Public listings checked 25/10/2026. Dates use each event’s local time. Check organiser details before travelling.
Explore the region
Explore Hervey Bay, Maryborough and coastal towns. K'gari is an island journey requiring suitable transport, access and conditions, not a mainland suburb.
Listings across Hervey Bay, K'gari, Maryborough, Pialba, Scarness, Urangan.
Attractions and places to visit
75 places in this selection. Opening hours, access and admission vary; check the place details.
Explore the Bond Store and let this beautiful, heritage-listed building share its stories with you as you wander through the space.
See the earthen floors of this former store for her Majesty's Customs Service and learn about Maryborough's fascinating past. The core of the building dates back to 1864 and still retains the original floors, handmade bricks and barrel rails. It provided secure storage for goods that attracted a tax including cigars, tobacco, rum, wine, spirits, and opium.
Add to your experience with tantalising tales and fantastic flavours. Enjoy a selection of premium quality liqueurs as storytellers share tales inspired by objects from the collection.
Take home a taste of the region with delicious delicacies or curious keepsakes.
The Mary River has been known by many names, with the Traditional Owners calling the river Booie, Moonaboola, Numabulla or Mooraboocoola. It was named the Wide Bay River until September 1848, when Governor Fitzroy renamed the river in honour of his wife, Lady Mary Fitzroy.
The Mary River is unique in that it flows from south to north with its headwaters near the Sunshine Coast hinterland and its mouth at River Heads just south of Hervey Bay.
Maryborough is also home to the stunning Mary River Parklands which is built on the site of the original Port of Maryborough and forms part of the Portside Precinct. Parkland surrounding the river offers natural terracing, community forecourt, public art works, winding pathways and gardens.
Discover how ordinary Australians can achieve extraordinary things on this unique walking trail. Located in Maryborough's Portside Heritage Precinct, the Achievers Walk takes you past a series of plaques mounted on the pavement in Richmond and Wharf streets which pay tribute to more than 80 Australians and former Maryborough residents.
From pioneers to scholars and Olympians, learn about the remarkable achievements of former residents like P.L Travers - author of Mary Poppins; Duncan Chapman - the first ANZAC to land at Gallipoli; and Hayden Kenny - the original Ironman.
Portside Heritage Gateway - your first port of call. Settled way back in 1847, Maryborough was where more than 22,000 free settlers took their first steps on Australian soil. Relive those early years with a visit to the City's historic port area.
The Customs House Interpretive Centre (circa 1900) reflects the history of Maryborough as a thriving river port in the early days of Queensland. Discover the history of the state's pioneering industries and explore the incredible "cabinet of curiosities"
Just a few doors away is the Bond Store Museum (circa1864) including collections celebrating the early history of Maryborough and one of the city's oldest buildings. It was part of the Customs complex to provide storage for goods that attracted a tax for Her Majesty's Customs Service.
Walk through the Bond Store, and you're stepping on history. The earthen floor and ancient handmade bricks in the original 1864 building downstairs still exist, as do many of the liquor barrels left over from that time.
The Portside Heritage Gateway Pass to give you entry to all three museums located in the Portside Precinct - Customs House Interpretive Centre, Maryborough Military and Colonial Museum and the Bond Store Museum.
Housed in a beautiful old building, Maryborough Family Heritage Institute holds one of the largest collections of genealogy records in Queensland. The institute has an extensive amount of research material available. More than 20,000 immigrants came into Queensland through Maryborough and the passenger lists are available for researchers. There is also hold passenger lists of immigrants for the other States of Australia.
Also held is Australian Birth, Death and Marriage Indexes and the Pioneer Indexes for most states of Australia, St. Catherine's BDM Indexes for England and Wales, the LDS worldwide records and extensive cemetery records.
The unusual, the quirky and eclectic are amongst 7000 items of military and colonial memorabilia, which form displays of exceptional quality at the Maryborough Military and Colonial Museum.
The museum houses a VC awarded to Lieutenant (later Major) Herbert James, 4th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment for gallantry at Gully Ravine, Cape Helles, Gallipoli on June 28 and July 3, 1915. It is one of only 39 VC's for the Gallipoli campaign and the only one in Australia outside the Australian War Memorial.
