The Australian Wooden Boat Festival (AWBF) has launched its 2025 Festival Program, presenting “The Pacific” as its central theme. The festival will showcase this vast ocean region’s cultural and historical significance, featuring content from New Zealand, Hawaii, Tahiti, New Caledonia, Japan, the US West Coast and other Pacific locales.

Tasmania’s largest free event and the largest celebration of wooden boats and maritime culture in the Southern Hemisphere will be held 7–10 February 2025. Over four days, Hobart’s waterfront will reach its fullest potential and become a place of pilgrimage for 400+ boats and tens of thousands of visitors from across Australia and the world.

Highlights of the 2025 Pacific-themed program include the Pacific Seafarers Precinct presenting navigators, artists, curators, and maritime artisans who embody the ancient and ongoing traditions of the region, feature vessels such as the recently restored 1896 New Zealand built yacht Te Uira—one of the first racing yachts to make it to Australia—and the Australian debut of the Kumundar Gujo Project, a giant Japanese-inspired jungle gym that kids build themselves.

AWBF General Manager and Festival Director, Paul Stephanus, to the left Tasmanian Minister for the Arts and Heritage, Madeleine Ogilvie, and to the right, CEO of Destination Southern Tasmania, Alex Heroys © Australian Wooden Boat Festival – Photographer Wilkography

The launch of the restored vessel Te Uira at the launch of the 2025 AWBF Program on Thursday 7 November, 2024 © Australian Wooden Boat Festival – Photographer Wilkography

AWBF General Manager and Festival Director Paul Stephanus said, “The AWBF is a celebration of our collective heritage. The 2025 theme allows us to explore our connection with the Pacific like never before, bringing visitors face-to-face with historic vessels and remarkable people from across the ocean. We hope to create a festival experience that feels both grand in its spectacle and intimate in its sense of community.”

Festival favourites are back but with a Pacific twist. The ever-popular Wooden Boat Symposium will dive deep into stories of (mis)adventure and tackle hot-button issues, the Shipwrights Village and Noisy Boatyard will deliver demonstrations and workshops by master craftspeople, and the bustling Maritime Marketplace will offer unique wares. The Little Sailors Village and Constitution Dock will engage young hearts and minds with activities for all ages, culminating in the thrilling Quick & Dirty Boatbuilding Challenge and Race.

CEO of Destination Southern Tasmania, Alex Heroys, said, “The Australian Wooden Boat Festival is a highlight on the event calendar for both locals and visitors, significantly boosting Tasmania’s visitor economy and creating a sense of pride and celebration of our maritime roots. The festival is a testament to our community’s spirit and a thrilling showcase of our connections to the wider world.”

The 2025 AWBF program is available online now at awbf2025.org.au/