Riparia Hot & Wet - LGBTIQ+ New Years Festival

This New Year we are heading down to the water’s edge, where things are lush, slippery and getting hotter by the minute 🌿🔥💦 

Dive into RIPARIA – HOT & WET: a fertile queer playground calling all river sprites, bog babes, swamp thangs, muddy misfits and thirsty creatures to gather on Widjabul Wia-bal Jagun. Expect abundance, sweaty communion, wild cabaret, queer creativity, dancing bodies and enough heat to make the rivers steam. 

A convergence of bodies, streams and desires. Individual currents crashing together to form one life-giving river where we commune and hold each other on the river's edge.  

Grab packaged passes or mix-and-match with party tickets, camping passes, powered burrows and "river bus" rides from coast to hinterland, all through Humanitix. 

• Active Tropical Fruits members score 15% off. You can renew your membership on our website and we will email your member number  

• Concession holder? Enter 'CONCESSION' discount code at checkout (validated on entry) 

• Our events are no cost for LGBTIQ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander folks.
  To request mob tix please fill in the form here:
  Mob Tix - Riparia - Hot & Wet - Tropical Fruits New Year 2026 – Fill out form

• Afterpay and ZipPay are available.     

We know festivals can be pricey and we do our best to keep tickets prices as low as possible. Our festival is built by a community of river spirits like you! If you want to help us, hold off buying a ticket and sign up for volunteering instead. You can sign up for volunteering using this link https://airtable.com/appsgGs3EGXz917J7/pagj6SJ2rFbszoWAF/form. 

Do you have questions? Reach us at fruits@tropicalfruits.org.au
 

FESTIVAL INFORMATION 

Arts & Culture 🎪 

From December 28, our riverbank Arts & Culture tent comes alive. We acknowledge Country before the daily workshops, offerings, and creativity. Access to Arts & Culture (A&C) is included in camping tickets, and A&C day passes are available online and at the A&C tent for non-campers.  

Wanna create your own workshop or offering? Submit your idea in this form
https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/EtPSdqG0Qa 

Camp Party ⛺️ Dec 30 — 4pm-10pm (campers only) 

Beside the "gushing gully", settle in and surrender to the flow as DJs and performers take the campground on a transformative journey into the night. Prepare to enter RIPARIA. 

New Year’s Eve Party 🎇 Dec 31 — 8pm-6am 

A raging current of sounds and immersion. Two main stages (Arena and Trade), unique Cabaret, Art Gallery, and music in The Nest as we flow into the New Year. A devotional love letter to the rivers that sustain us. 

Pool Party Jan 1 — 10am-4pm 

On New Year’s Day plunge into our billabong — a celebration of everything that thrives at the water’s edge. 1000 queers, one pool, pure slip-slop-splashery. ️ Exclusive to 3-party and Full Festival pass holders. ⛱ 

Recovery Party Jan 1 — 5pm-3am 

We’ve followed the current all the way downstream — and now we reach the wildest edge of RIPARIA. Witness the wonky wonders and live performances in The Nest, then throw yourself into one final raging dancefloor as DJs take us deep into the rapids. One last surge. One last splash 💜 

LINE UP 💫 

Atheria, Ayebatonye, Dan Azzo, DJ Donna, DJ Galleon, Dom De Sousa, EMME, ENN, Estee Louder, FEISTY, Gaffe, GI Jode, Guy Grey, Hydra Femme, Jase.Lasso, Kate Monroe,  Sandi Hotrod, Sani, Saratonin, Sexy Gallexy, She J, Slo Dollio, Sweaty Baby, Visceral 

CAMPING⛺️ 

Dec 28 — Jan 4. 

Welcome to the Swamp! 🌿✨  

Pitch your tent, park your van, or get cozy under the stars at the Riparia: Hot & Wet campground! Whether you're bringing a simple setup or settling in for the duration, we’ve got a spot ready for you at the Showgrounds. 

