Be amazed by headliner Ruby Fields, with Dear Sunday, Dizzy Days, Chloe Parche and Elaskia. Fun activities, licensed area, roving performers, and fantastic food, followed by fireworks display that will literally Light Up The Lake!

Join us for a brand new eco-friendly Pelican educational experience that gives locals and guests a unique insight into one of the region's special birds, the Pelican.

 Embark on a culinary adventure celebrating native Australian flavours of pepperberry, lemon myrtle, and saltbush expertly crafted to honour the rich heritage of bush foods. Enjoy these vibrant tastes paired with botanical brews in an immersive experience led by Corey Grech, with support from Six Strings Brewing Co.

Discover a vibrant showcase of artistic creations, unique jewellery, and handmade treasures—perfect for Christmas gifting. Enjoy delicious scones from the IRIS Foundation and coffee or lunch at the IRIS Café. Plus, explore the Central Coast Watercolour Society’s Lakes Exhibition, open to the public for a delightful cultural experience.

Experience coastal fun at Avoca Beach with Swell Times! Enjoy beach sports, surf lessons, creative workshops, local stalls, tasty eats, and live music. Join a community cleanup and learn beach safety. Whether you're a wave rider or beach lover, this family-friendly event has something for everyone. Dive in!

Cinema Under the Stars at Gwandalan Lioness Park offers a magical night of family fun. Enjoy a free movie by the foreshore, plus food vans, jumping castles, and live entertainment before sundown. Bring your picnic blanket, gather your loved ones, and settle in for a cosy evening under the stars.

Bouddi Coastal Run offers breathtaking trail views across Bouddi National Park. Choose from 14km or 21km runs, plus a 1km kids’ beach dash. Explore Putty Beach, Maitland Bay, Bombi Point and more. With limited entries, this popular summer event promises scenic trails, community spirit, and unforgettable coastal adventure. 

 Soundscapes is a collection of creative audio stories inspired by natural and magical locations across the Central Coast. Each story has been thoughtfully designed to lead you on an imaginative, immersive, creative adventure in nature. These stories have been created by a range of artists, made up of writers, composers, musicians, and poets who all reside on the Central Coast.

Visit the CCMDC for free during The Lakes Festival! Enjoy weekday access to explore the centre at your own pace, discovering its exhibits and displays. On weekends, book a free guided tour (limited spots available) for a deeper dive into the centre’s offerings. A perfect outing for all ages! 10am- 2pm week days and 9.30-3.30pm weekends.

Ink & Water is a free, family-friendly poetry event celebrating the Central Coast’s people and nature. Add your voice to a community poem, explore arts and crafts, and enjoy word-inspired fun. Type, paint, or relax outdoors, let your imagination flow in this creative, collaborative celebration.

Ink & Water is a free, family-friendly poetry event celebrating the Central Coast’s people and nature. Add your voice to a community poem, explore arts and crafts, and enjoy word-inspired fun. Type, paint, or relax outdoors—let your imagination flow in this creative, collaborative celebration.

Cooking with the Coast explores sustainable, healthy, and tasty local marine foods. Join chef Phil Davy and University of Newcastle experts for simple, delicious recipes using local ingredients. Learn, cook, and enjoy your creation! All ages welcome. 

Soundscapes Youth Writing Workshop is a writing workshop for ages 12–18, inspired by the rich landscape and history of Norah Head. Explore the area, then craft stories using your senses and surroundings. Led by Merran Winchester, this creative session invites imagination—from shipwrecks to mermaids, anything is possible.

Dive into circus magic with water themed acts featuring mermaids, pirates, penguins, and even fire-spitting squids! Inspired by local waterways, the family-friendly afternoon show delights all ages, while the evening show adds spectacular fire performances. Celebrate creativity, community, and the Lakes Festival spirit through movement and imagination.

Gosford Water Polo Club hosts a Junior Tournament during the Lakes Festival! Over two exciting days, junior teams from across NSW compete in open-water matches on Brisbane Water. Enjoy thrilling games, vibrant energy, food stalls, a club BBQ, and a carnival atmosphere celebrating youth sport and community spirit.

Celebrate sustainability at the free, family-friendly Sustainable Future Festival! Enjoy workshops, demos, speakers, and performances that inspire eco-living on the Central Coast. Discover practical ways to reduce waste, protect resources, and connect with your community. A vibrant day of learning and fun for all ages.

‘Reflections at the Lake’ is an amazing Exhibition of The Central Coast Watercolour Society, as part of our 40th Anniversary and will evoke your senses and reflect on wider views and express various facets of loving life here on the Coast.

