Announcing the Whitsundays Songwriter Festival 2025
SAVE THE DATE JUNE 5 - 10, 2025 for the 4th annual Whitsundays Songwriter Festival
Given Airlie Beach is the only place in Australia to regularly feature live music 7 nights a week, the Whitsundays Songwriter Festival is thrilled to be back.
The 4th annual Whitsundays Songwriter Festival takes place June 5th - 10th, 2025 with our flagship Emerging Songwriter Workshop and Concert & Conversation events on Saturday, June 7th at the Whitsunday Sailing Club.
Do You Know a Budding Songwriter?
The Whitsundays Songwriter Festival’s purpose is to develop songwriters in the Whitsundays by connecting them with world-class mentors to help further their skills and careers. Six nationally and internationally recognized songwriters and artists are invited to the region to mentor a new generation of local songwriters, and to create new songs in a songwriter residency.
Co-founded in 2022 by Queenslanders Karen Jacobsen and Francesca de Valence, together with the Whitsundays Arts Festival, WSF has hosted professional songwriters including Wendy Matthews, Toni Childs, Vika & Linda, Graeme Connors, Tia Gostelow and even had Mark Seymour pop by.
The festival’s one day workshop has 12 available spaces for emerging songwriters to further develop their songwriting craft. Taking place at the Whitsunday Sailing Club, participants will have the opportunity to learn from some of the best in the business. On the evening of June 7th, our yet to be announced professional songwriters will be interviewed and perform in an intimate ticketed event. The Whitsundays Arts Festival is proud to auspice these events again in 2025.
A Rare Creative Development Opportunity
The Whitsundays Songwriter Festival provides creative development opportunities that are strikingly absent in regions, but plentiful in metropolitan areas. Currently, for local songwriters and artists to be able to develop their skills and career opportunities, they need to travel to Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne or further afield.
We appreciate the support from sponsors and partners including I Heart Songwriting Club, Whitsunday Regional Council, Whitsunday Sailing Club, Sea Star Apartments, Airlie Beach Music Centre, Think Real Estate Mackay, Hon Amanda Camm MP, Aussie Mackay and Cruise Whitsundays, and we welcome members of our community and local organizations to support the festival by visiting the Australian Cultural Fund website and searching Whitsundays Songwriter Festival. This project has also been made possible by the Australian Government Regional Arts Fund, which supports the arts in regional and remote Australia.
To sponsor or support the Whitsundays Songwriter Festival, make a tax deductible donation or receive a copy of our Sponsorship Prospectus by emailing: president@whitsundaysartsfestival.org