The Festival of W returns for its fourth year and promises to be bigger and better than ever. Photo: Jarryd Rowley.
The Festival of W will return to the Victory Memorial Gardens in July, with organisers promising the new program will be the biggest in the event’s history.
Returning for its fourth year, the now 16-day event will include immersive light-art experiences at the gardens and lagoon, entertainment and installations by local and national artists, a pop-up dining hub, and the return of the popular outdoor ice-skating rink.
Wagga Wagga City Council Destination and Events Coordinator Kimberly Parker said the festival continued to deliver new and exciting elements, some of which had never been seen in regional NSW.
“We’ve spent the past 12 months curating the program, taking into account feedback we received from festivalgoers in 2024,” Ms Parker said.
“The festival features local, national, and international artists and performers as well as local businesses. There will be live music every Saturday evening, which will include winter food and drink offerings from regional vendors.
“Council has partnered with leading Australian multidisciplinary design and production experts, Mandylights, to deliver a free, large-scale light and sound experience.
“It will illuminate the Wollundry Lagoon precinct, and this year’s theme centres around reflection and refraction.
“Data from our 2024 event revealed 100,000 people attended the festival, of which 30 per cent of visitors came from outside the region. The festival also generated $11 million for the city.”
Elements of the festival will complement National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) Week, which occurs during the 16-day festival.
Four local Wiradjuri artists have worked with Mandylights and local projection artist Alice Peacock to design installations that will be featured at the festival.
More than 8000 people are expected to visit the festival every day across its 16 days and despite concerns about parking from families in the residential areas of the CBD, Wagga Council is confident it can accommodate them.
“100,000 sounds like a lot of people, but we’re spread out across 16 days, and we’re running from 10 am till 10 pm, so really, that’s about seven to eight or 9000 people a day coming through this space,” Ms Parker said.
“A couple 100 people in time on a session through to the night-time experience is when there’s so much open space that people can participate in; there is a lot of parking available in the CBD, from all day parking at Cross Street through to behind Myers, and also plenty of street-based parking.
“We do encourage people to spend some time in the CBD leading up to their festival experience.”
The festival will begin on 5 July and continue until 20 July. Programs will begin at 10 am each day and will coincide with the mid-year school holidays. The light installations will run until 10 pm each night.
Ice-skating tickets are on sale and selling fast. For further details about the festival, head to the Visit Wagga website.
