Byron Lighthouse looking south 2004-28-12

Byron Bay ( Minjungbal: ''Cavvanbah)'' is a beachside town located in the far-northeastern corner of the state of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia on Bundjalung Country. It is located north of Sydney and south of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

Cape Byron Cape Byron is the easternmost point of the mainland of Australia, located in New South Wales. It is about east of the town of Byron Bay, New South Wales and projects into the Pacific Ocean at 28.6335° S, 153.6383° E. A lighthouse is situated t ...

, a headland adjacent to the town, is the easternmost point of mainland Australia. At the 2021 census, the town had a permanent population of 6,330. It is the largest town of

Byron Shire Byron Shire is a local government area located in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. The shire is located adjacent to the ''Coral Sea'' about south of the Queensland border. The shire, administered from the town of Mullu ...

, though not the shire's administrative centre (which is

Mullumbimby Mullumbimby is an Australian town in the Byron Shire in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales. It promotes itself as "The Biggest Little Town in Australia". The town lies at the foot of Mount Chincogan in the Brunswick Valley about 9 ...

History

Byron Bay and surrounds is located on unceded land of the Bundjalung Nation of the Arakwal, Minjungbal and the Widjabul people who have lived by the coast for at least 22,000 years. The land and people were created by Nguthungulli that rests at what is now called Julian Rocks. The traditional name of the township area was ''Cavvanbah'', meaning "meeting place"''.'' Significant totems for the area include '' Wajung'' and '' Kabul.'' In 1770 Lieutenant James Cook found safe anchorage and named

after a fellow sailor Vice Admiral 'Foul-Weather Jack' John Byron, circumnavigator of the world and grandfather of the poet

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...

. European settlement in the area took place in the 1830s. A massacre took place in the 1850s, south of Suffolk Park where the quarry is today. The first industry in Byron was cedar logging from the Australian red cedar (''

Toona ciliata ''Toona ciliata'' is a forest tree in the mahogany family which grows throughout southern Asia from Afghanistan to Papua New Guinea and Australia. Names It is commonly known as the red cedar (a name shared by other trees), toon or toona (al ...

''). The timber industry is the origin of the word "shoot" in many local names – Possum Shoot, Coopers Shoot and Skinners Shoot – where the timber-cutters would "shoot" the logs down the hills to be dragged to waiting ships. Timber getting became insignificant after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. As a result, many former timber workers became farmers. Gold mining of the beaches was the next industry to occur. Gold was discovered in Byron Bay in 1870. Up to 20 mining leases set up on Tallow Beach to extract gold from the black sands around the 1870s. Byron Bay has a history of primary industrial production ( dairy factory, abattoirs, fishing, and

whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industr ...

until 1963) and was a significant, but hazardous, sea port. The poet Brunton Stephens spoke of cattle grazing on the "mossy plains" of Cape Byron in a poem he penned in 1876. The first

jetty A jetty is a structure that projects from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French word ', "thrown", signifying some ...

was built in 1886, and the railway was connected in 1894, and Cavvanbah became Byron Bay in 1894. Dairy farmers cleared more land and settled the area. In 1895, the Norco Co-operative was formed to provide cold storage and manage the dairy and processes meat industry. The introduction of

paspalum ''Paspalum'' is a genus of plants in the grass family. The group is widespread across much of Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Americas. Commonly known as paspalum, bahiagrasses, crowngrasses or dallis grasses, many of the species are tall pere ...

grass improved production, and Byron Bay exported butter from its depots at Murwillumbah and Lismore to the world. The Cape Byron Lighthouse was built in 1901 at the most easterly point on the Australian mainland. Its construction destroyed a significant Arakwal men's ceremonial ground. In 1930, the first meatworks opened. The smell from the meat and dairy works was appalling and the annual slaughter of migrating whales in the 1950s and 1960s made matters worse.

Sand mining Sand mining is the extraction of sand, mainly through an open pit (or sand pit) but sometimes mined from beaches and inland dunes or dredged from ocean and river beds. Sand is often used in manufacturing, for example as an abrasive or in conc ...

for

monazite Monazite is a primarily reddish-brown phosphate mineral that contains rare-earth elements. Due to variability in composition, monazite is considered a group of minerals. The most common species of the group is monazite-(Ce), that is, the ceriu ...

