Start the year at Summadayze, which plays in Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and the Gold Coast in the first week of January. Or join thousands of other sweaty, music-mad Australians at the epic Big Day Out shows, held in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Gold Coast in January/February. Get your summer groove at Good Vibrations in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane in February. Get more intimate with your music at the St Jerome's Laneway Festival, held in the inner-city streets of Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide the same month. The Soundwave Festival brings louder and harder music to Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth at the end of February. The Future Music Festival whirls dance and electronic acts around Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide in February/March. Australia's V Festival hits Sydney, the Gold Coast, Melbourne and Perth in March/April, while We Love Sounds plays in Brisbane, Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide in May/June. A Day on the Green runs vineyard-based events in wine regions across the country. The popular Parklife shows roll out in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth in September and October.

Start Sydney’s summer festival season at the spectacular Harbourlife dance party in November. In December, Homebake brings performers such as Sarah Blasko, Hilltop Hoods and Powderfinger to the Domain. Celebrate the new year with the Shore Thing dance party on Bondi Beach or Field Day on New Year’s Day.  Boot scoot out of town for the Tamworth Country Music Festival in late January. Camp or hire a houseboat at the Playground Weekender, held at Wiseman’s Ferry over three relaxed February days. Chill out at the Thredbo Blues Festival in January, Goulburn’s National Festival of Australian Blues Music, in February, or the Blue Mountains Music Festival in early March. Combine rock music and extreme sports at Newtons Playground at Bathurst on 9 March. Head to Byron Bay for the East Coast Blues & Roots Festival on the Easter long weekend, or the hugely popular Splendour in the Grass, in late July. In October, visit the Hunter Valley for Jazz and Opera in the Vines.

Listen to pop, rock and indie music at the Meredith Music Festival at Lakes Entrance in December. Celebrate the new year at the Pyramid Rock festival on Phillip Island or the three-day Falls Festival in pretty Lorne. Enjoy electronic music at the Rainbow Serpent Festival in Beaufort in January. Listen to live bands on the beach at the free, week-long St Kilda Festival in January/February. Head to Phillip Island for the boutique Chill Island festival in February. In March, head along the Great Ocean Road for the Port Fairy Folk Festival and Apollo Bay Music Festival. Visit the Point Nepean Festival, held on a heritage-listed site in Port Phillip Bay, the Mossvale Music Festival in South Gippsland or the Between the Bays Music Festival on the Mornington Peninsula.  Open your ears at the Melbourne International Biennale of Exploratory Music in March/April. Enjoy saxophones and swing dancing at the week-long Melbourne International Jazz Festival, held in April/March.

Experience six days and nights of live music, literary forums, films, fire twirlers, comedy, workshops and social debates at the Woodford Folk Festival. Well-known international artists and local musicians mingle with poets, cabaret artists and academic speakers in a program of around 2,000 performers and 400 events. Most people chose to camp in the sprawling festival grounds, set in a scenic rural valley around 70km north of Brisbane.  Attune to the earth at Eart Freq, a weekend-long music, lifestyle and environment festival, held in the south-east Queensland countryside in early February. Or submit to six days of great jazz at the Valley Jazz festival in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley in May. The Living End and De La Soul are just some of the big-name artists to have performed at the Groovin the Moo festival in Townsville the same month.

Hear music from across the planet at WOMADelaide, held in March in Adelaide’s huge Botanic Park. Aboriginal song, Latin jazz, Spanish soul, Iraqi rap, Cuban drumming. African musical theatre and French hip-hop are just some of the styles served up from this magical musical melting pot. See artists demonstrate their cooking prowess in the Taste the World tent, try early morning yoga and late-night salsa and enjoy the combined spa and cocktail bar. Listen to classical music amongst the wine barrels at the Coriole Music Festival in McLaren Vale in May. Find soulful country twang at the South Australian Country Music Festival & Awards in Riverlands in June or the three-day Murraylands Music Festival,held at Tailem Bend in November.

Enjoy a magical mix of folk and world music, poetry, dance and street theatre at the Nannup Music festival, which runs over four days from late February to early March. Nannup’s towering jarrah forests and meandering Blackwood River make a gorgeous backdrop for the gentle music. In April, the West Coast Blues and Roots Festival draws big Australian acts such as John Butler Trio, Paul Kelly, Augie March and Missy Higgins to the sunny Fremantle Esplanade. Swing to the smooth sounds of jazz at the Bunbury International Jazz Festival in May. You’ll find more jazz - from soul to Dixieland to funk – on offer at the three-day York Jazz Festival in October. The event draws world-class artists and their fans to the historic village of York, around 100km east of Perth.  It’s a three hour drive from Perth to Bridgetown, where the vibrant Blues at Bridgetown Festival is held in the second week of November. 

Welcome in the new year with three days of eclectic, quality music at the Falls Festival, set on a picturesque farm overlooking Marion Bay, near Hobart.  Past festival headliners include English indie band Gomez, Scottish funk outfit Franz Ferdinand and Australia’s jazz fusion band Cat Empire. Immerse yourself in Tasmanian folk music at the Cygnet Folk Festival in January, set in sleepy Cygnet just 50 minutes drive from Hobart. In February, get back on the festival circuit at MS Fest, where the artists cover the full musical spectrum, from electronic to rockabilly. See international artists such as Keith Urban play at the Southern Roots Festival, held in Hobart’s scenic Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens at the end of March. See Tasmanian and mainland acts perform at the Forth Valley Blues Festival, near Devonport, the same month. Mellow out with more blues, roots, funk and soul at the Launceston Blues Festival in October. 

Enjoy three days of music, art, creative workshops and performance at the Corinbank Festival, held in the wildflower-cloaked Brindabella Mountains near Canberra over late February and early March. Between acts, visit a pedal-powered percussion garden, learn swing dancing, singing or screenprinting or join a yoga lesson. Trace the diverse roots of Australia’s folk music scene at the five-day National Folk Festival, in Canberra’s Exhibition Park. The twenty venues host hundreds of musicians, as well as balls, dance workshops, a poets’ breakfast, wine bar and international smorgasbord of food stalls. Attend jazz and classic concerts in Canberra’s iconic buildings, such as the National Portrait Gallery and Australian War Memorial, at the Canberra International Music Festival in May. Don’t miss the popular, long-running Stonefest, which draws a range of big-name Australian and international performers to stages across the University of Canberra in October. Groove Armada, Grinspoon and the Living End are some of the past performers.

Rock out to powerhouse bands at Bass in the Grass, the Northern Territory’s biggest music festival, held in the Darwin Amphitheatre in late May. Powderfinger, Wolfmother, Hilltop Hoods, Eskimo Joe, Potbelleez and Sneaky Sound System are just some of the stellar acts to have hit the Bass in the Grass stage. Listen to local country musicians at the three-day Katherine Music Muster in May, which includes a pub crawl and busking competition. You’ll find quieter notes at the Darwin International Guitar Festival, which showcases a range of classic guitar styles at Charles Darwin University over 11 days in July. Hear the ancient call of the didgeridoo at the vibrant Garma Festival, held over five days in north-east Arnhem Land in August. Join thousands of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians at the festival, which showcases Yolngu music, dance and other cultural practices stretching back over 40,000 years. In October, Alice Springs hosts the Bass in the Dust festival on its Anzac Oval.