12 events unique to Geelong and The Bellarine

If you’re exploring Geelong and the Bellarine, chances are good there’s a festival going on somewhere. The region’s calendar is jam-packed with sporting events, music festivals, cultural parades and foodie showcases.

Plan your trip in advance, here are 12 events unique to the region, from after-dark solstice swims to world-class golf and mussel-themed madness. Start circling those dates in the calendar.

IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong

Held in March every year, the IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong is a fan-favourite on the global IRONMAN circuit, picking up the #1 award for Overall Athlete Satisfaction in 2018. It’s a multi-loop fast course, based largely around the waterfront, and there’s plenty for IRONMAN fans to see and do on the day. We recommend grabbing a park early in the streets above Eastern Beach – a lot of the waterfront roads are closed for the event.

Vic Open

The Vic Open is one of Australia’s premier golfing events, and the only one where men and women play on the same courses, at the same time, for equal prize money. It’s held every February at its now-traditional home: the stunning 13th Beach Golf Links, just outside Barwon Heads. As usual, there’s a huge Tournament Village for fans to enjoy, and entry to the course itself is free! Bring the doggo, too. The Vic Open is a dog-friendly event.

Festival of Sails

Once known as the Geelong Regatta, and first held on Corio Bay way back in 1844, the Festival of Sails has morphed into a huge, family-friendly boat race. There’s live music on the waterfront, vintage plane flyovers, beach volleyball tournaments, great food, and learn-to-sail classes for the kids. The whole thing culminates in the annual regatta race. Just a heads up, the event becomes ticketed after 6pm on Friday and Saturday nights (but the tickets themselves are free).

Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race

The Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race is one of Australia’s biggest one-day cycling events, and draws about 140,000 people to the region every year. The course starts and finishes at the Geelong Waterfront, but riders will wind their way over the Barwon, up the gruelling climb to Ceres, then all the way to Torquay and Barwon Heads. Visitors can watch along the route, or join the People’s Ride and Family Ride, before the main event.

Wooden Boat Festival

Running biennially over the Labour Day long weekend, Geelong’s Wooden Boat Festival is one of Australia’s biggest celebrations of…yep, you guessed it: boats made of wood. Come and check out historic tall ships moored along the waterfront, listen to live music, tuck into some great food, and even try your hand at boat-building. Every year there’s a ‘Rough and Ready’ competition, where people can design and build a wooden boat, then race it around the marina.

Pako Festa

Home of sizzling stir-frys, beautiful costumes, and the cutest parade you’ve ever seen, Pako Festa has been Victoria’s biggest multicultural festival for over 40 years. This thing practically oozes community spirit. There’s folk dancing, craft workshops for the kids, more pierogis and paella than you can poke a stick at, and (of course) the iconic street parade. The whole thing runs up and down Pakington Street in Geelong West. Get there early to grab a park – the side streets fill up by 10am.

Pinot Affair

The Geelong region is home to some of the best cool-climate pinot terroir in the world, and every year the local vintners get together to show off their stuff at Pinot Affair. It’s a three-day celebration of everything Pinot Noir, showcasing the best family-run vineyards in the Bellarine, Moorabool Valley, and the Surf Coast. Join a tasting class, grab a bottle for home, and chat wine with the region’s biggest growers.

Portarlington Mussel Festival

Fisherman stumbled on Portarlington’s rich mussel beds in the 1800s, although the local Wathaurong people have been snacking on mussels here for thousands of years. If you want to see what all the fuss is about, check out the annual Portarlington Mussel Festival, which runs every January. There’s live music, a local art show, and more than 200 mussel-themed stalls to browse. Bring your appetite – and $5 for entry (kids get in free).

Avalon Australian International Airshow

You’ll hear the Avalon Australian International Airshow before you see it. The sonic boom of jets scorching the skies between Lara and Geelong. This is the largest airshow in the Southern Hemisphere, and attracts tens of thousands of visitors in March biennially. Over three plane-packed days, you’ll see rare aircraft, flight aerobatics, drone races, laser shows and fireworks. For a full day of entertainment tickets start at $25 for children above 5 years and $98 for adults!

Queenscliff Music Festival

One of the region’s favourite events, the Queenscliff Music Festival has been running since 1997, drawing over 10,000 people every year. It’s the best place to catch local and emerging artists, big-name Aussie acts like Kasey Chambers and Xavier Rudd, not to mention every food truck from Point Lonsdale to Torquay. The festival runs for three days over the last weekend in November, and you can grab one-day or three-day passes.

National Celtic Folk Festival

There’s a long history of Irish migration to the Bellarine and the Surf Coast, and every year the local Irish communities get together to throw one mighty shindig: the National Celtic Folk Festival. For four days every June, Portarlington gets transformed into a little slice of the Emerald Isle, with folk music, markets, workshops, caber tossing, Irish dancing, and tonnes of children’s entertainment. Kids 12 and under get in free.

Night Tide

Night Tide is the Bellarine’s answer to Dark Mofo: a free winter solstice festival that kicks off every June. As the sun goes down, and the chill sets in, Queenscliff comes to life, with saunas and ice baths, live music, fireworks, raging bonfires and plenty of hot drinks. The program changes every year, but keep an eye out for Barrel Bathing (courtesy of Peninsula Hot Springs) and the traditional Frostbite Solstice Swim (you’ll need tickets for that one).