2005
The Australian Three Peaks Race, Hobart
On this four-day, non-stop 335 nautical mile sailing race around Tasmania’s East Coast, teams of two runners go ashore for 82 miles of running, scaling three rugged mountain peaks. Australia’s ultimate endurance challenge of sailing and running, commences at Beauty Point on the Tamar River just north of Launceston, with the finishing line in Hobart on the Derwent River. En-route, teams have to scale Mt. Strzelecki on Flinders Island, Mt. Freycinet and Mt. Wellington. www.threepeaks.org.au

 
 
April 1-10, 2005
10 Days On The Island, Statewide
SIGNATURE EVENT – IMAGES AVAILABLE
 

 
This unique event brings together artists from island communities throughout the world to celebrate island life and the special characteristics of island cultures. Painters, street performers, singers, writers, musicians, acrobats, puppeteers and actors travel the island performing in anything from a community swimming pool to Port Author Historic Site. As many as 500 artists for 38 countries will converge on Tasmania during the 10 days. www.tendaysontheisland.org

 
 
April 26 – May 1, 2005
Targa Tasmania, Statewide
SIGNATURE EVENT – IMAGES AVAILABLE
 

This six-day International Classic for motorsport fans features a tarmac rally with competitive stages on closed roads for the best touring, sports and GT cars in the world. The competition concept is drawn directly from the best features of the Mille Miglia, the Coupe des Alpes and the Tour de Corse. It is an invitation only event with up to 300 cars usually participating in four divisions: historic, touring classic, classic and modern. www.targa.org.au

June 17 – 26, 2005
Antarctic Tasmania Midwinter Festival, Hobart
Fete Hobart’s special connection with the Antarctic and the winter solstice – the shortest day and longest night of the Antarctic year. Through science, film, photography, music and art be inspired by the rare and pristine beauty of the last great wilderness on earth – Antarctica.
www.antarctic-tasmania.info

 
 
October 7 – 9, 2005
Tasmanian Poetry Festival, Launceston
This annual festival features poets from throughout Australia and beyond as well as local talent. The event includes the infamous and much fought over ‘Poetry Cup’.  www.tasmanianwriters.org/taspoetryfest.htm

 
 
November 4 – 6, 2005
Tasmanian Craft Fair, Deloraine
Australia’s largest working craft fair features Tasmania’s finest crafts people at more than 200 exhibits and 11 venues. The quality crafts on show and for sale are diverse – woodcarvings, hand blown glassware, leather and metal work, pottery, lead lighting, embroidery, silver and goldsmiths, oil paintings and watercolors, calligraphy, quilling, tatting, egg carving, spinning, silk screen painting, kite and kaleidoscope making, black smithing, wrought iron work, basket weaving, whip making and candle wicking. www.tascraftfair.com.au

 
 
December 26 – 31, 2005
Annual Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, Hobart
Over the past sixty-one years the Sydney to Hobart route has grown from a club race between a group of friends to one of the world’s most spectacular ocean competitions. It has featured some of the world’s best yachts and sailors and been witness to controversy, triumph and tragedy.
http://rolexsydneyhobart.com

December 29, 2004   Posted in: Australia