(

zircon Zircon () is a mineral belonging to the group of nesosilicates and is a source of the metal zirconium. Its chemical name is zirconium(IV) silicate, and its corresponding chemical formula is Zr SiO4. An empirical formula showing some of t ...

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

and

thorium Thorium is a weakly radioactive metallic chemical element with the symbol Th and atomic number 90. Thorium is silvery and tarnishes black when it is exposed to air, forming thorium dioxide; it is moderately soft and malleable and has a high ...

) between the World Wars damaged the environment further. Mining ceased in 1968 and processing in 1972. Longboard

surfers Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitable ...

arrived in the 1960s and used natural breaks at The Pass, Watego's, and Cosy Corner. This was the beginning of Byron Bay as a travellers' destination, and by 1973, when the

Aquarius Festival The Nimbin Aquarius Festival was a counter-cultural arts and music festival organised by the Australian Union of Students. It was the fourth in a biannual series of festivals, first organised by the National Union of Australian University Stude ...

was held in nearby Nimbin, its reputation as a

hippy A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

, happy,

alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film * ''The Alternative ...

town was established, although tourism facilities remained minimal. From the 1980s, tourism began to develop in earnest, with the cash-poor surfers and hippies supplemented, and to a degree supplanted, by cash-rich conspicuous consumers who in turn stimulated the development of retail precincts and accommodation more tuned to their needs. In 1994, a native title claim was made by Arakwal Elders Lorna Kelly, Linda Vidler and Yvonne Graham. After seven years of negotiation, an Indigenous Land Use Agreement was formed with the State of New South Wales in 2001, a national first and precedent for subsequent agreements around Australia. Two further local agreements also followed. Today, Byron Bay is one of the most up-market residential areas on the Australian east coast with the growth in multi-million dollar mansions now pushing the median value of house sales up beyond AU$1.5 million in 2017, over a 100% increase since 2013, based on 2018 data from realestate.com.au. At the same time, the town has not lost its attraction to a diverse range of visitors including surfers, backpackers and general tourists interested in the natural attractions of the area, and also supports a healthy cross section of creative persons including artists, craftspersons and musicians, while its more recent hippy/new age past is reflected to a degree in a prevalence of alternative "new-age" shops, "spiritual" services such as meditation and yoga classes, and holistic healing/"wellness" retreats. As at 2018, the town is cited as having around 5,000 permanent residents, while being visited by 2 million tourists each year. A number of shipwrecks litter the bay and surrounding areas. A total 16 are known with the most famous of these being the 'Wollongbar' which due to bad conditions sank off the eastern tip of Belongil beach, it now rests about from the coast and is still visible above water during low tide.

Heritage listings

Byron Bay has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Casino-Murwillumbah railway:

Byron Bay railway station Byron Bay railway station is a former railway station located on the Murwillumbah line in Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia. It opened on 15 May 1894 and closed on 16 May 2004, when the line from Casino was closed. The station complex was ...

* 61 Jonson Street:

Byron Bay Post Office Byron Bay Post Office is a heritage-listed post office at 61 Jonson Street, Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 August 2012. History Post office status was officially granted ...

* Lighthouse Road: Cape Byron Lightstation

Population

According to the 2016 census of Population, there were 9,246 people in Byron Bay. * Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 1.6% of the population. * 64.0% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were England 4.9% and New Zealand 2.5%. * 76.3% of people spoke only English at home. * The most common response for religion was No Religion at 44.6%.

Geology and Geography

Byron Bay is part of the erosion

caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is ...

of an ancient shield volcano, the Tweed Volcano, which had erupted 23 million years ago. The volcano formed as a result of the

Indo-Australian Plate The Indo-Australian Plate is a major tectonic plate that includes the continent of Australia and the surrounding ocean and extends northwest to include the Indian subcontinent and the adjacent waters. It was formed by the fusion of the Indian an ...

moving over the

East Australia hotspot The East Australia hotspot is a volcanic province in southeast Australia which includes the Peak Range in central Queensland, the Main Range on the Queensland-New South Wales border, Tweed Volcano in New South Wales, and the Newer Volcanics Pr ...