Marine Magic Outdoor Cinema transforms Terrigal Rotary Park into a vibrant festival space. Enjoy markets, food stalls, entertainment, and a movie under the stars. Bring a picnic rug or low chairs, grab dinner, and soak up the community vibes. Arrive early for the best spot and pre-movie fun!

Marine Discovery Family Fun Day invites families to Terrigal Rotary Park and the Marine Discovery Centre for a free, ocean-themed celebration. Enjoy guided tours, kids’ workshops, crafts, face painting, story time, a scavenger hunt, disco, market stalls, live entertainment, and tasty eats. Bookings essential for tours.

Ink & Water is a community poetry project honouring the Central Coast’s people and nature. Relax outdoors and contribute a word, phrase, or story to a shared poem. Tap on a typewriter, take in the surroundings, and let your imagination roam. Every voice and creative spark is welcome.

Sea Food Fest debuts at Canton Beach with fresh seafood, global flavours, market stalls, and lakeside fun. Enjoy cooking demos, kids’ activities, and a guided paddleboard tour of Tuggerah Lake. Bring your floatie or kayak for the colourful parade—an unforgettable day of food, music, and marine discovery for all!

Zumba Kids brings high-energy dance fun to lakeside suburbs with popular hits and global rhythms. This interactive show blends movement, culture, and education—featuring traditional dances and music from around the world. It’s a joyful, family-friendly celebration of unity through dance, perfect for exploring, learning, and moving together.

Bombora SUP Festival is back! Join us at Ettalong Beach for a weekend of SUP fun, with SUP Yoga, Sunrise Paddles, SUPball, SUP Races [beginner & Pro], Free kids races and a 10k Challenge! Beginners are welcome, plus there are awesome prizes and giveaways thanks to our amazing local sponsors! Gear provided or BYO board.

Explore Tuggerah Lake with Associate Professor Troy Gaston and the University of Newcastle team. Operate an underwater drone (ROV) and view live footage of aquatic habitats. This hands-on activity offers insights into estuaries and coasts, plus the chance to engage with marine science experts and ask questions.

The Entrance Markets return to Memorial Park with farm-fresh produce, handmade goods, delicious food, and live entertainment. Set along the picturesque foreshore, this vibrant showcase of local creativity and community spirit offers the perfect Sunday outing for families and friends.

This relaxed, jam style event includes circus and flow props, guided workshops, and space to move, connect, and play. It’s open to all ages and experience levels, with a warm, community first energy that makes it easy to join in or simply enjoy the atmosphere. Come for the fun, stay for the flow!

Ink & Water is a community poetry project honouring the Central Coast’s people and nature. Relax outdoors and contribute a word, phrase, or story to a shared poem. Tap on a typewriter, take in the surroundings, and let your imagination roam. Every voice and creative spark is welcome.

Acoustic Life of the River celebrates the embedded stories reflected along the waterways of the Lower Hawkesbury River. Step aboard for a river journey winded through sandstone cliffs and untold histories. Departing from Spencer.

Join Central Coast Waterwatch as we embark on an exciting bus tour of Wyong River and learn about the health and history of our waterways. Go dip netting for water bugs, learn about the plants and animals that call Wyong River home, including the iconic platypus.

Join Ruth and Peter Donnelly from Coachwood Nursery, proud Central Coast locals with a passion for native Australian plants, for a full day of Wildflower & Garden Workshops. Whether you're a nature lover, a DIY enthusiast, or just looking for a unique gift idea, there’s something for everyone!

Discover the magic of water at Avoca Lake with The Wonders of Water – Third Edition. Enjoy dance, music, storytelling, visual arts, cultural insights, hands-on workshops, and a sustainable pop-up stage. Celebrate creativity, connection, and community in this free, family-friendly Lakes Festival event by Heartdancers.

 Zumba Kids brings high-energy dance fun to lakeside suburbs with popular hits and global rhythms. This interactive show blends movement, culture, and education—featuring traditional dances and music from around the world. It’s a joyful, family-friendly celebration of unity through dance, perfect for exploring, learning, and moving together.

Discover handmade arts and crafts, unique artworks, and bargain art tables, all set against the scenic lakeside backdrop. Enjoy browsing, meeting local makers, and soaking up the relaxed community atmosphere.

The Lighthouse Keepers revive sea shanties with rough harmonies, steady rhythms, and theatrical flair—blending music hall, folklore, and sailor songs into a salty, spirited tribute to coastal life.

Join the Central Coast Watercolour Society for a free lakeside painting day! Explore watercolour, contribute to a mural, or enter the live Plein Air Art Competition. Whether you're an artist or observer, celebrate creativity and community in a stunning natural setting as part of The Lakes Festival.

