Lock It In: the 2026 Carnival of Flowers Lineup Has Arrived (and Tickets Are Live)
Yes, this year is going extremely fast, and with the annoucement of this festival plans, tickets for TCOF are officially on sale.
Written by TFG Team 10 May 2026
If you felt like this year was going quickly, you are not wrong. The 2026 Carnival of Flowers program has been unveiled, tickets are live, and the headline events are already shaping up to be the kind that sell out before you've finished forwarding the link to your friends. Consider this your official PSA, Toowoomba.
There's a moment, every year, when Toowoomba seems to inhale and then exhale the entire colour wheel. The mornings soften, the tulips and daffodils start their slow showing-off, and the parks shift from quiet green to something closer to performance art. And right on cue, the Carnival is back - blooming bigger (and tastier) than ever - for its 77th year.
Running from 18 September to 5 October 2026, the program packs more than 80 events and experiences across all three weekends of the spring school holidays, with an unmistakably food-forward focus that, frankly, is right up our alley.
Once again mouthwatering foods trail will be running for the entire month, with local cafés, restaurants, pubs, bakeries and bars dishing up plenty of delicious local specials to showcase everything that is Carnival in Toowoomba.
Leading the menu is the return of FEASTival (26–27 September), bringing three of Australia's most exciting chefs - Nornie Bero, Simon Toohey and Dominique Rizzo — to the Garden City for two indulgent days of live cooking demonstrations, local produce, music and artisan markets. If you've been before, you'll know it doesn't hang around; tickets are expected to move fast.
There's plenty more on the table.
Grand Central Floral Parade (19 September): the Carnival's grandest tradition, celebrating its 77th year with the theme Spring Adventures.
Weekend Table (2–5 October): a curated series of dining experiences across some of the region's most beautiful venues.
Paw Parade (4 October): a perennial favourite - pack the pup, expect chaos, prepare to fall in love with at least four strangers' dogs.
Sideshow Alley: back and bigger, running an extended 10 days of rides, games and old-school fun.
Bubbles & Buttercream: a hands-on cake decorating workshop set in Laurel Bank Park.
#trEATS: more than 50 exclusive food offers, with local cafés, restaurants, pubs, bakeries and bars dishing up special menus for the duration.
Plus garden tours, twilight experiences, Behind the Blooms and Floral Friday (18 Sept) - a city-wide call to dress up your home, workplace or street in full floral.
At the heart of it all are the parks. Laurel Bank and Queens Park Botanic Gardens will once again be transformed into the kind of mass floral displays that have built Toowoomba's reputation as Australia's most colourful spring destination - best enjoyed with a coffee in hand and absolutely no agenda.
The bottom line: lock in your tickets, book the accommodation, and start mapping out your itinerary now. FEASTival and Weekend Table in particular are expected to sell out - don't say we didn't warn you.
A full list of events and tickets can be found at the TCOF website here.
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