. Although was named a Bay when discovered, it is in fact in geological terms a "Bight" as the angle of curvature from Cape Byron to Hastings point is less than 25 degrees.

Climate

Byron Bay has a humid subtropical climate (''Cfa'' in the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

) with warm summers and mild winters. Winters have daily maximums usually reaching 19.4 °C and a minimum of 12 °C. Summer can be hot, with a daily average of 27 °C. Summer evenings can be wet, cooling the day down. Due to its location on an ocean-facing

cape A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...

, it is, therefore, more exposed to moist easterly flows, hence its annual rainfall above 1,500 mm, which is higher than that of

and the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

Tourism

Byron Bay (Australia) main Beach from town

The town is a resort popular with both domestic and international tourists, not the least backpackers. It has several beaches that are popular for surfing and the scenery attracts skydivers. An

oceanway A greenway is usually a shared-use path along a strip of undeveloped land, in an urban or rural area, set aside for recreational use or environmental protection. Greenways are frequently created out of disused railways, canal towpaths, utility ...

allows visitors to walk and cycle from the centre of town to Cape Byron Lighthouse. The area is noted for its wildlife, with

whale watching Whale watching is the practice of observing whales and dolphins (cetaceans) in their natural habitat. Whale watching is mostly a recreational activity (cf. birdwatching), but it can also serve scientific and/or educational purposes.Hoyt, E. 2 ...

a significant contributor to the local economy. Temperate and tropical waters merge here, making it a popular place for

scuba diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for " Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chr ...

and

snorkelling Snorkeling ( British and Commonwealth English spelling: snorkelling) is the practice of swimming on or through a body of water while equipped with a diving mask, a shaped breathing tube called a snorkel, and usually swimfins. In cooler waters, ...

. Most diving is done at Julian Rocks, 2.5 kilometres from the town and part of the Cape Byron Marine Park. Subtropical rainforests are nearby, and areas such as the

Nightcap National Park The Nightcap National Park is a national park situated within the Nightcap Range in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. The park was created in April 1983 and is situated north of . The national park is classed by the IUC ...

and its

Minyon Falls The Minyon Falls is a Waterfall#Types, plunge waterfall on Repentance Creek in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. The waterfall descends more than over the huge Minyon Falls Rhyolite Member, rhyolite cliffs which were once p ...

are within easy reach of the town. Byron Bay is a popular destination for

Schoolies week Schoolies or schoolies week (also known as leavers' or leavers' week in Queensland and Western Australia and coasties in the Australian Capital Territory) refers to the Australian tradition of high-school graduates (also known as "schoolies" or ...

during late November and early December.

Events

Festivals held in or near Byron Bay include the East Coast Blues & Roots Music Festival at Tyagarah at Easter,

Falls Festival Falls Music & Arts Festival (commonly known as Falls) is a multi-day music festival held annually in Lorne ( Victoria), Marion Bay (Tasmania), Byron Bay (New South Wales) and Fremantle (Western Australia), Australia over the New Year's Eve an ...

NYE and

Splendour in the Grass Splendour in the Grass (commonly referred to as Splendour) is an annual Australian music festival held at the North Byron Parklands in Yelgun, New South Wales. Since its inauguration, the festival has also been held in various locations near ...

, the Byron Bay International Fashion Festival on 29 April each year, the Byron Bay Writers Festival, the

Byron Bay Film Festival The Byron Bay Film Festival is a popular AACTA Awards accredited independent awards-based film festival, film event held in the late Australian summer at the Byron Community & Cultural Centre, in the coastal town of Byron Bay. The festival was ...

, Byron Bay Surf Festival, Byron Spirit Festival and the Byron Underwater Festival. The Byron Bay

Triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the ...

is held on the second Saturday in May every year; 1,300 competitors from many countries enter this Olympic Distance event. The vibrant musical community has produced internationally renowned bands such as

Blue King Brown Blue King Brown are an Australian urban roots ensemble formed in 2003 in Byron Bay, New South Wales, Byron Bay by mainstays Natalie Pa'apa'a, Nattali Rize and Carlo Santone. They have released three studio albums, ''Stand Up'' (October 2006), '' ...

