The Big Pineapple Festival Is Returning to the Sunshine Coast in 2024 for the First Time in Three Years

On Australia's list of big things, the Big Pineapple is among the most famous. It's big. It's a pineapple. It's heritage-listed Queensland icon. It's located on the Sunshine Coast surrounded by pineapple fields. Basically, what's not to love? It's not merely a reason to head to Nambour to gawk at over-sized tropical fruit, though. Back in 2013, it also became home to a music festival.

Initially, the Big Pineapple Festival ran annually. At present, it was last held in 2021. The event's three-year hiatus is coming to an end, however, with organisers announcing that the fest will return in October 2024.

 

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No specific date has been revealed as yet for this spring, and there's no lineup so far, but the fest's website says it all: "we're back baby!".

The Big Pineapple Festival's site and socials have also said far more than just those three words about the event's comeback. So, you can start looking forward to a Woombye fest that'll take over the location's natural amphitheatres, get folks pitching a tent at the 4000-person campground, and also span workshops and art installations in a relaxed setting, too.

The fest has always drawn a crowd, selling out in its very first year and plenty of times since. In 2021, Alison Wonderland and Peking Duk headlined, leading a lineup that unfurled top-notch entertainment across four stages. Also included at past festivals: a ferris wheel, food stalls aplenty, arts, crafts and other activities, and camping — all in the shadow of a giant pineapple that's the Sunshine Coast's biggest tourist attraction.

The Big Pineapple Festival's return is welcome news at a time when the Australian music scene has been seeing cancellations, rather than comebacks. Tasmania's Mona Foma said farewell forever after its 2024 event, both Splendour in the Grass and Groovin the Moo scrapped their 2024 festivals mere weeks after announcing their lineups, Falls Festival took summer 2023–24 off, Summergrounds Music Festival at Sydney Festival was cancelled and This That hasn't gone ahead for a couple of years now.

The Big Pineapple, Alpha via Flickr

The Big Pineapple Festival will return in October 2024, with an exact date yet to be announced. We'll update you with more details when they're revealed — keep an eye on the fest's website, Facebook and Instagram in the interim.

Images: Claudia Ciapocha / Charlie Hardy..