Nimbin Festivals: MardiGrass, Roots Festival & Annual Events

Nimbin has two festivals you can plan a year around. MardiGrass is a cannabis law reform rally and festival on the first weekend in May. The Nimbin Annual Country Show comes round every September. The Nimbin Roots Festival, which filled the village with music each October, played its last show in 2025.

If you're weighing up a trip from elsewhere in the Northern Rivers, south-east Queensland or further away, here's what's on, what it cost in 2026, and what's changed.

What Festivals Are On in Nimbin?

Two regular events, one ended festival and one famous piece of history. Here's where things stood in late 2026.

They're very different weekends. MardiGrass is protest, music and cannabis culture, loud and proud. The country show is cattle judging, dog trials and kids' pet shows. And if it's roots music you're after, you'll need to go to Mullumbimby in July now.

What Is Nimbin MardiGrass?

Nimbin MardiGrass is an annual cannabis law reform rally and festival held over the first weekend in May. The organisers call it a "protestival."

It started on 1 May 1992. According to the official MardiGrass ticket page, half the village marched on the police station that day, after yet another round of helicopter raids on local communes. The organisers say they vowed to keep coming back every year until growing your own is no longer a crime. They're still at it.

What happens over the weekend

The 2026 program on the official MardiGrass sites looked like this:

• Friday: the opening ceremony, at 5pm in Allsop Park.
• Saturday: the Kombi Konvoy, then the "420 Blaze."
• Sunday: the Protest Rally and Parade through the village, with the giant "Big Joint" and the Ganja Faeries out in front.
• All weekend: Hemposium talks, live music and comedy on several stages, MardiGrass Markets, a hemp fashion show, Stoned Chess and Pot Poetry.

Plenty of people come just for the Hemp Olympix. Lismore App's listing includes joint rolling, the Bong Throw and Yell, and a Growers Iron-person event.

Tickets and camping (2026 prices)

Most visitors choose between an event pass and an event pass with camping.

Camping adds $92.80 to the pass ($156.35 − $63.55), or about $30.93 a night ($92.80 ÷ 3). Children 12 and under get in and camp free.

So which should you buy? Driving up for the whole weekend with nowhere to sleep? Get the camping pass. Staying in Lismore or near Byron and only keen on Sunday's parade? A day ticket might be enough.

Campers should arrive before dark and stick to the marked camping areas. Bring your own tent, van or caravan. There are a few powered sites, and they go first come, first served.

Prices will probably change for 2027, so check the MardiGrass site when tickets open.

When is MardiGrass 2027?

No official date yet. In 2027, 1 May falls on a Saturday. If MardiGrass sticks to its usual weekend, that points to Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 May, with things likely kicking off on Friday 30 April. That's our reading of the calendar, not a confirmed date.

A note on cannabis law in NSW

MardiGrass protests the law, and the law hasn't moved. Recreational cannabis was still illegal in NSW in every source we checked.

A NSW parliamentary inquiry reported in June 2025. It found that personal possession can carry up to two years' jail and/or a $2,200 fine, and it recommended staged reform. Recommending reform isn't the same as changing the law.

This isn't legal advice. Check where things stand before you travel.

Is the Nimbin Roots Festival Still On?

No. It wrapped up for good on 24–26 October 2025, which the Mullum Roots Festival site calls its "10th and final year." The festival began in 2016, and 2016 to 2025 inclusive is ten festivals (2025 − 2016 + 1).

Singer-songwriter Lou Bradley started it, and the festival site describes her as an ARIA finalist. The idea was simple: no single big paddock. Instead, acts played in venues across the village, with markets, workshops and street performers in between. Reg Mombassa of Dog Trumpet, best known for his Mambo designs, did the 2025 poster.

Reading older pages? Watch out. The official Nimbin Roots "About" page and a Humanitix listing still describe its "ninth year" as if it's still to come.

What replaced it

The same team now runs the Mullum Roots Festival in Mullumbimby. The Nimbin festival called it a sister event. The 2026 festival ran on 11–12 July, the second year after a sold-out first.

The Nimbin Annual Country Show

The Nimbin Annual Country Show is a traditional agricultural show held every September at Nimbin Showgrounds on Cecil Street. It dates back to 1919, according to Visit NSW, and it's the first show on the North Coast show circuit. The 106th show ran on 19–20 September 2026 (Nimbin A&I Society, 2026).

If you want a family day out, this is it. Visit NSW lists horses, cattle, poultry, dog trials, arts and crafts, and produce and horticulture. For the kids, there's a guinea pig pet show and novice whip cracking.

It hasn't run every year. The A&I Society says disasters at the showgrounds after the 100th show in 2019 cancelled the next three.

Where It Started: the 1973 Aquarius Festival

Nimbin's festival fame goes back to the Aquarius Festival in May 1973. The Australian Union of Students organised the counter-culture arts and music festival, and Wikipedia estimates that 5,000 to 10,000 people turned up.

The Aquarius Festival is credited as the first event to ask Traditional Owners for permission to use the land, and it included a Welcome to Country. A lot of people who came never left, and the town changed with them. Our Nimbin village guide covers the main street today, where you'll still see plenty of 1973 on the walls.

Planning a Festival Trip to Nimbin

For MardiGrass, book early. It's the weekend the whole village fills up.

Nimbin is a small place in the Northern Rivers hinterland, so plenty of people stay near Byron Bay and drive in. Our guide to where to go around Byron can help you pick a base. If you've only got a couple of days, have a look at our weekend trip ideas.

Worth knowing before you go:

• MardiGrass camping is at Nimbin Showgrounds, and there's camping available before and after the weekend too.
• Day tickets and local armbands are sold in person in Nimbin, not online.
• Check park alerts if you're planning a walk in a nearby national park. Visit Lismore listed a rain-related closure of Protesters Falls walking track in May 2026.

Never been to Australia before? Our travel tips for first-time visitors cover the basics.

FAQ

When is Nimbin MardiGrass held?

On the first weekend in May, every year. The 2026 festival ran from 1 to 3 May.

How much are MardiGrass tickets?

The 2026 Golden Bud Pass cost $63.55 for events only, or $156.35 with three nights' camping. Day tickets were $30, sold in person during the festival, and children 12 and under got in free.

What happened to the Nimbin Roots Festival?

It ended after its October 2025 festival. The organisers now put on the Mullum Roots Festival in Mullumbimby each July.

Is MardiGrass family-friendly?

Kids 12 and under get in free, and there are markets and music. But it's a cannabis law reform protest, and cannabis culture is everywhere. Families wanting a quieter weekend may prefer the Nimbin Show in September.

Nimbin packs a lot into two weekends a year. There's the rally and the Big Joint in May, and cattle judging and whip cracking in September. Behind both is the Aquarius Festival, which put the place on the map in the first place.

Dates and prices move every year, and sometimes a festival stops altogether, like Roots did. Check the official site before you book.