Get ready to follow the sun, as Airlie Beach Festival Of Music returns this November.
Now in its 14th year, Airlie Beach Festival Of Music will feature more than 60 acts across 15 venues, and a main stage on the water’s edge at the Whitsunday Sailing Club.
There’ll be a mix of intimate gigs in beachside bars, and world-class headliners in a big top tent. . . Complemented by the backdrop of one of Queensland’s premier holiday spots. It’s truly a chance to experience a town coming alive to the sound of music.
Part of the fun this year, set to arrive straight from a European festival tour, is Australian singer-songwriter Xavier Rudd. He’ll be playing his much-loved catalogue of hits as well as a few surprises.
“There will be some new music at this show, which will be played for the first time in Australia,” Xavier says. “From the photos I’ve seen, the festival setting is amazing. My music is definitely a celebration of our natural world, so a place like Airlie feels especially aligned with songs like ‘Follow the Sun’.”
Also joining Xavier will be beloved Australian band Mental As Anything. Their performance will be part of a historic 50th anniversary tour, comprising a limited number of exclusive festival appearances and select metropolitan headline shows.
“We’re known for being a party band, so the Airlie Beach Festival Of Music is a perfect fit,” original member Reg Mombassa says.
There’s no aphrodisiac quite like it. . . The Whitlams frontman Tim Freedman says the band is thrilled to be one of the festival’s headliners for the 2026 event: “I’ve been wanting to return to the Whitsundays for decades and now we have the chance,” he says, adding: “it’s a great line-up, music lifts the soul, and we rock!”
Other additions this year include The Radiators, Adam Harvey, 19-Twenty, Skinny Living, Little Quirks, The Mason Rack Band, The Wayward Suns, Loonaloop, Salt & Steel and the Airlie Beach Festival Of Music’s 2025 Passport To Airlie competition winners Monroe.
“Mental As Anything has the highest number of hit songs of any Australian band so every single person in the main tent will be singing along,” Festival Founder Gavin Butlin says. “And Xavier Rudd’s live shows are the stuff of legend; I absolutely cannot wait.”
Airlie Beach Festival Of Music First Acts
Xavier Rudd
Mental As Anything
The Whitlams
The Radiators
Adam Harvey
19-Twenty
Skinny Living (UK)
Little Quirks
Monroe
The Mason Rack Band
Salt & Steel
The Wayward Suns
Loonaloop
Jc And The Tree
Elestial
Harrison Cramond
Carinda Christie Band
Luke Ligtenberg