Standard camping

Pure swamp magic. Bring your own tent, van or camper and set up and settle in with the crew. Standard campsites are unpowered and unreserved. 

All camping tickets are per person. 

Please note if you have a large vehicle - we want to keep it safe and comfortable for everyone, so oversized setups (like buses) and large vehicles will require dedicated site permits. Please contact us via email fruits@tropicalfruits.org.au for more information.   

Space is limited, so secure your camping pass early alongside your festival tickets! 

Powered sites ⚡  

Limited power connections available for vehicles and rigs needing power throughout the event. Grab your standard camping ticket and a power add-on to get yourself powered up. 

If you need access to power for a specific medical or accessibility device, such as a CPAP machine, during checkout there will be a section to describe your accessibility requirements, please provide details of your specific power needs.

Knowing your needs helps us to plan and make sure everyone who needs power can get it. The accessible power option will get you power for your medical or accessibility device, but if you want even more power, select a power add-on instead.   

Glamping tent ⛺✨  

Want to make your stay a little more comfortable? Tropical Fruits’ preferred glamping provider, Sunshine Glamping Co., offers fully set-up bell tents in a range of sizes, with customisable options and add-ons. Glamping is booked and paid for separately from your Tropical Fruits festival and camping tickets. Tents include battery and solar-powered lighting. Plug-in electricity is not available at the glamping sites. Booking information available here: Tropical Fruits Glamping | Sunshine Glamping Co.
 

SHUTTLE BUS 🚌 ️ 

Play it safe when travelling to the festival site... Catch our 'river bust' from coast and town. Reserve in advance for coastal streams (Byron, Bangalow, Clunes, Lennox, Ballina, Alstonville, Goonellabah). Town loop between Lismore/Goonellabah requires no booking. Detailed timetables coming soon! 

ACCESSIBILITY 🦋 

Wheelchair accessible festival and campsite in most places. Dedicated accessible toilets/showers, limited powered sites for medical needs, Auslan interpreters for Cabaret and selected workshops. 

Meeting your accessibility needs is important to us so please be detailed and let us know sooner than later. 

Let us know your access requirements when purchasing tickets or email fruits@tropicalfruits.org.au. 

VOLUNTEERING 👩🏻‍🤝‍👩🏾 

This rich, fertile place cannot function without the other and so our event cannot come to life without our amazing volunteers. It is a place of exchange: where trees hold the soil and waters offer life to the land. It's where volunteers give energy and nutrients to build new worlds and give life and laughter creating a Queer Riparian zone. Sign up here:https://airtable.com/appsgGs3EGXz917J7/pagj6SJ2rFbszoWAF/form 

ARTS & CULTURE 🎪  

We’re seeking a range of community building, sensual fun, reflection, cultural learning and sharing, or whatever else you throw at us!   Send us your ideas for workshops, games, panels, roving, installations, storytelling, yarning circles and cosmic creations of all kinds. 

Express interest here:
https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/EtPSdqG0Qa 

Email: artsandculture@tropicalfruits.org.au 

PERFORMERS 🤸🏼 

We’re calling for performers to help bring this fertile new world to life. Whether you’re polished, chaotic, camp, experimental, seductive, hilarious or completely unclassifiable, we want to see what you swamp thangs can bring 🐸❤️‍🔥 

Express interest here:
https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/2ZXHfSJqTb

Email: cabaret@tropicalfruits.org.au  

GREEN TEAM 🐸 🌳 

Take a moment. Stop. Listen. Be part of this special environment where land meets fresh water. Where we connect, intersect and exchange. As we gather, we honour and care for this beautiful place, treading lightly, reducing our waste and leaving as little impact as possible. Bring what you can take back with you. 

COUNTRY

Our worldbuilding takes place on Widjabul Wia-bal Jagun in the heart of the Northern Rivers. We pay our respects to the Bundjalung Nation.  

Always was, always will be.

️