Parkway Drive Parkway Drive is an Australian metalcore band from Byron Bay, New South Wales, formed in 2003. As of 2018, Parkway Drive have released six studio albums, one EP, two DVDs, a split album and one book, titled ''Ten Years of Parkway Drive''. The ...

and 50 Lions.

Markets

Byron Bay has a number of regular markets including a weekly

farmers' market A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or o ...

at the Cavanbah Centre every Thursday with over 70 local farmers selling fresh produce. There is also a Byron Community Market held on the same site on the first Sunday of each month and the Artisan Market held on Saturday evenings at Railway Park from October to Easter. There are three annual specialist Beachside Markets held in January, Easter and September.

Transport

A bus station in Jonson Street is served by

Greyhound Australia Greyhound Australia is an Australian coach operator that ran services in all mainland states and territories until reduction of services in the 2000s. It is owned by KordaMentha (85%) and the Chapman Group (15%). The company was established ...

, NSW TrainLink and Premier Motor Services coach services from Sydney and

. The privately run Byron Bay Train operates a shuttle service on a rehabilitated 3 km section of the disused Murwillimbah line between Byron Bay station in the Byron township and North Beach station, adjacent to the Elements of Byron resort. The service opened in December 2017, and uses an ex- NSWGR

railmotor Railmotor is a term used in the United Kingdom and elsewhere for a railway lightweight railcar, usually consisting of a railway carriage with a steam traction unit, or a diesel or petrol engine, integrated into it. Steam railcars Overview In th ...

, converted to run exclusively on

solar power Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovolta ...

using panels on top of the train and at the stations. Until 2004,

was a stop on the Casino to Murwillumbah railway line. It was served by trains from Sydney and, for various periods, also by services originating at Casino that connected with expresses running between Sydney and South Brisbane. An earlier local train service, known as the Byron Bay Tram conveyed passengers from about 1928 until about 1954 between the railway station and the "new jetty" where connections were made with passenger carrying ships of the North Coast Steam Navigation Company. Motive power was a Simplex petrol locomotive, locally known as the "Green Frog", and the passenger vehicles comprised former Newcastle B2 class steam tram trailer 74B and former Sydney C class electric tram C37. After the trams stopped running both the cars went to a heritage tramway in Parramatta Park where 74B was destroyed by fire. The Simplex was built in Bedford England and went into service in 1923 shunting freight to and from the "old" jetty adjacent to the township and then to "new" jetty to the north when it was completed in 1928. Later it hauled whales from the jetty to the rendering down works, livestock to the meat works, mineral sands and meat wagons to the station for onward movement and regularly shunted Norco and other railway sidings and between these duties ran the passenger tramway until the coastal passenger shipping service stopped. The Simplex locomotive was retired in 1984 when the meat works closed and is now stored in a shed near the Kendall Street level crossing under the care of volunteers and the Byron Bay Council.

Education

Byron Bay schools include Byron Bay Public School, Byron Bay High School, St Finbarr's Primary School, Byron Bay Community School, and Cape Byron Rudolf Steiner School. Among these are a number of early childhood facilities including Byron Bay Preschool and Periwinkle Preschool. In the fields of adult education, there are Lexis English Centres and Lexis Training (previously Global Village English Centres), the Byron Region Community College, which is a registered training organisation and the

SAE Institute The SAE Institute (SAE, formerly the School of Audio Engineering and the SAE Technology College) is a private for-profit college with campuses and facilities, including licensed franchise operations, in 50 cities in 20 countries. It was found ...

Byron Bay which is a government-accredited, degree-granting institution in the fields of audio engineering, digital film making, multimedia and animation.

