In Australian culture sports carnivals are held to perform competitions in the individual or team disciplines like athletics, swimming or Surf Life Saving. Teams from different clubs or schools gather together for both individual point-score and team score. Often, the carnival is opened by a parade with the teams marching in uniforms and flags over the field of competition.

Surf carnival

Surf Life Saving Club

Surf Life Saving Club

Surf Life Saving Clubs are volunteer institutions at Australia's beaches. The clubs conduct surf lifesaving services on weekends and public holidays and host many beach sport activities, such as Nippers, surf carnivals and other competitions...

s in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 train their nippers

Nippers

Nippers in surf lifesaving are young Surf Lifesavers aged between 5 and 14 years old. Unlike senior Surf Lifesavers, the majority of them do not patrol the beaches. The focus for Nippers tends to be on fun, and surf awareness....

 and young life savers

Life Savers

Life Savers is an American brand of ring-shaped mints and artificially fruit-flavored hard candy. The candy is known for its distinctive packaging, coming in aluminum foil rolls....

for competitions in surf carnivals. Local, regional, state and nationwide competitions are held across the country. Junior carnivals compete for age groups starting from under-8 to under-14, while senior competitions among active surf life savers start from under-15 to veterans. Veterans are athletes 30 years and older; the age groups are in 5-year blocks: 30–34, 35–39, 40–44, all the way up to 65+. Surf boat competitions start from 16+.