Overview
Diaries out: The Big Pineapple Festival is returning in 2024, hitting up its namesake on the Sunshine Coast for the first time since 2021, and it now has a date confirmed. Whatever else you had planned for Saturday, October 19, cancel it — you'll be dancing in the shadow of a giant piece of tropical fruit.
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 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 fruit, though. Back in 2013, it also became home to a music festival, which ran annually until its current three-year break.
That hiatus is coming to an end, however, with organisers announcing that the fest will return in October 2024 — and now locking in exactly when. There's no lineup as yet, but whoever takes to the event's stages will do so between 11am–10pm. And yes, camping is still on offer for two days.
If you hadn't already, 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 on Saturday, October 19, 2024. 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..