Chinchilla Fossil Finders
Saturday 9 May, 2026
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Chinchilla Fossil Finders |
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Celebrate Queensland Dinosaur Week with us in Chinchilla!
Chinchilla Fossil Finders is the all-ages community event inviting everyone to join in Queensland Museum’s exciting excavation efforts.
Help Queensland Museum experts sort and sieve through local sediment to discover real fossils.
There will be live fossil excavation, fascinating palaeontology talks, hands-on kids activities, mini train rides and wildlife shows. Plus, you can bring in your own rocks or fossils to be identified by palaeontologists representing Queensland Museum, The University of Queensland and Griffith University. Food and drinks will be available for sale with proceeds supporting the Chinchilla Historical Society.
The fun then continues with a free movie screening with food trucks from 5pm at the Chinchilla Botanic Parkland. Set down your picnic blanket, grab a complimentary popcorn and enjoy two fossil films:
- 5pm: Megafauna: What Killed Australia’s Giants (PG). 60mins. ABC documentary narrated by Hugh Jackman
- 6pm: Night at the Museum (PG). 1hr 48 mins. Family comedy starring Ben Stiller.
Chinchilla is home to a unique geological formation called The Chinchilla Sand, which makes the region rich in 3-million-year-old megafauna fossils from the Pliocene period.
Bring the whole family for a day of citizen science and fossil fun!
Make it a weekend! View our handy links to plan your visit to Chinchilla.
Highlights from Chinchilla Fossil Finders 2025
Plan your visit to Chinchilla
Whether you’re exploring historic villages, snapping a selfie with the Big Melon, or hiking the ancient Bunya Mountains, this is a place where you can slow down and reconnect with what matters.
If you're heading west from Brisbane, plan a pit stop in Toowoomba. Drop in to Queensland Museum Cobb+Co to see the National Carriage Collection, enjoy one of our famous scones at the cafe and wander through the adjacent Botanic Gardens.