Sorrento Solstice Festival

Overview

Sorrento's upmarket seaside charm is unmistakable during the warmer months, whether you're hanging by the beach or sipping back spritzes in town. Yet for the past three years, the community has embraced its quietest and coldest time of the year, transforming the shortest days by the waterfront with a little after-dark intrigue for the free Sorrento Solstice Festival.

Attracting over 10,000 visitors to the Sorrento Foreshore, the 2026 instalment is happening from Saturday, June 20–Sunday, June 21. Headlined by what's quickly becoming a cornerstone local tradition, the festival welcomes new beginnings with the burning of a six-metre effigy on the waterfront, believed to be the largest in Victoria.

Yet there's plenty more to explore on the program. Two stages burn bright with live music and DJs featuring local artists, while roving performers add to the evening's mystique. Plus, there's a silent disco, sound healing and a curated Solstice Zone, brimming with themed market vendors selling crystals, and a pop-up sauna space led by Peninsula Hot Springs.

For kids, the experience will also live long in the memory, with a tailor-made family zone offering face painting, hair braiding, giant bubbles, boutique ice cream from Sorrento's Mubble and more. Alongside stellar food and drink, licensed bars and a glowing lantern-lit path along the foreshore, this one-night coastal encounter is the ideal way to reset as the light returns.

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Images: Supplied.