Sustainability festivals and eco living events bring together gardeners, makers, activists, and people looking for practical ways to live with less waste and more care for the environment.
From big national gatherings to community-run events, here’s where to head if you want to get inspired, learn new skills, or simply spend a weekend surrounded by like-minded people.
Below you’ll find a growing list of sustainable living events and eco festivals happening across Australia in 2026.
Know an event we’ve missed? If you run or attend a sustainability or nature-focused event that should be included, get in touch and we’ll add it to the guide.
Australia-wide sustainability festivals & expos
National Sustainability Festival
Australia’s biggest and longest-running sustainability event returns for its 26th year, running across the entire month of February with talks, workshops, films and community action across the country and online. Note: The festival is currently taking a planning pause; check the website for updates. Dates: February 2026 | More info
Sustainable House Day
A national open-house program where you can tour real homes across Australia and hear directly from the owners about practical solutions that make homes more efficient, affordable and climate-ready. This year’s focus is on retrofitting, electrification, and climate resilience, including smart upgrades for renters. Dates: 17 May 2026 | More info
Tiny Homes Expo National Tour
A travelling expo that rolls through showgrounds and racecourses across the country, bringing together builders of tiny homes, modulars, container homes, cabins and granny flats alongside solar, off-grid and sustainable living exhibitors. Walk through actual homes, hear from specialist speakers, and get real answers from the people building them. Whether you’re deep in the research phase or just curious about the lifestyle, it’s a genuinely useful day out. The 2026 schedule covers six confirmed stops:
- Mornington, VIC — 27–29 March, Mornington Racecourse
- Sydney (Hawkesbury), NSW — 29–31 May, Hawkesbury Showgrounds
- Sunshine Coast, QLD — 19–21 June, Caloundra
- Brisbane, QLD — 28–30 August, Cleveland Showgrounds
- Coffs Harbour, NSW — 18–20 September, Coffs Harbour Showgrounds
- Bendigo, VIC — 30 Oct–1 Nov, Bendigo Showgrounds
Perth is in the works for 2026, Tasmania is possible, and Adelaide is pencilled in for 2027. Tickets $20–$35, children free | More info
Living Future Symposium
A national symposium on regenerative design and climate-ready buildings. This one’s a more specialist gathering aimed at architects, designers and built environment professionals. Dates: TBC 2026 | More info
Victoria
Greater Dandenong Sustainability Festival
A free community day at Dandenong Market with a theme of Change Starts at Home in 2026 with practical talks and demonstrations focused on home improvements that cut costs and build climate resilience, from draft-proofing to tree planting. Low-key and locally focused. Dates: 22 March 2026 | More info
Bendigo Sustainability Festival
Regional Victoria’s main green gathering, with a good mix of stalls, expert demonstrations and family activities. Worth the drive if you’re in central Victoria and want to connect with what the region’s sustainability community is working on. Dates: March 2026 | More info
Off-Grid Living Festival
Held on a 100-acre property in the historic town of Chiltern in north-east Victoria, this one’s for anyone seriously curious about renewable energy, self-sufficiency and homesteading. It’s part sustainability expo, part country retreat with hands-on workshops covering everything from solar and battery systems to permaculture and water harvesting. Dates: April 2026 (check website for confirmed dates) | More info
Birrarung Riverfest
A growing three-week festival run by the Yarra Riverkeeper Association each September, with 70+ free events along the full length of the Yarra from source to sea. Platypus spotting, sunset paddles, revegetation days, citizen science, talks, art walks and World Rivers Day celebrations. Very much in the nature/biodiversity space rather than pure sustainability. September–October 2026 (check website for confirmed program dates) | More info
RESET Festival
Fed Square transforms into a hub for greener living across September and October. But it’s less of a lecture series, more of a creative immersion. Expect mending circles, repair cafés, community tree-planting parties, rooftop beehive tours, outdoor cinema, zero-waste markets and art installations. Free, family-friendly and surprisingly fun. Dates: September–October 2026 (check website for confirmed program) | More info
Bass Coast Sustainability Festival
A free, family-friendly day at Blue Gum Reserve in Cowes on Phillip Island. Community garden demos, kids’ environmental art workshops, landcare stalls, Phillip Island Nature Parks on hand to talk wildlife protection, and a Welcome to Country from Bunurong Land Council. The 2026 special guest is Craig Reucassel (War on Waste, Fight for Planet A), which should make for a good afternoon. Dates: 7 March 2026, Blue Gum Reserve, Cowes | More info
Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show
The Southern Hemisphere’s largest horticultural event takes over the Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens for five days under the 2026 theme Kaleidoscope. Beyond the spectacular show gardens designed by Australia’s leading landscapers, there are free seminars, floral art competitions, twilight sessions on Friday and Saturday evenings, and for the first time, a purpose-built wedding garden designed by Jason Hodges. Kids under 16 get in free. Dates: 25–29 March 2026 | More info
Queensland
Botanical Bazaar