Keira is a Central Coast Mum of 3 young boys, who loves calling the Central Coast home and raising her family here. One of her favourite things about living on the Central Coast is how much there is to do year-round!

Along with her husband Declan, they both love being outdoors and whenever they get some kid-free time, you’ll find them going on hikes and exploring the Central Coast's fantastic restaurant scene.

@keiramaxime_

^{Photo credit: Keira Trainor}

A big day of exploring calls for coffee and pastries. Always. Stop in at Sonoma Bakery Terrigal to fill up on delicious coffee and freshly baked pastries.

Hot tip: the ‘Bake at Home' range is also perfect entertaining family and friends at home, or if you’re just visiting to bring a piece of Terrigal back home with you!  

^{Photo credit: Sonoma Bakery}

Take a drive to Bouddi National Park and complete the coastal walk that takes you from Putty Beach to Macmasters. Take your time, the view is breathtaking and you might even spot some Whales!

If you’re interested Girri Girra also offers an amazing tour of Bouddi National Park.

^{Photo credit: Keira Trainor}

If one beautiful National Park isn’t enough, Mount Ettalong is the next spot, less than 20 minutes drive away. It’s a short walk up to the lookout, so you don’t need to worry about being too tired to take it in! It’s also a beautiful spot for a sunset picnic.

^{Photo credit: Keira Trainor}

Finish your day off with a well-deserved cocktail! Indulge in their share plates and theatrical cocktails. You can’t go past the eclectic style of this gorgeous bar. Find a cozy corner and spend a while chatting the evening away to finish off a perfect day!

^{Photo credit: Bar Toto}

Saddle up on a horse riding adventure through the bush trails of the Glenworth Valley, home of the largest and oldest horse riding operations in Australia. Whether a beginner or an old hand, follow the bush trails, crossing creeks and waterways. If you really want adventure, sign up for a cattle ride drive, where you drive a mob of castle across the valley.

If the roar of engines gets your blood pumping, get down and dirty quad biking in the Glenworth Valley wilderness. First, visitors over 12 can learn to operate and steer the 250cc bikes (all with automatic gear), then you can zoom through the bush trails, before finishing on a purpose-built quad biking circuit.

Go behind the scenes for a personal animal encounter in Somersby. An 80-minute session allows you to get up close to interact with the animals and keepers (including a Galapagos Tortoise), but real dare-devils can book in for a Venom Room encounter, where you can watch venomous snakes and funnel web spiders being milked for their venom, which is then turned into important anti-venom for snakebites.

Nestled up high in the eucalypts of the Ourimbah State Forest, big and little kids can get a bird’s eye view of the forest at Treetops Adventure Central Coast near Wyong Creek. An ECO Certified activity, visitors can fulfil their need for safe but speedy swinging through the trees on your own ropes obstacle course, or families can bounce around endlessly in Treetop Networld.

_{Image: Remy Brand x Destination Central Coast}

Whether you’re new to cross country riding or have mountain biking in your blood, Ourimbah Mountain Bike Park has 22 kms of trails to choose from. Including gravity trails and a cross-country loop carved through the forest with various degrees of difficulty. Check these community-managed trails status ahead of time live on their website, and remember the green trails are for newcomers and kids, black trails best left to advanced riders.

  _{Image: Remy Brand x Destination Central Coast}

Some of the Hinterland’s most fascinating creatures don’t keep daylight hours, so book in for a special 'Wild Night Out' tour in Calga, showing you the crepuscular creatures that sleep at both day and night, preferring to come out and forage in the hours around dusk and dawn. Wild Night Out tours start an hour before sunset and finish with a campfire after dark, taking in wildlife at the park including Tasmanian Devils and more.

Love the idea of a night in the Australian bush, but don’t want to sleep rough? Book your night stay in an Eco Cabin at Walkabout Wildlife Park, where the wild things are! Choose from cabin or tent in the Calga bushland, making it easy to rest after your full day of activities and wild night tour on-site. When you wake with the kookaburras singing, don’t be surprised if there's a kangaroo at your window waiting to say g'day.

Head south towards Spencer, stopping for breakfast at the Hub of Mangrove Mountain for coffee and breakfast. The small store offers cheesecake, cafe fare and gelato as well as stocking fresh produce from local farms in and around the Central Coast Hinterland.

The tiny community of Spencer proudly calls itself the hub of the universe, boasting its own “invisible” hotel, river tours, dingy hire, and cafe food. You’ll find one of Rush’s most evocative works: Serenity. While he normally creates figures with animals, Serenity is of a female figure reclining on the riverbank by the wharf created using locally sourced gymea lilies. The sculpture was damaged slightly during the 2021 floods on the Hawkesbury but it still remains in tact with the figure dangling her feet in the river.

