Spirit of Tasmania back on board for AWBF2025

After a successful partnership in 2023, Spirit of Tasmania is back on board to support the transport of feature vessels to the AWBF 2025.

The Australian Wooden Boat Festival 2025 will see the return of Hobart’s gorgeous City Hall, as a venue for the Australian Dinghy Display, supported by Spirit of Tasmania. The stand alone venue attracted thousands of people across four days, as a space to showcase specialty wooden dinghies from right across Australia, on display with full rigging. The space was a welcomed addition to the program, and is only 400m from Constitution Dock. In 2023 Spirit of Tasmania partnered with the AWBF to offer travel vouchers for some of the dinghy owners, to help fund transport from interstate to the event.

The AWBF is excited to announce that Spirit of Tasmania is returning as a partner for the AWBF 2025, to again fund transport of some feature vessels, and the Australian Dinghy Display in City Hall. One of the feature vessels set to draw the crowds, is a traditional wooden Maori waka, travelling from Victoria to feature at the AWBF.

AWBF General Manager Paul Stephanus said “I am excited to see this vessel in Tasmanian waters, sailing alongside other traditional styles of wooden boats, and to have Spirit of Tasmania’s support once again makes these sorts of feature vessels possible.”

Managing Director Chief Executive Officer Bernard Dwyer said Spirit of Tasmania was very pleased to once again be supporting the AWBF. “We are proud to play a role in bringing these beautiful wooden boats to Tasmania for the community to appreciate and enjoy,” he said. “The festival is a truly unique event. It gives people the opportunity to get up close to a wide variety of wooden boats that will be on display and better understand their incredible history.”

Te Karangatahi  is Australia’s only traditionally built Aotearoa waka taua (war canoe), built in Perth in 1998. Traditionally carved and decorated, it can fit 20 paddlers and will be coming on its purpose-built trailer as a centrepiece of the Festival. Often used for transporting warriors on military expeditions, these styles of waka’s would hold dozens of warriors at once, with the largest holding up to 100 at a time.

View some other interesting vessels with New Zealand and Pacific ties, that have expressed interest in displaying at the AWBF 2025 – here.

Video of the Waka taua Te Karangatahi. Read more about traditional waka war canoes here.

Boat Ashore spaces still available!

Do you want to bring your wooden boat to the AWBF 2025? If it’s on a trailer or can be displayed on a cradle/on the ground, why not bring it along! We highly encourage smaller boats to get in on the action and displaying ashore is a perfect way!

We have spaces right across the site, from Salamanca to Hunter Street, inside Maritime Marketplace and City Hall!

Unlike boats afloat, boats ashore spaces are automatically accepted as we can fit them in anywhere on site!