FAQs

The Draft Events Strategy is a 10-year plan that outlines how the City of Coffs Harbour will attract, support, and retain events and festivals across the region. 

It sets a clear direction for the types of events the City will prioritise, how event investment decisions will be made, and what the event calendar should look like as the region grows. The strategy is based on extensive community feedback, stakeholder engagement, economic analysis, and an assessment of the current event portfolio. 

Coffs Harbour is experiencing significant change — a growing population, shifts in tourism trends, and increased demand for diverse, high-quality events. 

The current event portfolio is strong but heavily weighted toward mass-participation sports. Meanwhile, community feedback shows a strong desire for more music, cultural, arts, and food-based events. 

The strategy ensures the City can: 

• Make informed, transparent decisions on event funding 
• Prioritise events that benefit the whole community 
• Attract high-value events that support local business 
• Plan for future infrastructure needs 
• Strengthen Coffs Harbour’s identity and reputation 

The strategy is built on a large amount of local input, including: 

• A community survey (256 respondents) 
• A paid local panel survey 
• Stakeholder workshops with event organisers, sporting bodies and local businesses 
• Internal staff workshops 
• Economic impact modelling of existing events 
• Industry benchmarking and trend analysis 

Across all engagement, support for events was extremely strong — with 89% of residents saying events and festivals are important for the region. 

Community feedback clearly shows people want a broader mix of events. 

Top preferences include: 

• Music festivals and live concerts 
• Food and drink festivals 
• Cultural events celebrating local identity 
• Outdoor arts, lighting and night-time activations 
• Winter festivals 
• Multi-day experiences 

There is still support for sport — but it is secondary to more diverse, inclusive community programming. 

Yes. The strategy recognises the importance of long-standing local events that provide strong cultural, social, and economic value. 

Events such as Curryfest, Sawtell Chilli Festival, Woolgoolga Blues & Berries and Coffs Coast Carols remain important anchor events and will continue to be supported and promoted. 

The strategy identifies several key challenges: 

• Over-reliance on mass-participation sport (Oztag, Touch), which drive strong economic results but limited cultural diversity 
• C.ex Coffs International Stadium is overused, limiting availability for high-value events and affecting quality of the playing surface 
• High acquisition fees for professional sport (e.g. NRL) limit affordability 
• Competition from other regions for major events is increasing 
• Limited direct flights and accommodation cost surges during peak events create barriers for visitors and organisers 
• Gaps in the annual calendar, particularly in winter and early December 

The strategy identifies three major new opportunities: 

1. Food & Music Festival – celebrating local produce and culture; appeals to a broad community audience 
2. Mountain-to-Sea Adventure Race – leveraging the region’s natural assets and outdoor lifestyle 
3. Laneways Arts Festival – activating under-used spaces with art, performance and culture

These were selected because they strongly align with community interests, the tourism brand, and seasonal gaps. 

Mass-participation sport delivers some of the region’s highest economic returns. 

However, the Stadium is currently used for too many low impact community events, creating: 

• scheduling constraints 
• surface wear and tear 
• fewer opportunities to host high-profile events 

The strategy proposes shifting local school/community sport to alternative venues to protect the Stadium for major events that deliver higher tourism, brand and economic benefits. 

The framework introduces a transparent, evidence-based system that evaluates all events against four criteria: 

1. Economic outcomes – visitation, spend and return on investment 
2. Community outcomes – local participation, relevance, accessibility 
3. Brand outcomes – alignment with Coffs Coast identity and tourism brand 
4. Strategic outcomes – filling calendar gaps, supporting major infrastructure, or delivering legacy value

This ensures funding decisions are fair, consistent and aligned with community priorities. 

Yes — but with a more strategic approach. 

The strategy supports maintaining high-value events (e.g., BBL, NRL, AFLW), but only where partnerships, broadcast exposure, community activation and financial arrangements provide strong value. 

For example, future NRL or BBL deals would need: 

• reduced financial risk 
• stronger community engagement 
• improved marketing and destination benefits 

Events play a critical role in the visitor economy. 

The strategy aligns strongly with the Coffs Coast tourism brand, which focuses on: 

• eco-destination credentials 
• outdoor lifestyle and adventure 
• local food and produce 
• sustainability 
• cultural experiences 

The strategy aims to attract and curate events that encourage longer stays, increased visitor spend, and year-round tourism activity. 

Long-term infrastructure planning is a core part of the strategy. Potential opportunities include: 

• A 1,500-capacity conference and exhibition centre 
• A new Regional Indoor Sports Centre 
• A future Regional Athletics Centre 
• Enhanced event capability at Jetty Foreshore 
• Activation of CBD laneways for arts and culture 
• Improved digital booking and permits systems 

These would allow Coffs Harbour to host larger conferences, elite sports, and new types of cultural and tourism-driving events. 

Events bring increased visitation, overnight stays, and spending across accommodation, hospitality, retail and services. 

The strategy aims to: 

• attract higher-yield visitors 
• support business events that fill weekday and off-peak demand 
• extend visitor stays through better event alignment with tourism 
• create opportunities for local suppliers, performers and vendors