Poster art competition

Presented by Community Bank Fleurieu

Your artwork could feature on the 2027 Festival poster and win you $500

The 2025 South Australian Wooden Boat Festival art print poster.

Call for entries

The South Australian Wooden Boat Festival is calling on artists, designers, photographers and creative minds to help shape the visual identity of the next festival.

Entries are now invited for the 2027 South Australian Wooden Boat Festival Poster Art Competition, presented by Community Bank Fleurieu, Bendigo Bank, with the winning artwork receiving a $500 cash prize.

We are looking for a hero image which captures the spirit of the Festival.

The winning artwork will feature prominently in festival promotions, including the promotional poster, collectable festival art poster, promotional materials, and merchandise, giving the successful artist's work a lasting place in the festival's story.

As a guide to how your art will be used, here are the two final posters from the 2025 Festival.

The 2025 Promotional poster

The 2025 Art Poster

The posters have become a cherished part of the South Australian Wooden Boat Festival's history. Collectors, visitors and locals alike look forward to each new design, with posters becoming keepsakes that capture the spirit of the event and a moment in time.

Artists are encouraged to draw inspiration from the boats, people, landscapes, heritage and waterways that make the South Australian Wooden Boat Festival such a unique South Australian event. Whether your style is traditional or contemporary, we welcome original artwork that reflects the character, craftsmanship, community and river heritage at the heart of the festival.

Competition dates

Entries open: 1 September 2026
Entries close: 14 October 2026
Winner announced: 20 October 2026

Prize

$500 cash prize

Artwork featured in festival poster, festival marketing and promotional material, with artist recognition wherever appropriate.

Who can enter

The competition is open to artists aged 14 and over. Committee members, employees and their immediate families of Alexandrina Council or the South Australian Wooden Boat Festival Committee are not eligible to enter.

What to submit

You may submit up to three original artworks. Your work can be created in any visual medium — painting, illustration, photography, digital art — but must be submitted as a high-resolution PNG file suitable for poster and print reproduction. Alternate file formats can be discussed on request.

Entries must be your own original work and must not have been previously commissioned for another event or organisation.

How entries are judged

Entries will be assessed by a panel comprising the South Australian Wooden Boat Festival Committee and Alexandrina Council's Economic Development and Arts and Cultural Development staff. They will be looking for work that:

  • celebrates wooden boat culture

  • displays artistic excellence

  • invokes a strong sense of place

  • showcases the riverport of Goolwa

  • inspires collectability

  • is suitable for promotional reproduction

Your copyright

Copyright in all submitted artworks remains with the artist. The winning artist grants Alexandrina Council a licence to use the artwork as the official 2027 festival poster and in associated promotional materials. Non-winning entries remain entirely your own.

Ready to enter?

Thank you to our Festival Poster Partner