Fresh off a third consecutive global award win, the Queensland Music Festival is rounding out its 2026 QLD Music Trails program this week with The Reef, running July 2 to 4 across The Whitsundays.
QLD Music Trails: The Outback 2025 has just won the 2026 Music Cities Award for Music Tourism in Hull, UK, the only Australian winner across the entire program.
Now QMF turns its attention to the coast, bringing some of Australia’s most celebrated artists to Ngaro and Gia Country for two events: Sundowner at Lake Proserpine and the award-winning Between the Tides at Airlie Beach Foreshore.
QMF CEO Daryl Raven says the recent gong is “a testament to our team, the artists and funding partners we work with, and to the Outback Queensland communities who welcomed us with open arms”.
“The Outback Trail is more than an iconic road-tripping music festival. It’s a vehicle for empowering regional communities, promoting local businesses, growing local music sectors and boosting tourism,” says Raven.
QLD Music Trails has generated $25 million in economic impact for Queensland since 2023, employed more than 1900 artists, creatives and crew and programmed 800 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists across 28 regional and remote communities.
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The Trail is supported by Arts Queensland and assisted by Creative Australia, with event partners Whitsunday Regional Council and NRMA Parks.
Kaylee West is a folk singer-songwriter based in Airlie Beach, North Queensland. After a childhood of travelling along the coastlines of Western Australia and Queensland, she has found a place of reflection in her songwriting, blending coastal folk acoustic sounds with a little nostalgia. Her EP, A Box of Scribbled Notes, pays homage to late nights and the moments you simply want to sit in for a while. She performs at Between the Tides, Airlie Beach Foreshore, on Saturday, July 4. We asked West a few questions about the gig and her music:
What does it mean to perform at Between the Tides on your home turf, on the Great Barrier Reef coastline?
Being able to perform at an event like this in my hometown means so much to me. Sharing original music with the community, friends and family in such a beautiful setting is truly a “pinch me” moment.
How does it feel to be going from local gigs to joining a line-up like this?
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The opportunity to play alongside such big names in Australian music feels so wild. Going from playing gigs in my dad’s backyard and writing music along the coast to a stage like this feels completely surreal.
Can you share a bit about how your surroundings (like Airlie Beach) have inspired your music?
I grew up as a part of a travelling family in small rural towns and coastal communities all through Western Australia and Queensland. I have always found my way back to the ocean and the open road and I feel that really comes through in the music that I gravitate towards and create.
Obviously, somewhere as picturesque as Airlie Beach serves as inspiration and I have found myself writing about a simple life, filled with all the things that really embody what it’s like to live in a place like this.
What can audiences expect from your set on the day?
Expect an easy-listening coastal folk sound, mixed with a little nostalgia and plenty of relaxed island vibes. I will be playing all-original music, mostly from my EP, a box of scribbled notes, plus a few tracks that haven’t been released yet.
What does being part of a day like that mean to you as a performer?
Being a part of a day that really pays homage to our First Nations people is really a blessing – showing the locals and travellers alike what it truly means to be Australian.
QLD Music Trails: The Reef – The Reef Trail runs across two Whitsundays locations.
Sundowner: July 2, 5pm-9pm, Lake Proserpine Campgrounds, 66 Station Rd, Lake Proserpine, featuring Karl S. Williams, Andrea Kirwin and local Airlie Beach artist Josiah Samuel. Sold out, but a waitlist is open via the QLD Music Trails website.
qldmusictrails.com/events/sundowner
Between the Tides: July 4, 2pm-10pm, Airlie Beach Foreshore, 8 Airlie Esplanade, Airlie Beach, featuring headliners Boy & Bear plus Jem Cassar-Daley, Mid Drift, Tjaka, Georgia Corrowa, Kaylee West and Miss Katalyna.
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