FAMILIES just love the Telstra Family Fun Day on the beautiful Airlie Foreshore, which this year will take place on Sunday, August 7, from 10am-2pm.

The day includes a huge variety of free activities, from the more traditional face painting and circus play to the modern texting and selfie competitions - for the kids who are rarely without a mobile in their hand!

The highlight of the event is always the Telstra 'Wacky Races', including the egg-and-spoon race, the sack race and three-legged race on beautiful Airlie Point - guaranteed to keep the kids active, and there are parent heats as well.

This year's theme is Finding the Reef, with the many enviro stalls forming part of a treasure hunt so the kids get to experience some reef education without even knowing it!

There are also doughnut-eating and slushie-slurping competitions, bouncy castles, reef arts and crafts, beach cricket, DJ, barbecue and refreshment stalls.

"This is a huge day of fun not to be missed for the whole family," Telstra's Sue Stridiron said.

"The Whitsunday Reef Festival is for all ages and aims to entertain people in a safe, family-friendly environment and we are very pleased to be a part of this each year."

Telstra Family Fun Day events are free, making it very affordable entertainment for families, who can have a great time and not worry about blowing the budget.