Sport and recreation

The Byron Bay Surf Club is the longest-standing current sports club; it has been one of Australia's leading surf clubs and has been in continuous operation for more than 105 years. The

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

club the

Byron Bay Red Devils The Byron Bay Red Devils are an Australian rugby league football team based in Byron Bay, New South Wales they played in the Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League The Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League (NRRRL) is a rugby league competiti ...

and the Australian rules football team Byron Magpies are well known. Byron Bay FC has won 14 top grade honours in

Football Far North Coast Football Far North Coast (FFNC) is the governing body controlling Association Football on the Far North Coast of New South Wales, Australia. The name of the organization was changed in late 2005 from Soccer Far North Coast in line with the n ...

competitions including 4 ANZAC Cups (2003, 2004, 2007 and 2017), 5 premierships (2006, 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2019) and 5 Cyril Mayo Cups for winning the grand final (2005, 2006, 2013, 2017 and 2018). Byron Bay was created as a junior club in 1963 and formed their first senior team in 1966. In 1982 Byron Bay joined Lismore & District Soccer Association competitions. In 2017 Byron Bay became one of only 5 clubs to win the treble (ANZAC Cup, premiership and Cyril Mayo Cup) in the same season, and became the first, and so far only club to win the treble and Summer Youth League (which began in 2008). Other clubs include Byron Bay Golf Club, Byron Bay Cricket Club, Byron Bay Rugby Union Club, Byron Bay Gliding Club, Byron Bay Hang Gliding / Paragliding Club and the Byron Bay Bowling Club. The Byron Bay Ocean Swim Classic is held every year.

Media

The Byron Bay area has a number of newspapers: * ''The Byron Shire Echo'' (Independent weekly A3) * ''The Byron Shire News'' (APN weekly A3) * ''The Saturday Star'' (Independent A5 monthly) * ''The Bagg'' (Independent weekly A3 gig guide) * ''

The Northern Star ''The Northern Star'' is a daily newspaper serving Lismore, New South Wales, Australia. The newspaper is owned by News Corp Australia. ''The Northern Star'' is circulated to Lismore and surrounding communities, from Tweed Heads to the nort ...

'' (APN daily, produced in nearby Lismore) The community radio station Bay FM broadcasts on 99.9 FM from within Byron Bay itself. Other local stations in the Byron area are: * 2LM 900 AM (commercial) *

100.9 ZZZ FM Triple Z (call sign: 2ZZZ) is a commercial radio station covering New South Wales' Far North Coast, and is part of the Broadcast Operations Group. The station targets the 18-39 market with a mostly top 40 hits format, though in networking hour ...

(commercial) * ABC Northern Rivers 94.5 FM * River-FM 92.9 FM (community) All major television channels are available in Byron Bay and the wider Northern Rivers region: *

Prime7 Prime7, formerly Prime Television and other names, was an Australian television network. Prime Television launched on 17 March 1962 as '' CBN-8'' in Orange, and later expanded to cover regional New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Ca ...

, Prime7HD, 7two,

7mate 7mate is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Seven Network on 25 September 2010. The channel contains sport and regular programs aimed primarily to a male audience, with programming drawn from a c ...

7flix 7flix is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Seven Network on 28 February 2016. 7flix targets a variety of viewers and offers drama, comedy, reality, docusoap, and movies. History On 18 Decembe ...

ishop tv ishop TV is an Australian free-to-air television channel and a digital advertorial datacasting service that was launched on 30 April 2013. The channel is owned by Seven West Media (formerly Prime Media Group) and Brand Developers, broadcastin ...

(

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia ...

/ owned channels, major-commercial) * WIN Nine,

9HD 9HD is an Australian television channel owned by Nine Entertainment, originally launched on 17 March 2008 featuring unique "breakaway" programming until 2009 and a high-definition simulcast of the Nine Network from 2009 to 2010 and again s ...

9Go! 9Go! is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Nine Network on 9 August 2009, replacing Nine Guide. It is a youthful channel that offers a mix of comedy, reality, general entertainment, movies, ani ...

9Gem 9Gem is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, launched by the Nine Network in September 2010. The channel provides general entertainment and movie programming, from which the original name "GEM" is derived. History Nine N ...

