FAQ

Everyone! Our Festival is safe, inclusive and welcoming and audiences of all ages and demographics can binge on a fabulous array of artistic offerings. We offer something for absolutely everyone and encourage you to try something you might not normally see –  we promise you’ll be surprised and delighted!

Darwin Festival 2026 runs from Wednesday 5 – Sunday 23 August.

The beating heart of Darwin Festival is Festival Park, located on the corner of Smith St and Harry Chan Ave in the Darwin CBD. Our other key venues, including Darwin Amphitheatre at George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens, are in and around the CBD, with visual arts and performance works also held in venues across greater Darwin.

The 2026 Festival program will be available from 9am, Monday 25 May.

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We ask for your personal information in order to deliver your ticket, process your payment and contact you in the case of cancellation or major disruption of an event. We take all reasonable steps to protect the personal information we hold from misuse, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information. 

You can add your e-tickets & membership to your Google or Apple Wallet by opening your booking confirmation on your phone. Below the Item Summary section, you’ll see an option to add your tickets or membership directly to your wallet.

Please note e-ticket and membership uploads to Apple Wallets are only possible through the Safari app

You can transfer your e-ticket simply by forwarding on your booking confirmation email.  

For group bookings, if a member of your party is arriving separately, you may forward them a copy of an individual ticket from within the group booking. Please ensure that this specific ticket is not scanned when the main group arrives.

Each ticket barcode can only be scanned once. If a barcode has already been used for entry, any subsequent attempts to use the same barcode will be declined, and entry will not be permitted. 

The booking confirmation email you receive after purchase serves as your tax invoice and, when applicable, a donation receipt. 

To redeem a Darwin Festival Gift Voucher, enter the 16-digit code from your confirmation email into the ‘Pay with Voucher’ field at final checkout. The voucher credit will then be applied automatically to your booking. 

Vouchers purchased after 1 January 2023 are valid for three years from the purchase date, as stated in your confirmation email. Vouchers from previous years were only valid for their respective Festival periods and cannot be used for the current Festival. 

If your gift voucher or credit note isn’t applied after entering it in the  Voucher field at checkout, there may be several reasons why: 

If you’ve checked all these factors and still have issues applying your gift voucher or credit note, please contact us at boxoffice@darwinfestival.org.au or call the Darwin Festival Box Office on (08) 8943 4222, Monday to Friday, 10am–4pm. 

When booking, select the number of Full Price tickets you want, then enter your promo code in the ‘Apply a promo code?’ field in your cart before proceeding to checkout and pay. The discount will be applied automatically.

Please note: Promo codes can only be used on Full Price tickets, and only one promo code can be used per transaction. 

Most Darwin Festival events are General Admission and do not have allocated seating. However, some venues — such as AANT Centre (formerly Darwin Entertainment Centre) — do offer allocated seating. For events at these venues, you can select your preferred seat when booking online, or the system will automatically assign you the best available option.

For performances in a theatre or at INPEX Sunset Stage, we recommend you arrive between 30 minutes to an hour before the show. The time on your ticket is when all patrons need to be seated.

For music performances at Darwin Amphitheatre, Darwin Ski Club and Goyder Square, your ticket will show the event start time. For door and set times, please refer to the individual event pages.

For safety reasons, some performances have a strict lockout policy, meaning no admission once the show has started. In some cases, latecomers may be admitted at a suitable break in the performance.

Lockout details and content warnings are clearly displayed on event listings, e-tickets, and reminder emails. Please note that refunds are not available for late arrivals to events with a strict lockout policy.

If tickets are unavailable, you can join the waitlist by clicking Join waitlist on the event page. We’ll notify you if more tickets become available. Final release tickets may be added closer to the event date, so keep an eye on our website.

Yes, many of our events are free! Please use the search filters on the What’s On page to find these events. Some free events still require booking, so please read the event listing to ensure you don’t miss out.

Darwin Festival 2026 has a diverse and exciting family program. You can search our full range of family events by selecting the genre Family on the search function. 

For non-family events, please consider that production elements such as loud music, bright lights, pyrotechnic stage effects and show content can cause distress to infants/minors, and lack of light during a performance can be particularly hazardous when bringing a child with you. If your child is upset or restless, please consider exiting the venue for the benefit of other audience members and the performers.

Children under 24 months can attend most Festival events for free, unless stated otherwise on the event page. They must sit on the lap of a parent or guardian, not occupy a seat, and the event must not be strictly 18+.

Please be aware many venues may not have a cloakroom for prams.

Yes! The program includes music, comedy, theatre and outdoor events that appeal to teens and young people. We recommend checking event age guidance and content warnings where provided.

Under 18s are permitted at Festival Park, Festival Lawn and Darwin Amphitheatre, however must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Some ticketed events have age restrictions, or explicitly prohibit children from attending. Please check the age restriction of an event before purchasing tickets. 

It's Darwin Festival... with benefits! A Friend's membership is your secret pass to the festival. You join a community of fun-lovers and unlock exclusive perks, early access, and of course, a stack of discounted tickets.

There are two tiers to choose from: the Friend of the Festival ($99) and the Best Friend of the Festival ($160) for those who want some additional perks.

Both tiers help to support the festival while giving members the chance to secure tickets to popular events first and enjoy the festival experience even more. 

We've got loads of awesome benefits for our Friends in 2026, including the returning benefits of access to early release tickets, discounts on tickets (subject to availability), priority entry to INPEX Sunet Stage events and more!

See the Friends Page to see the full list of 2026 benefits.  

A Friends membership entitles you to 15% off 2 full-price tickets per event. As well as a multipack discount of 15% off when booking 4+ events in one transaction*. Login to your Darwin Festival account online, visit the box office or call to book.

*Offers are subject to availability and conditions. Details of Friends discounted prices are available immediately after Program Launch.

Ticket sales are non-refundable, except as mandated by law or as per the Live Performance Australia Ticketing Code of Practice. For further information, please refer to our Terms and Conditions. If you would like further information, please contact boxoffice@darwinfestival.org.au. 

On some occasions, Darwin Festival is able to exchange tickets from one performance to another, provided the following requirements are met: 
a. The exchange request must be submitted in writing to boxoffice@darwinfestival.org.au (please include your transaction ID) 
b. The request for the exchange is for the same event at a different date or time 
c. The exchange must be of equal or greater value – for example, you cannot exchange from a full price performance to a preview performance 
d. Neither the original nor requested performances are sold out and 
e. the exchange is requested at least 48 hours prior to the original performance or event.   

An exchange fee of $5.50 applies to all exchanges.  

Read our Terms & Conditions here. 

In most cases you can book your tickets and register your accessibility requirements online. Please refer to the How to Book Accessible Tickets section on our Accessibility page for detailed information.

Yes, holders of a government issued companion card can access a free ticket for their companion.

Companion tickets can now be booked online. A valid Companion Card or valid Companion Card Number must be produced at the time of booking to gain access to the Companion Card Scheme offer. Companion Card holders can log in and verify their card.

You can find out all you need to know about supporting us financially on our Donate page.

All feedback received in writing will be responded to within seven days of receipt. Please email hello@darwinfestival.org.au or post to GPO Box 570 Darwin NT 0801.

Have a question? Please call the Darwin Festival office on 08 8943 4200 or email hello@darwinfestival.org.au.