Dine in with a view of the water at The Anchor, the newly refurbished, family-friendly cafe at the heart of town. Along with bait, ice and takeaway, the cafe offers live music Sunday sessions on the wharf in summer and fireside dining in the winter months.

Sign up for a tour with Heritage Ventures, who run quirky, ever-changing micro-history tours of the area featuring everything from a tour of Dangar Island to a Women up the Creeks tour (complete with fiddler) and watercolour fish painting.

Drive up and stop at Jerry’s One stop Cafe, a favourite with bikies for their burgers and bacon and egg roll, One Stop Jerry’s Cafe in Kulnura is a must visit for a sneaky bite and a chance to pursue the latest in two-wheeled automotive perfection. Two of Pete Rush’s sculptures are located nearby: Giraffe and a Young Child, and the Smiling Owl.

Feeling inspired by Rush’s work? In the quiet hinterland village of Somersby you can sign up for a Sunday-morning blacksmithing course at Artisan Estate, a 400-tree pecan farm that also offers Farm Stays.

Order a coffee and lunch at Sussurri Restuarant and Manor House, down the bottom of the winding Bumble Hill Road in the rural village of Yarramalong. Sit down in the garden for coffee and a meal, or grab some cheese and produce for a picnic from their deli and giftshop for later on.

If you’ve got kids, make time to detour down George Springs Drive to Grace Springs Farm in Kulnura, which opens to the public on special open days and by appointment, allowing visitors to tag along for the daily chores where visitors can collect eggs, cuddle chooks, pat a calf, and see a cow milked.

Spend the night in a luxury eco tent at Waterfall Springs Retreat and Wildlife Sanctuary, located in Kulnura. Book a self-catering BBQ, pizza or picnic hamper for dinner, and take a one-hour tour of the Sanctuary, which is focused on saving the brush-tailed rock wallaby and yellow-footed rock wallaby, and rehabilitating eastern grey & red kangaroos, as well as swamp and red-necked wallabies. 

Jad is known and loved for his couch antics and is now paving his way as a proud restauranteur. Jad grew up exploring the Central Coast with his family and is now taking his fantastic memories on the road with him as he explores our region.

The Central Coast is the perfect escape from Sydney; whether you want to explore the foodie scene, take time to relax or get the heart pumping – there’s something for everyone.

No road trip is complete without an epic breakfast to fuel the day, pull up to Saddles Mount White, a hidden gem that transcends you into a whole new world. It's the perfect winter restaurant with beautiful furnishings, saddle seats, and a cosy fire.

Grace Springs Farm is a small family-run farm where you can take a farm tour. While there you’ll not only get to meet an array of animals but also get first-hand experience about their regenerative farming. Or, if you don’t make it to the farm, keep your eye out for Grace Spring Farms at the local farmer's markets!

Check in to an Eco Cabin at Glenworth Valley for spacious rooms and breathtaking scenery. Nothing is quite like a winter evening spent around a fire, cooking and chatting until it’s time to get into bed. 

There are endless adventures to be had at Glenworth Valley, whether you’re staying overnight or just popping in to visit. Quad biking is the perfect activity for thrill-seekers. Or slow things down and take a horseback ride through the beautiful valley.

Grab some lunch to take away at one of the local haunts and make your way to Mooney Mooney Bridge & Staples lookout, where you can sit by the water and soak up the sunshine and nature.  The perfect way to remind you that you’re away from the hustle and bustle of Sydney.

Whether you’re travelling with kids or a kid at heart, the Australian Reptile Park is the perfect spot to go on your way back from Sydney. Spend some time wandering around the park, checking out all the animals. If you want to get close and personal, cuddle up close to a koala and feed some Kangaroos before you’re on your merry way back to Sydney after an epic weekend.

Good food and good vibes await at Like Minds where an old general store at Avoca Beach has been transformed into a sustainable community café with a zero waste attitude.

Founded by ex World Tour Surfer Amee Donohue the Central Coast Surf Academy has lessons for absolute beginners up to elite surfers who can make the most of Avoca Beach’s consistent break.

Head to the Pomegranate by Fresko Café in Kincumber to try Australia’s award winning, number one pie for 2022 created by smoked meat lovers Shhmoakesys before craft beer tasting time at Block n Tackle brewery.

Feel the grass between your toes and the sun on your skin as you play a few rounds of barefoot bowls at the Davistown RSL. Then relax on The Davo’s large outdoor deck with Brisbane Water views.

Embrace those vintage Hawaii feels at Shady Palms Kincumber where the menu includes poke and pizza and the drinks range from classic Aussie beers to magnums of French champagne.