9Life 9Life is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel owned by Nine Entertainment. The channel airs mostly foreign lifestyle and reality programs, with the channel having a licensing agreement with Discovery Inc. (previously Scripp ...

,and WIN Gold ( Nine Network/

WIN Corporation WIN Corporation is a private Australian media company, that owns assets including the WIN Television network, Crawford Productions and several local radio stations. The company is based in Wollongong, New South Wales. History Founding The WIN b ...

, major-commercial) *

Southern Cross 10 10 Regional is an Australian Television broadcasting in Australia, television network owned by Southern Cross Austereo that is broadcast in Queensland, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and South Aus ...

10 HD 10 HD is an Australian free-to-air television channel that was originally launched on 16 December 2007 on channel 1. The channel was available to high definition digital television viewers through Network 10 owned-and-operated stations. The ...

10 Bold 10 Bold is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel owned by Network 10. It originally launched on 26 March 2009 as One HD with a focus on broadcasting sports-based programming and events, but rebranded to One in April 2011 to ...

, 10 Peach,

10 Shake 10 Shake is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel owned by Network 10. It launched on 27 September 2020 at 6am. The channel includes a mix of shows for people aged forty and under. It broadcasts programming for children fr ...

and

Sky News Regional Sky News Australia is an Australian news channel owned by News Corp Australia. Originally launched on 19 February 1996, it broadcasts rolling news coverage throughout the day, while its prime time lineup is dedicated to opinion-based programs f ...

(

Network 10 Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

Southern Cross Austereo Southern Cross Media Group Limited, doing business as Southern Cross Austereo, is an Australian media company which operates broadcast radio and television stations. It is the largest radio broadcaster in Australia, operating 86 radio stati ...

, minor-commercial) * ABC, ABC HD,

ABC TV Plus ABC TV Plus (formerly ABC2 and ABC Comedy) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and part of its ABC Television network. The channel broadcasts a range of general entertainment pr ...

, ABC Kids,

ABC ME ABC Me (stylised as ABC ME) is an Australian English language children's free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It was officially launched by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on 4 December 2009 as ABC3. Hist ...

and

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

(

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

, semi-commercial) * SBS, SBS HD,

SBS World Movies SBS World Movies is an Australian free-to-air television channel showing international movies. The channel features foreign language films, documentaries, independent and mainstream cinema and interviews with international movie stars. It w ...

SBS Viceland SBS Viceland (stylised as SBS VICELAND) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). It began as SBS TWO on 1 June 2009, and was branded as SBS 2 between 2013 and 2016. On 8 April 2017, SBS ...

NITV National Indigenous Television (NITV) is an Australian free-to-air television channel that broadcasts programming produced and presented largely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It includes the half-hourly nightly ''NITV News'' ...

SBS Food SBS Food is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). The channel airs programs about food and cooking, from cultures around the world. History SBS first revealed it would laun ...

and

SBS WorldWatch SBS WorldWatch is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). The channel shows multilingual international news bulletins in more than 30 languages, as well as two local bulletins i ...

(

Special Broadcasting Service The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from the Australian Government. SBS operates six TV channels ( SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS World ...

, Public but still ads so semi-commercial)

Notable people

Notable people from or who have lived in Byron Bay include: *

Daevid Allen Christopher David Allen (13 January 1938 – 13 March 2015), known professionally as Daevid Allen, sometimes credited as Divided Alien, was an Australian musician. He was co-founder of the psychedelic rock groups Soft Machine (in the UK, 1966) ...

, musician *

Simon Baker Simon Lucas Baker (born 30 July 1969) is an Australian actor in television and film, as well as a director. He is known for his lead roles in the CBS television series ''The Mentalist'' as Patrick Jane and ''The Guardian'' as Nicholas Fallin ...

, actor *

Renee Bargh Renee Bargh (born 18 October 1986) is an Australian entertainment reporter, who is best known as a host of '' Channel Australia''. She is currently the weekend co-host and correspondent for ''Extra'' in the U.S. On 23 January 2020, Bargh be ...

