East Gippsland Winter Festival - Free Family Fun 2024

East Gippsland has something for everyone this coming week. There are markets, music and adventure on offer. 

To check out everything that is on in the region this week click here

East Gippsland Winter Festival 2024!

Free Family Fun 

With only a couple of weeks until the Victorian winter school holidays, the East Gippsland Winter Festival 2024 program (from 21 June to 21 July 2024) is overflowing with free family-friendly events, workshops and activities to beat the budget blues.

Beginning on the Winter Solstice, the festival program features over 100 different events that showcase the region as a year-round family-friendly destination.

Visitors of all ages are catered for with a variety of free and ticketed offerings including lantern making workshops (and parades to show them off), art and lighting installations, cooking and craft classes, after-dark neon bike rides, guided Koala spotting tours, outdoor cinemas, concerts in caves, ice carving, spectacular fire shows, kite flying and hot springs bathing!! Families will find all of this and so much more at the East Gippsland Winter Festival during the school holidays.

Located an easy 3-hour drive from Melbourne, East Gippsland is the perfect destination for an affordable family getaway with an abundance of free activities and accommodation options to suit any budget.

Highlights of this year’s free, family-friendly events include:

● 21 June - 13 July: Lantern Making Workshops - don’t miss the dozen free workshops happening across East Gippsland to craft your own lantern to parade in one or all of the region-wide lantern parades. And then it’s yours to take home!
● 22 June: Medieval Winter Fire Festival, Bruthen – be transported back in time at the Medieval Winter Fire Festival, featuring thrilling sword fights, bonfires, lively music, medieval costumes, and fireside feasting. Fun for all ages and ragers!
● 2 - 3 July: Wire and Light Sculptures - unleash their creativity with a hands-on sculpture workshop by diving into the imaginative world of wire + light at EGAG.
● 2 July + 9 July: Junior Rangers Camp Fire & Damper Workshops - Learn to build a safe campfire and make damper in this hands-on Junior Ranger workshop.
● 9 July: Glo Ride Bairnsdale - Deck out your bike with neon glowsticks, fairy lights, multi-coloured striplights, flashing LEDs, fluro-paint and join the Glo Ride party!
● 6 July: Metung Fire & Ice - a festival favourite, don’t miss the magic of live ice carving, fire breathing, food stalls and live music in the picturesque Metung village.
● 7 July: Winter Warming Scouts Fun - Join the Bairnsdale Scouts + Girl Guides for a fun filled day of activities including, old-time games (tug-of-war, egg-and-spoon and sack races), camp-fire singalongs, face painting, scavenger hunts and more.
● 13 July: Paynesville Water & Lights Festival - rug up for a magical night by the water with a lakeside lantern parade, lighting installations off the jetties and a family-friendly outdoor cinema night with food truck fare for all!
● 14 July: Winter Skate at Cann River - Celebrate youthful spirit at the Cann River Community Centre and its new skatepark with free activities, skating, food stalls, and live performances by Regional Arts Victoria’s Bad Kids Project and local artists.
● 28 June - 19 July: Buchan Presents Christmas in July - Buchan presents a three-week long program of events and festival fun in the Buchan Valley. Expect magical light displays, concerts in caves, enchanting lantern parades, Christmas cringe and carolling, cold plunges, craft workshops and more!

To learn more about the festival program visit East Gippsland Winter Festival.