Overview
Talk about bloomin' great events: in autumn in the Scenic Rim, golden petals await at the Kalbar Sunflower Festival. For three days each year, a southeast Queensland farm opens its gates to the public for a weekend filled with yellow hues, florals as far as the eye can see, a sunflower maze and other activities celebrating its chosen plant. In 2025, you'll want to make sure that you're free to head along across Friday, May 2–Sunday, May 4.
Located just over an hour outside of Brisbane, the Kalbar Sunflowers farm couldn't be more vibrant when it hosts its fest. It's no wonder that the event has become a much-loved and hugely popular autumn mainstay, with 12,000-plus people attending annually. Tickets are a hot commodity, with 2025's going on sale at the end of March.
While the complete program for this year won't drop until Saturday, March 1, those lucky enough to score entry will spy sunflowers all around them at the Jenner family farm no matter what's on the full itinerary. In its early years, more than 200,000 blooms reached up to the sky, which is a hefty number. In 2023, over one million sunflowers were planted across 24 acres — and the same number will bloom in 2025. All of those golden petals also help the fest play host to a highlight to get lost in, literally: the popular sunflower maze.
Picking sunflowers is on the agenda, too, costing $2 per stem. As happened in 2024, taking florals home with you will support a supremely worthy cause. To pay tribute to her husband Russell, who battled oesophageal cancer for 18 months and passed away in July 2023, the event's organiser Jenny Jenner is donating the proceeds from flower sales to The Mater Foundation and the Ipswich Hospital Foundation.
Attendees can also look forward to the event's first animal petting zoo, a Devonshire tea marquee, the return of the fest's special-event lunches and gala dinner, food trucks serving up other bites, sunflower-themed market stalls and the sensory garden. Two murals will be painted, with the proceeds for taking part in making art going to community organisations.
Past years have also featured yoga sessions among the sea of gold, art classes amid the blooms, making flower crowns, helicopter rides over the fields, sound-healing meditation classes among the petals and photo sessions, of course. Fingers crossed that they'll all be back.
The Kalbar Sunflower Festival came about after Russell and Jenny changed direction during Queensland's ongoing drought conditions. Previously, they farmed lucerne but, with water levels low, they opted to switch to a crop that doesn't require as much H2O. And, with all those sunflowers then looking rather striking, the couple wanted to let everyone else enjoy their golden petals.
The Kalbar Sunflower Festival 2025 takes place from Friday, May 2–Sunday, May 4 at Kalbar in Queensland's Scenic Rim. For further information, plus tickets from March, head to the event's website.