The Australian Wooden Boat Festival (AWBF) has won Bronze in the Major Festivals and Events category at the 2025 Qantas Australian Tourism Awards, announced in Fremantle, Western Australia, on Friday, 6 March, recognising the festival’s innovation, cultural impact and contribution to Tasmania’s visitor economy and Australia’s tourism landscape.
The national recognition follows AWBF’s double Gold win at the 2025 Tasmanian Tourism Awards in the Major Festivals and Events and People’s Choice categories and places the Hobart-based festival among Australia’s leading events alongside national heavyweights Floriade and Adelaide Fringe, which took out Gold and Silver respectively.
“We’re incredibly proud to see the Australian Wooden Boat Festival recognised on the national stage,” said AWBF General Manager and Festival Director Paul Stephanus. “While some may think it’s a niche gathering for wooden boat devotees, the AWBF has grown into the largest celebration of wooden boats and maritime culture in the Southern Hemisphere, with each festival building on the last. This recognition belongs to the passionate community behind the festival — our staff, volunteers, boat owners, partners and supporters.”
Born in 1994 from a shared love of wooden boats, AWBF has become the Southern Hemisphere’s premier celebration of wooden boats and maritime culture and Tasmania’s largest free festival.
Today, the biennial event extends well beyond the waterfront, featuring an expanded arts program of exhibitions, films, theatre, music and family-friendly fun alongside its much-loved flotilla of wooden boats. The 2025 festival attracted over 56,000 visitations across four days, with participants and guests travelling from across Australia and around the globe.
The 2027 AWBF will be held 5–8 February 2027 in Hobart, Tasmania.
For more information, visit australianwoodenboatfestival.com.au
