Whitsunday Songwriter Festival Embraces Festival of the year nomination

By Sebastian Conidi

The iconic Whitsundays Songwriters Festival has been nominated for Festival of the Year – People’s Choice at the Queensland Music Awards. This nomination is a terrific recognition of the passion, hard work, and creative vision behind the festival, led by co-founder and Director, and local Whitsundays singer-songwriter, Karen Jacobsen, presented under the auspices of the Whitsundays Arts Festival.

The fifth Whitsundays Songwriters Festival will take place from 3 to 7 June 2026. Highlights will include the much-loved Concert and Conversation on Saturday evening, 6 June, along with three levels of songwriting workshops held during the day: Beginner, Intermediate, and Masterclass.

The songwriter’s festival emerged as part of the Whitsundays Arts Festival in 2021.

“It began when I performed at the closing event in concert for the Whitsundays Arts Festival in 2021 and I met the president Jess Begun”, said Karen.

“I told her that I always dreamt of a songwriter festival, and she said there’s no reason we can’t do that next year.”

In 2022, the Whitsundays Songwriters Festival debuted.

“It was co-founded with the Whitsundays Arts Festival as well as Francesca de Valence head of I Heart Songwriting in Brisbane. We created a songwriter residency, inviting six professional songwriters from around Australia to come together for four days and co-write and collaborate.”

The program has feature incredible songwriters such as Vika & Linda, Tony Childs and locals Graham Connors and Brad Butcher.

The program features a concert and Q&A interviewing the expert panel, with people performing songs they wrote the previous day.

Despite the event’s previous success, Karen reflected on the difficulties of garnering support for arts and culture in the region.

“It’s been an ongoing challenge in my capacity as an art creator in the region to access funding. Our volunteers spend hundreds of hours creating materials for grants and funding applications. I would love to see an equal level of investment in arts that we see for sports. In my experience arts are equally important, and having children and adults engaged in all manner of arts activities creates a healthy society.”

The songwriting festival has creating amazing opportunities for those enthusiastic about creativity.

“Every year, there are profound experiences in the workshops and the concert events. It’s wonderful to have the kind of feedback we have from the local community.”

The festival has seen great support from sponsors and partners.

“We are really grateful to our partners and sponsors from the previous years and, as we embark on our 2026 festival, we would love to hear from any community members interested in our programmes.”

The songwriting festival is a vital opportunity, fostering arts and creativity in the Whitsunday’s region. It is great to see the initiative continue into 2026. Best of luck to the team!!

WSF 2023 Songwriter Workshop – Photo source: Tropix Photography
WSF 2025 Brad Butcher, Cnr Jan Clifford, Mayor Ry Collins, Karen Jacobsen, Chris Sebastian, Zipporah, Francesca de Valence, Mark Sholtez, Jessica Begun – Photo source: Karen Jacobsen

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