The Lakes Festival is back

Mark the dates in your diary now! The fantastic Lakes Festival will once again be making a splash across the entire Central Coast between 3-12 November 2023.

18 October 2023

 

This huge 10-day celebration of our waterways includes over 30 events at more than 10 locations and brings locals and visitors together to enjoy exciting family-friendly activities, cultural and educational programs hosted by local organisations and businesses.

 

Central Coast Council Unit Manager Community and Culture, Glenn Cannard said Council is once again excited to deliver the event.

 

“The Lakes Festival is one of the region’s biggest events, with last year’s event attracting more than 20,000 participants over the 10 days," Mr Cannard said.

 

“The Lakes Festival is also designed to help educate visitors and locals alike about our beautiful waterways, which are such a vital part of the Coast both from an activity and environmental point of view.”

 

Highlights of this year’s Festival include:

 

Light Up The Lake

 

• Live performances including headliners Royel Otis, plus The Buoys

 

• Community Mural Project and education stalls

 

• Flow Walk, LED props, circus play and more

 

• Climb inside a real fire engine and meet the local heroes from the NSW Fire Brigade

 

Family Fun

 

CLIPPED Karaoke

 

• Be the star of your own live music video plus enjoy plenty of other activities for the kids

 

The Wonders of Water

 

• Art, dance, food, and education about our relationship with water

 

• Arts and Crafts

 

• Trash to Treasure mural, and Turtle Dream sculpture creations from collected rubbish found in our waterways

 

Waterside Weaving Workshop

 

• Create sustainable art, bowls, jewellery and more from fibres collected from local waterways

 

• 8th Annual Toukley Arts and Crafts Festival

 

Outdoors

 

• Kayak eco-tours at five locations! (Avoca lagoon, The Entrance, Budgewoi, Davistown and Patonga)

 

• Floating Landcare to restore local wetlands and waterways

 

• Beach SUP Festival

 

• Bouddi Coastal Run

 

Music and Entertainment

 

• For the first time ever, COMEDY is part of the program, including three weekday shows from local comedian Marty Bright and his funny friends, including Julia Wilson (The Comedy Channel), Tommy Dean and Peter Berner. Also a weekend Comedy Gala with an amazing line-up of Australia's funniest stars, homegrown legends and next-big-things in comedy.

 

Returning favourite, CLAMBAKE VI

 

• Sink or Swim - Join the deep-sea denizens in an unexplored underwater oddity with a night of burlesque, drag, circus and cabaret.

 

Council Administrator Rik Hart said the Lakes Festival is a great opportunity for everyone to get out and about, discover, or even rediscover, places right on your doorstep, and celebrate with family and friends.

 

“Our beautiful lakes and waterways form a large part of the Central Coast’s identity and are the reason why many of us choose to live, work and play in the region,” Mr Hart said.

 

“The Festival also is important economically for the region, in 2022 injecting nearly $3.5M into the local economy – a very important boost for local businesses and employment.”

 

The Lakes Festival takes place from Friday 3 to Sunday 12 November and spans locations across The Entrance, Long Jetty, Toukley, Budgewoi, Avoca, Ettalong, Killcare, Davistown, Woy Woy, and Gosford.

 

 For all information about the Lakes Festival activities and locations visit here.