Lightning Ridge Opal Festival sparkles with strong crowds and record sales

Story: Kristin Murdockkmurdock@outbackradio.com.au

The 2026 Lightning Ridge Opal Festival has wrapped up on a high, with organisers reporting strong visitor numbers, record sales for some stallholders and overwhelmingly positive feedback from businesses and the community.

Event Manager Louise Kelly said the four-day festival attracted almost 7,000 visitors, making it one of the busiest festivals in recent years.

“We had so many reports from stallholders reporting record sales and saying this event was the best one they have attended,’” Louise said.

The visitor count was generated using anonymous mobile phone data, which recorded just under 7,000 unique devices entering the festival precinct.

Ms Kelly said both the data and the atmosphere suggested attendance was up on previous years.

“Everyone was commenting on the number of people around town,” she said.

“Some of the local business owners had said that they were flat out the whole time and also thought visitor numbers were up.” […]

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Opal Queen Ball 2026 entrants seated 1st place winner Dorothy Kelly back l-r: 3rd place winner Sam Watt, Lily Thearle, People’s choice winner Louisa Power, Barbara Geach, 2nd place winner Stacey Byrne and Lily Vo.. Photo: Louise Kelly