, TV presenter * Camille Barr, poet and singer-songwriter * Jordan Barrett, fashion model *

John Butler John Butler may refer to: Arts and entertainment *John "Picayune" Butler (died 1864), American performer * John Butler (artist) (1890–1976), American artist *John Butler (author) (born 1937), British author and YouTuber *John Butler (born 1954), ...

, guitarist, founder of the

John Butler Trio The John Butler Trio are an Australian roots/ rock band led by guitarist and vocalist John Butler, an APRA and ARIA-award-winning musician. They formed in Fremantle in 1998 with Jason McGann on drums, Gavin Shoesmith on bass and John Butler on ...

Toni Childs Toni Childs (born October 29, 1957) is an American-Australian singer-songwriter. She is best known for her songs "Don't Walk Away" (a ''Billboard'' Hot 100 hit in the United States in 1988), "I've Got to Go Now", a Top 5 hit in Australia in 19 ...

, musician * William (Bill) Clifford, General Manager of NORCO in the 1920s, described as founder of the dairy industry, lived in Byron Bay from the late nineteenth century until the 1920s. *

John Cornell John Cornell (2 March 1941 – 23 July 2021) was an Australian actor, director, producer, writer, and businessman. He was best known for his role as "Strop" on ''The Paul Hogan Show'', and he was instrumental in the introduction of World Serie ...

, businessman and

Delvene Delaney Delvene Delaney (born 26 August 1951) is an Australian actress of soap opera and film, television presenter and singer. Career Delaney was born in Mackay, Queensland, Australia, on 26 August 1951, the beauty pageant winner found fame on Austra ...

, actress and co-host of ''

Sale of the Century ''Sale of the Century'' (stylized as ''$ale of the Century'') is an American television game show that originally debuted on September 29, 1969, on NBC daytime. It was one of three NBC game shows to premiere on that date, the other two being th ...

'' *

Shelley Craft Shelley Craft (born 21 June 1976) is an Australian television personality. She is most well known for her long-running presenting roles on the Seven Network programs ''Saturday Disney'' from 1996 until 2002, and '' The Great Outdoors'' from 200 ...

, television presenter *

Eka Darville Eka Darville (born 11 April 1989) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his roles as Scott Truman in ''Power Rangers RPM,'' Pip in ''Mr. Pip'', Malcolm Ducasse in '' Jessica Jones'' and Diego in '' The Originals''. Biography Early lif ...

, actor *

, a metalcore band formed in 2002 that have toured around the world several times * Zac Efron, actor *

Peter Gifford Peter Gifford (born 5 April 1955), sometimes known as "Giffo," is an Australian musician. From 1980 until 1987, he played bass guitar, Chapman Stick and sang backing vocals for Australian rock band Midnight Oil. Midnight Oil Gifford is credi ...

, bassist for Midnight Oil *

Chris Hemsworth Christopher Hemsworth (born 11 August 1983) is an Australian actor. He rose to prominence playing Kim Hyde in the Australian television series ''Home and Away'' (2004–2007) before beginning a film career in Hollywood. In the Marvel Cinemat ...

, actor *

Paul Hogan Paul Hogan (born 8 October 1939) is an Australian actor and comedian. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his performance as ...

, actor, and

Linda Kozlowski Linda Kozlowski (born January 7, 1958) is an American former actress. She is best known for her role as Sue Charlton in the ''Crocodile Dundee'' film series (1986–2001), with the first installment earning her a Golden Globe Award nomination. ...

, actress * Andy Holm, musician, semi-finalist on the 2012 season of '' Australia's Got Talent'' *

In Hearts Wake In Hearts Wake are an Australian metalcore band from Byron Bay, formed in 2006. The band comprises vocalist Jake Taylor, guitarists Eaven Dall and Ben Nairne, bassist Kyle Erich, and drummer Conor Ward. They have released five studio albums: ' ...

, metalcore band *

The Jezabels The Jezabels are an Australian indie rock band formed in Sydney in 2007. The band consists of lead vocalist Hayley Mary (born Hayley Frances McGlone), lead guitarist Sam Lockwood, pianist and keyboardist Heather Shannon, and drummer and percuss ...

