ExplorerFest 2025 Early Bird Tickets Now On Sale!

 

Get your ticket and start counting the days! Our three day festival is all systems go and we bet you won’t find another event like it.

Storytime! Years ago I started writing some articles for We Are Explorers and met its founder Henry Brydon in cafes around Sydney, where we’d work off free WiFi (remember that?) until we were kicked out.

It was then, over a frothy soy latte (oat milk wasn’t cool yet) that Henry told me of his plan for an Explorer festival. I can’t remember if he was calling it ExplorerFest back then, but I’d wager he was.

In a way, the idea was a continuation of the founding idea of We Are Explorers. One based on weekend escapes and microadventures with a rag-tag bunch of people who want to get outside more often.

But I think it’s more than that, it’s about capturing that special warm fuzzy feeling you only get with likeminded outdoorsfolk. What if we could capture that vibe that lets you share a mountain hut with strangers, yarn around a campfire, or gaze up at the Milky Way, together?

Fast forward about seven years, through pandemics, disasters, our 10th birthday, and more rad adventures and partnerships than we can count, and ExplorerFest is finally here.

Get Your Tickets

Where’s ExplorerFest 2025 going to be?

We started off with a survey early this year to vibe check our idea, and the response was so strong that we got Reflections Holidays on the phone right away.

Those legends let us book out their entire Jimmys Beach location based on our dream alone, and it was on. The location in Worimi Country, Hawks Nest is about a two hour drive north of Sydney, in a bit of bushland right next to the pristine Jimmys Beach itself. 

The bay of Port Stephens regularly sees dolphins while the bush is full of wallabies, Lace monitors, and even koalas. Incidentally, it’s a place I visited for family holidays for nearly 20 years in a row, and my Mum’s favourite place in the entire world. Top that.

The ExplorerFest grounds are on the left of that isthmus, how good! | Photo thanks Reflections Holidays

What’s ExplorerFest all about?

At its core, ExplorerFest 2025 is all about creating a weekend that captures everything the We Are Explorers audience (that’s you!) loves. 

We started with a few pillars: adventure, inspiration, and entertainment, and built out a list of awesome things to do in nature and the outdoors, then threw it over to you in the survey I mentioned before.

What was immediately clear was that people weren’t just interested in adventures. While we always knew that activities like hiking, kayaking, trail running, and wild swimming would be core to the ExplorerFest experience, it was quickly made clear that you wanted much more.

Actual photo of our teamwork to pull this festival off | @jackjbrookes

So far we’ve locked in stargazing and bushcraft, and we’re working on more workshops like gear repair, camp cooking, and navigation. These will all be included as part of your ticket, you’ll just have to choose what you’re booking in to do once your boots (or sandals) are on the ground.

But it’s not all learning. We’ll also have adventure films showing, live music on both nights, talks and panel discussions, and some pilates to keep things honest.

The last thing we’d want to do is create a festival that’s just like all the others. Trust us, it won’t be.

I want a ticket! When is it?

ExplorerFest will take place from Friday to Sunday, on the 2nd to 4th of May, 2025. Don’t even bother marking your calendars, head straight to the ExplorerFest site and grab your tickets now! Early bird prices and the full range of accommodation options are yours for the taking.

Whether you want to camp, book a cabin or tiny home, or roll up in a van or camper, we have options that’ll work for you. You’ll have to lock in some kind of accommodation at the festival site alongside your ticket, and we’ve worked hard to keep these affordable. Assembling a crew is the best way to bring the price down.

That’s it! See you there? You don’t wanna miss this.

Get Your Tickets

Feature photo looking out from above the festival location | Photo thanks to Destination NSW