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Survival Guide to Port Douglas Carnivale

10 May 2018

While our Southern friends are stoking the fireplaces and pulling their novelty jumpers out of storage, Port Douglas is ramping up for balmy days of tropical perfection and endless sunsets over the Coral Sea. There’s something in the air at this time of year – the taste of paradise on the horizon garnished with good times and grooves.

Yup, it’s that time of year again where we celebrate and promote the very best Tropical North Queensland has to offer – the sea, the sun, the abundance of fresh produce, the talented local artists, musicians and performers. Port Douglas Carnivale is a celebration of our laidback lifestyle, all while being entertained by incredible talent. It’s time to party in paradise!

While the big weekend is 25 – 27 May, events start taking place from as early as 18 May. With events ranging from family-friendly to adults only, however to choose? Here’s a run-down of our top picks.

1. The Longest Lunch & Tropic Nights
May 25th | 11.30AM – 3.00PM

Who doesn’t love a long lunch? Kicking off the Carnivale celebrations is the hugely successful event favourite, The Longest Lunch. Cool breezes through your hair, ocean views accompanied by local produce and excellent drinks to get the weekend started, The Longest Lunch serves up a delicious and delightful afternoon of gourmet treats, entertainment by Spiegeltent performers and cool tunes under the swaying palms.

Tropic Nights brings to life the iconic Sugar Wharf with a visual feast of captivating projection installations and cutting edge digital projection art. Bringing light and vibrancy to the Wharf with graphic art and custom video displays, this evening event is one for the whole family.

2. Wonderland Spiegeltent
May 18th – 27th  (see program for show times)

Like stumbling drunkenly into a 19th century bootleg salon, the Wonderland Spiegeltent transports you to a world of aural decadence steeped in the darkest of blues and lusty, busty entertainment. The famous Wonderland Spiegeltent, one of few extraordinary and hand-sewn pavilions left in the world originally used as travelling dance halls, bars and entertainment venues, are the hub of night time entertainment over the Port Douglas Carnivale festival.

With a variety of circus-inspired shows for the family and the more late-night risqué adults only cabaret and burlesque, the Spiegeltent shows are a decadent blend of sensational acrobatics, operatic cabaret and tongue in cheek comedy. A non-stop celebration of the bewildering, the astounding and the downright sexy, these are shows not to miss.

3. Hemingways Seafood Extravaganza @ Crystalbrook Superyacht Marina
May 27th | 12.00PM – 5.00PM

What’s better than an afternoon eating the freshest of seafood in the sunshine, sipping the most delightful of local brews and listening to tunes along a tropical boardwalk? Nope? Can’t think…? No, us either.

Hemingway’s Brewery is excited to be bringing the Seafood Extravaganza back to Port Douglas Carnivale, with a monster line up of music, entertainment, and of course a showcase of the best seafood the region has to offer, as well as the very best locally brewed boutique beers. So kick back with a coldie, listen to the bands, and tuck into that bucket of prawns.

Top image courtesy of Tourism Tropical North Queensland