The museum has two of the most historically significant medal groups to Australian soldiers for the Vietnam War – 1964 to 1973.
The Maryborough Military and Colonial Museum provides a testament to not only those heroes who fought in distant lands to ensure their way of life and prosperity, but also those courageous and determined people who pioneered and progressed the Maryborough area for almost two centuries.
J E Brown commenced business as a provisions and victuals merchant in 1857 in Richmond Street. In 1879 J E Brown had this two-storey brick warehouse built and was designed by a local architect James Buchanan. In later years, the premises were used for dances, balls, boxing tournaments, and a restaurant, and currently houses the Maryborough Military and Colonial Museum.
This museum provides a testament to not only those heroes who fought in distant lands but also those courageous and determined people who pioneered and progressed the Maryborough area for nearly two centuries.
The Mary Ann is a replica of the first steam engine built in Queensland in 1873 at John Walker and Co's Union Foundry.
It steams through the park along the rail tracks which were laid to service the wharves and Walker's Foundry. The Mary Ann now operates from 9:30am - 12pm every Saturday. It also runs during those hours on the second Thursday of the month, and the last Sunday of the month.
The Whistle Stop Railway Museum is open Monday to Thursday from 9am - 12:30pm.
The marina, also known as the Port of Maryborough, is home to the last remnants of original wharves and is a must-see for those visiting.
A deeper site was selected to replace the first shallow port of Maryborough, which was located upriver at the original township. Wool, tallow, hides and timber were exported through the busy port, and many coastal vessels brought supplies for the settlers. At one time the wharves stretched from the far end of Queens Park to beyond the Granville Bridge.
Between 1859 when Maryborough was declared an official Port of Entry, and 1901, more than 22000 immigrants from Great Britain and Europe entered Australia through the port. Ships also brought Kanaka labour from the South Sea Islands to work on local sugar plantations.
Shipbuilding and repair industries added to the liveliness of the port. The derelict sheds behind the marina are remnants from the site of the Walker Shipyards, which closed in 1974.
This School of Arts building was constructed in the classic revival style in 1887 and contained a library, museum, reading room, technical college and a billiard room. It replaced the first School of Arts built in 1861.
In 1958, it housed the first Ringrose Library in Queensland where books were available to external students of the University of Queensland. The library features a timber mezzanine gallery and is now home to the Maryborough and Wide Bay Burnett Historical Society. The keystone above the doorway features Minerva the goddess of wisdom.
The classically inspired symmetrical facade of this two story masonry building has a commanding street presence in Maryborough.
The historic Port of Maryborough area has been transformed into a stunning public park complete with outstanding public art works. The Mary River Parklands forms part of the historic Portside Precinct. It plays an integral role in the City's urban renewal plans, providing a naturally beautiful link between Queens Park, the multimillion dollar Brolga Theatre, the Wharf Street heritage precinct and the river.
The 500 square metres of landscaped parkland offers natural terracing, community forecourt, winding pathways, gardens, magnificent royal palms and shade trees of the same species found in nearby Queens Park. A new 23 metre long wharf, known as Queens Wharf, matches one of the original timber wharves that were scattered along the riverbank during Maryborough’s heyday as a thriving river port.
Once upon a time, a baby girl was born in the upstairs bedroom at the Australian Joint Stock Bank, Kent Street in Maryborough, Queensland. Her name was Helen Lyndon Goff, but she became known to the world as P.L. Travers, author of the Mary Poppins stories.
Transformed, The Story Bank - a bank that trades in stories. As you cross the threshold, you enter a world where fantasy and fact intertwine. Tales and yarns, myths and legends, memories and stories - share in their retelling and their creation.
Discover Maryborough's unique connection with P.L. Travers - the story of her life, her family, the influences on her writings and the retelling of her stories.
Inside there are stories from our earliest storytellers, the Butchulla people, in the Yarning Circle.
‘The Legends of Moonie Jarl’ was first published in 1964 and is the first Australian children’s book of Aboriginal stories to be written and illustrated by Aboriginal people: Butchulla siblings Moonie Jarl (Wilf Reeves) and Wandi (Olga Miller).
