Many of the events along our Surfcoast take advantage of our magnificent beaches including many surf live saving events, runs and some of the regions most popular swims. There are a host of fantastic community festivals, exhibitions and events right along the length of the coast.
Barwon Heads plays host to the Festival of the Sea in March each year. This large community festival attracts thousands to the parkland beside the Barwon River to a day of family fun including bands, music, art shows, markets and special exhibitions. The highlight of the festival is the duck race where hundreds of yellow rubber duckies are let loose in a race to the Barwon Heads Bridge.
Torquay celebrates the High Tide Festival in Early December just before all the tourists flock to the township over the Christmas break. The festival features a weekend of fun with markets, music and other performance, food, art and craft plus the popular billy cart race which is a real favourite.
Lorne’s biggest day on the calendar is early January when the Pier to Pub open water race takes over the township. This race is one of the world’s biggest open water races and attracts thousands and thousands more cheering on. Some of the biggest names in sport, entertainment and even politics take part in the race along with 4000 others.
Anglesea also hosts some of the region’s best water based events; with the Anglesea Surf Life Saving club hosting major events during the summer months as do Torquay, Jan Juc and Lorne clubs.
Easter sees the best surfers in the world come to Bells’ Beach outside of Torquay for the annual Rip Curl Pro. This event has been one of the premier surfing events on the world calendar since 1961 and attracts the cream of international men and women surfing.
The Surf Coast townships all host markets during the year, which offer great opportunities to pick up some of the freshest of local produce and many feature art and crafts from local artists.
New Year’s Eve is another huge night on the entire surfcoast with many of the townships having celebrations on their waterfront. While a little further down the Great Ocean Road at Lorne, one of the biggest events and the annual Falls Festival featuring some of the best and biggest names in Australian and international music happens at a farmland just outside the township.