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Australian Festival of Chamber Music moving to Cairns in 2026

After 35 years, the AFCM is moving 347 kilometres north to Cairns, but not before its final edition in Townsville this July.
16 Jun 2025 11:51
Richard Watts
A musical recital in Townsville's Queen's Garden at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music 2024. The photo shows seven musicians playing a range of instruments including string and brass, on a low outdoor stage. under trees in front of a seated audience.

Performing Arts

A musical recital in Townsville’s Queen’s Garden at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music 2024. Photo: Andrew Rankin.

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The Australian Festival of Chamber Music (AFCM) this morning (16 June) announced its relocation from Townsville – the Northern Queensland city it has called home since 1991 – to Cairns, 347 kilometres further north on Yirrganydji Country.

“This is not a departure from northern Queensland – it is an evolution within it,” Mary Jo Capps AM, AFCM Chair, said in a media statement today.

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Richard Watts

Richard Watts OAM is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, a Melbourne Fringe Festival Living Legend, and was awarded the 2019 Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. In 2021 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association. Most recently, Richard received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts

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