Love Lennox Festival will return next year, with planning already underway after a record crowd of about 15,000 descended on the seaside village this year.

Business Lennox Head has confirmed the free community festival will return on June 12, 2027, as a new impact report reveals the scale of this year’s event and the benefits flowing to local businesses and the wider community.

Around 100 local stallholders took part in the 2026 festival, alongside 20 bands and entertainers performing across three stages, while 49 volunteers helped deliver the event — a 50 per cent increase on the previous year.

Business Lennox Head president, Ballina Shire councillor and festival coordinator Michelle Bailey said the event represented more than $200,000 worth of community contribution when volunteer hours, discounted services, staging equipment, entertainment, professional expertise and in-kind support were taken into account.

“And it’s free,” Cr Bailey told sponsors, volunteers and supporters at a festival wrap-up function at Club Lennox.

She said hundreds of volunteer hours went into planning, approvals, setup, delivery and pack-down, backed by local businesses, sponsors, contractors, performers and community organisations.

Visitors open their wallets

While the impact report does not put a dollar figure on the festival’s overall economic benefit, its visitor survey provides an indication of the money flowing through Lennox Head during the event.

Of 118 people surveyed, 32 per cent reported spending between $50 and $100 during the festival, while another 41 per cent spent between $20 and $50.

Food and drinks accounted for 48 per cent of reported spending, retail and festival stalls 24 per cent, while 21 per cent specifically nominated local businesses.

The festival also drew a significant proportion of its audience from beyond Lennox Head.

While 53 per cent of surveyed visitors were locals, 24 per cent came from elsewhere in Ballina Shire, 15 per cent travelled from elsewhere in the Northern Rivers and eight per cent came from outside the region.

This year’s program stretched well beyond the traditional market and music festival format.

It included a new skate clinic attracting 40 participants, a sunrise surf session involving 20 surfers, a dog show with 100 entries and a display of 40 classic cars by the Lennox Head Machinery Club.

Twenty bands and entertainers performed across three stages, while 20 local businesses contributed more than $3500 worth of prizes to a community raffle.

Sustainability was also given greater emphasis this year, with reusable food container use jumping from 775 in 2025 to 4019 this year.

Fourteen vendors participated in the reusable container program, up from five last year, while the Lennox Head Lions Club helped divert 2460 containers through Return and Earn, generating $264 for local charitable initiatives.

Work starts on 2027 festival

Cr Bailey said organisers had also learned lessons from this year’s event, only the second Love Lennox delivered by the current committee.

Some elements came together later than organisers would have liked, putting pressure on printing, communications and sponsorship recognition.

Rather than waiting until next year, Business Lennox Head has already started work on the next festival.

The 2027 Love Lennox Festival will be held on Saturday, June 12, with a new sponsorship prospectus already released and major partnerships being sought well ahead of the event. The prospectus describes Love Lennox as a chamber-led festival designed to bring locals, businesses and visitors together while promoting the town as a place to visit and support throughout the year.

Cr Bailey said the festival demonstrated what could be achieved when businesses, volunteers and the wider community worked together.

“I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve created, grateful to everyone who made it possible, and excited for what’s ahead.

“Because when Lennox comes together, we don’t just put on a festival, we create a memory.”

Michelle Bailey