Queen’s Birthday

Australian’s celebrate the Queen’s Birthday with a public holiday (and long weekend) on Monday the 8th of June 2020.

Even though there will be limited trading hours for some shops and businesses, there are plenty of things to see and do over the Queen’s Birthday weekend.

An interesting fact is that Queen Elizabeth’s birthday is actually in April, however, the celebration is observed in June. The reason for this is twofold: The holiday was originally a celebration of ‘the monarch’s birthday’ which, at the time was King George III who had his birthday on the 4th of June. Once Elizabeth became the monarch, it was decided to leave the celebration in June as it more evenly spaced out the public holidays throughout the year and kept the celebration in the warm English summer.

In Australia, the Queen’s Birthday occurs at the start of the winter season, but there are still many events that are scheduled over the long weekend, and there are many attractions which remain open, even on the public holiday on Monday.

Even though some smaller shops will close on the public holiday, you will find most supermarkets and shopping centres open for business on the Queen’s Birthday. Movie theatres also remain open, as do restaurants, petrol stations and many attractions in Sydney such as the Taronga Zoo, SEA Life Sydney Aquarium, Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb and the Sydney Opera House.

The launch of the New South Wales snow season occurs over the Queen’s Birthday weekend so gather your friends and head out to one of NSW many alpine resorts.

If you are looking for accommodation over the Queen’s Birthday weekend, click the link below to find the best deals.