Run by the Rotary Club of Gold Coast at Country Paradise Parklands in Nerang, this one has a lovely community fair quality to it with around 90 green exhibitors and artisans, celebrity gardener talks across multiple stages (past speakers include Costa Georgiadis and Sophie Thomson), botanical art, plant stalls and kids’ nature activities. A great local day out if you’re in South East Queensland in late winter. Dates: 2 August 2026, Country Paradise Parklands, Nerang | More info
EcoFiesta Cairns
Held in the Munro Martin Parklands, with the Great Barrier Reef and Wet Tropics Rainforest as a backdrop, Ecofiesta has a distinctly tropical village fair energy, with live music, reef and rainforest conservation stalls, a green-tech expo, sustainable food trucks, and a dedicated kids’ program. It’s one of the few sustainability events where you’ll find reef scientists, Indigenous rangers and EV enthusiasts all sharing the same lawn. Dates: 21 June 2026 | More info
Logan Eco Action Festival (LEAF)
One of South East Queensland’s largest free sustainability events, drawing over 8,000 visitors to Griffith University’s Logan Campus each year. LEAF punches above its weight on speakers, past guests have included Dr Karl Kruszelnicki and David Attenborough’s filmmaker Dr Chadden Hunter, alongside eco markets, workshops, plant sales and hands-on activities for kids. Dates: June 2026 | More info
Moreton Bay Eco Fest
A free community day at UniSC Moreton Bay in Petrie, run by the City of Moreton Bay, focused on sustainability, smarter waste management and eco-friendly living. There are hands-on workshops, activities for kids and adults, community stalls, sustainability experts and conservationists, and the campus is right next to Petrie Station, so you can make the most of the 50c train fare. The 2026 guest speaker is Craig Reucassel (War on Waste). Full program to be announced later in the year. Dates: 7 November 2026 | More info
Brisbane West Eco Fest
A newer community event run by The Gap Sustainability Initiative, bringing together guest speakers, local stalls, free native plants, kids’ entertainment and sustainability activities for the western Brisbane suburbs. It held its inaugural event in August 2025 — 2026 dates are TBC, so worth following for updates. Dates: TBC 2026 | More info
New South Wales
Ocean Lovers Festival
Australia’s largest ocean-focused cultural and science celebration has grown into a month-long city-wide event across Sydney’s coastline and harbour. In 2026, it expands again with a new Manly program, weekly events at the new Sydney Fish Market, marine bioblitzes, coastal foraging walks, citizen science tours and a big flagship weekend at Bondi with free expert talks livestreamed nationally for the first time. Over 100 free events across the month. Dates: 1–31 March 2026 | More info
Eco Living Festival (Randwick)
A free beachfront festival in its 20s (it celebrated its 20th year in 2025). Eco markets, sustainability talks, live music and kids’ activities, all with the ocean as a backdrop. A relaxed, accessible day out in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. Dates: September 2026 (check website for confirmed date) | More info
Sustainable Future Festival
A community celebration on the NSW Central Coast with eco workshops, live entertainment and marketplace stalls. The 2025 event partnered with the Lakes Festival and brought in circular economy specialists to manage all waste on-site, a great example of the event walking its talk. Dates for 2026 are TBC; expressions of interest are open. Dates: TBC 2026 | More info
Blue Mountains Sustainability Festival
A community expo in the mountains featuring stalls, speakers and local sustainability projects. Smaller and grassroots in feel, good for connecting with the Blue Mountains sustainability scene specifically. Dates: TBC 2026 | More info
Western Australia
EnviroFEST
Held in the banksia woodlands of Whiteman Park on the outskirts of Perth, EnviroFEST has a lovely back-to-roots feel hosting community conservation groups, environmental professionals and sustainable producers gathered in the bush. The 2026 theme celebrates trees and urban canopy, with Rewild talks on nest boxes for wildlife, how to spot invasive species, and how to improve your backyard habitat. Free, all ages, and one of the greenest settings you’ll find for a sustainability event. Dates: 21 March 2026, Whiteman Park | More info
South Australia
Nature Festival SA
A statewide, two-week celebration sitting at the intersection of nature and culture, with over 400 events across South Australia each spring. Think citizen science tours of marine parks, Aboriginal-guided walks, coastal foraging, wildlife spotting, garden workshops, nature writing evenings and art installations in national parks. There’s no single venue or headline act; it’s woven through communities, parks and coastlines across the whole state, which is exactly what makes it worth checking out. Dates: Late September–October 2026 (check website for confirmed dates) | More info
Australian Capital Territory
Floriade
Canberra’s iconic spring flower festival fills Commonwealth Park with millions of blooms across tulips, daffodils and seasonal plantings, alongside garden workshops, live performances and food. It’s primarily a horticultural spectacle rather than a sustainability event per se, but the scale of the planting, the free entry, and the sheer joy of it mean it was a must-add to this list. Dates: September–October 2026 | More info
Tasmania
NW Ecofest Tasmania
Held annually in Ulverstone in Tasmania’s north-west, this one has a genuinely community-built feel with stallholders, presenters and musicians from across the state, all working toward the same goal of practical, everyday sustainable living. The 2026 theme is Many Hands Makes a Lighter Planet, which pretty much sums up the spirit of the whole event. Dates: TBC 2026 | More info
