Early Bird Tickets on Sale Now
All Festival Pass
One ticket gives you access to the entire festival including daily workshops
Bulls and Broncs at the Showgrounds
Friday 1st May
Bull and Bronc Riding
Live Music – Wet Whistles
Food Trucks
Dinner Under the Stars
Saturday 2nd May
Roaring Twenties Supper Soirée – under the stars
Live Music – OZ Horns
Till Late
Festival Finale by the Lake
Sunday3rd May
Violin and Vocals, Junkyard Beats
Townsville Barrier Reef Orchestra
Yirendali Cultural Dancers, William Barton,
After 3 amazing years we are so proud to have been awarded Bronze at the 2025 Queensland Tourism Awards.
Join us in May 2026 and experience the festival for yourself
Festival Site Map
The festival site is spread across three precincts all within 500m of each other. The site is also walking distance from the Hughenden CBD.
The Hughenden Showgrounds will host the Dinner Under the Stars and the Bull Ride events, with live music, art workshops, cooking demos and more.
The Art Sculpture Trail at the historic Coolabah Tree will showcase sculptural pieces entered into our Art Sculptural Competition.
At the Hughenden Recreational Lake you can enjoy star gazing, water sports and food markets. The closing lantern parade is alongside the lake before they are released across the water.
An Outback Welcome for Everyone.
Planning your trip? We’ve gathered all our accessibility information, from pathways to facilities, to help you prepare for a great festival experience.
Outback skies are like no other. Colours as diverse as a paint palette, each day presents a new tapestry in the sky to be admired.
Hughenden
The Festival of Outback Skies is held in Hughenden, located half-way between Townsville and Mount Isa on the Flinders Highway, North West Queensland.
Wide-open spaces and memorable experiences await in the outback town of “Hughie” and you’ll find plenty of things to down in the region during your visit.
The Festival of Outback Skies acknowledges and pays respect to the Yirendali people, the Traditional Custodians of the land on which the festival is held. We recognise their enduring connection to the land, skies, and waterways of this region. We support the involvement and rich cultural contribution of our First Nations artists to the festival.