, lead singer Hayley Mary and keyboardist Heather Shannon * Jack Johnson, musician *

Elle Macpherson Eleanor Nancy Macpherson (; née Gow; born ) is an Australian model, businesswoman, television host, and actress. She is known for her record five cover appearances for the ''Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue'' beginning in the 1980s, leading ...

, model, entrepreneur * Jeff Martin, lead singer for

The Tea Party The Tea Party is a Canadian rock band with industrial rock, blues, progressive rock, and Middle Eastern music influences, dubbed " Moroccan roll" by the media. Active throughout the 1990s and up until 2005, the band re-formed in 2011. The Tea ...

Maia Mitchell Maia Mitchell (born 18 August 1993) is an Australian actress and singer. She is known for her roles as Brittany Flune in the children's television series '' Mortified'' for the Nine Network, and as Natasha Ham in the Seven Network's teen drama ...

, actress and singer * Pauline Menczer, professional surfer, 1993 Women's World Champion *

Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British-Australian singer, actress and activist. She was a four-time Grammy Award winner whose music career included 15 top-ten singles, including 5 number-one singles on the ...

, singer, songwriter, actress, novelist * Kerry O'Brien, journalist * Dylan O'Donnell, astrophotographer and

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personality *

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, bassist for

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* Parcels, band, formed at Cape Byron Rudolf Steiner School, now based in Berlin * Garret Parkes, surfer *Kieren Perrow, professional surfer and first WSL commissioner *

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, actress *

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, actress * Ric Richardson, inventor * Space Cowboy, a record-breaking "sword swallower" and street performer who hails from Byron Bay * Taylor Steele, filmmaker * Mel Symons, television presenter *

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, actress *Danny Wills, professional surfer

In fiction

John Macgregor's 1986 novel ''

Propinquity In social psychology, propinquity (; from Latin ''propinquitas'', "nearness") is one of the main factors leading to interpersonal attraction. It refers to the physical or psychological proximity between people. Propinquity can mean physical prox ...

'' is partly set in Byron Bay and nearby

. The 2008/2009 ABC drama series ''

East of Everything ''East of Everything'' is an Australian drama television drama series set in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales which screened in 2008-2009 on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) television network. It was produced by De ...

'', written by

Deb Cox Deborah Cox (born 29 January 1958) is an Australian screenwriter and producer for television and film. Cox started working in the television industry as a production assistant for the Crawford Productions television series '' Skyways''. It was ...

and Roger Monk, is set in the fictional town of Broken Bay which is based on a somewhat more run-down version of Byron Bay and its surrounds, with much of the filming taking place in and around Byron Bay including obviously recognisable landmarks such as the lighthouse and local beaches. Parts of the 2014 film ''

The Inbetweeners 2 ''The Inbetweeners 2'', is a 2014 teen coming of age adventure sex comedy film and sequel to '' The Inbetweeners Movie'' (2011), which is based on the E4 sitcom ''The Inbetweeners''. It was written and directed by series creators Damon Beesl ...

'' take place in Byron Bay. The town also features in the 2016 open world racing video game, ''

Forza Horizon 3 ''Forza Horizon 3'' is a 2016 racing video game developed by Playground Games and published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox One and Windows. It is the ninth instalment in the ''Forza'' series and the third instalment in its spinoff ''Forza ...

'' and is where the Horizon Byron Bay Festival is situated. In July 2019 Byron Bay was used in Neighbours for the return storyline for Dee Bliss. The driver's license of Zak in '' Fern Gully'' (1992) indicates that he resides in Byron Bay, suggesting that the plot of the movie occurs in Australia.

Gallery

File:Bryon Bay NSW.jpg, Byron Bay viewed from the Cape Byron walking track

References

External links

* *
Northern Rivers Geology Blog – Byron Bayvisitnsw.com – Byron BayList of Byron Bay festivals
{{authority control Towns in New South Wales Tweed Volcano Bays of New South Wales Northern Rivers Seaside resorts in Australia Entertainment districts in Australia Surfing locations in New South Wales Populated places established in 1770 Arts districts 1770 establishments in the British Empire Coastal towns in New South Wales Whaling stations in Australia Fishing communities in Australia