Living report: figures refresh as the season is announced. Last updated August 11, 2026. Check back as the picture fills in.
State of the industry
Australia's festival economy has had the hardest run in its history, and the 2026/27 season opens in its shadow. Bluesfest, which drew 109,000 people in 2025, cancelled its 2026 edition weeks out and entered liquidation. Splendour in the Grass has now sat out two consecutive years after 2023 sales fell about 30 percent. Creative Australia's Soundcheck research found 535 festivals staged nationally in 2022-23, with about one in three losing money. The economics are brutal from both sides: average festival tickets have climbed from about $120 in 2004 to $334 in 2025, rising at twice inflation, while 57 percent of Australian fans (64 percent of Gen Z) say they chose between live music and living costs this year. Insurance tells its own story, with one Melbourne venue's premium rising from about $6,000 to $142,890 in four years without a single claim.
Governments have started responding: NSW's festival viability fund put $2.25 million into five events in its first round, three of them (Lost Paradise, Yours and Owls, Field Day) in this season's calendar below, and a NSW parliamentary inquiry into live music took evidence in May. And here is where the season's own data talks back. While the majors wobble, the regional campout scene is thriving: five of the season's six biggest lineups sit outside the capitals, led by the bush doofs and country weekends. For a portrait of the scene, read Mixmag's profile of Strawberry Fields. The doofs are carrying the season.
When the season peaks
October is the peak of the season with 32 festivals. The season opens with the spring campouts and closes on the autumn folk weekends. October is led by Interstellar Groove Festival, Earth Frequency Festival 2026, Port Fairy Spring Music Festival and Savannah in the Round. A new year cluster packs Lost Paradise, Beyond The Valley, NYE On The Hill and Snack Festival into the last days of December, before Let Them Eat Cake opens 2027 in Melbourne.
Where it happens
Victoria hosts 69 of the season's festivals, New South Wales 61 and Queensland 46, with Western Australia, Northern Territory, South Australia, Tasmania and Australian Capital Territory rounding out the map. The real signature is how far from the cities the big ones sit: five of the season's six biggest lineups are regional campouts, from Tallarook to Hesse.
The season on the map
224 of the season's festivals plotted across the country, from Tallarook to Hesse. The biggest lineups sit well outside the capitals. Tap the map to explore each one.
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The touring festival model
22 of the 228 dates are legs of touring festivals. Spilt Milk plays Canberra, Gold Coast, Geelong and Perth, Strummingbird plays Ballarat, Newcastle and Bokarina, Foreverafter plays Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane and Good Things Festival plays Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
- 4 Spilt Milk Canberra · Gold Coast · Geelong · Perth 4 legs
- 3 Strummingbird Ballarat · Newcastle · Bokarina 3 legs
- 3 Foreverafter Melbourne · Sydney · Brisbane 3 legs
- 3 Good Things Festival Melbourne · Sydney · Brisbane 3 legs
- 3 Longhaul Festival Melbourne · Sydney · Brisbane 3 legs
- 2 Rolling Sets Tweed Heads · Newcastle 2 legs
- 2 Dreamstate 2027 Sydney · Melbourne 2 legs
- 2 Wildlands Brisbane · Joondalup 2 legs
The season's busiest artists
Max Jackson is the season's busiest artist, booked at five distinct festivals across seven dates. 368 artists play more than one date this season, but touring lineups do a lot of that work: only 267 play more than one distinct festival, while 101 ride a single touring lineup from city to city. The circuit riders below play two or more distinct festivals (legs of one touring festival count once), grouped by the scene they anchor.
The sound of the season
Folk & Country leads the season's bookings: 17% of the 831 genre-tagged artists booked play folk & country, with house on 17% and electronic on 11%.
Biggest lineups of the season
The biggest lineups tell the same story: Interstellar Groove Festival (102), BIGSOUND (100), Tamworth Country Music Festival (99), Gympie Music Muster (93), Strawberry Fields (92) lead the season. Counted as distinct acts on each festival's schedule.
- 1 Interstellar Groove FestivalTallarook, Victoria · Oct 30, 2026 - Nov 2, 2026 102 artists
- 2 BIGSOUNDBrisbane, Queensland · Sep 1, 2026 - Sep 4, 2026 100 artists
- 3 Tamworth Country Music FestivalTamworth, New South Wales · Jan 15, 2027 - Jan 24, 2027 99 artists
- 4 Gympie Music MusterAmamoor, Queensland · Aug 27, 2026 - Aug 30, 2026 93 artists
- 5 Strawberry FieldsTocumwal, New South Wales · Nov 20, 2026 - Nov 22, 2026 92 artists
- 6 Beyond The ValleyHesse, Victoria · Dec 28, 2026 - Jan 1, 2027 85 artists
- 7 Earth Frequency Festival 2026Woodford, Queensland · Oct 23, 2026 - Oct 26, 2026 77 artists
- 8 Dragon Dreaming FestivalWee Jasper, New South Wales · Sep 25, 2026 - Sep 28, 2026 75 artists
- 9 Port Fairy Spring Music FestivalPort Fairy, Victoria · Oct 9, 2026 - Oct 12, 2026 72 artists
- 10 Aetheria Digital DawnDarwin, Northern Territory · Jul 31, 2026 - Aug 2, 2026 67 artists
About this data
Figures cover the 228 Australian festivals with confirmed 2026/27 season dates (July 2026 to June 2027) tracked on Setline as of August 11, 2026, counting announced, non-cancelled performances only. Festivals that have already run stay counted: this is the whole season, not what is left of it. Genre figures measure the primary genre of each booked artist with a known genre, not the festivals' own tags. Lineups are still being announced through the season, so artist and performance counts grow over time. Industry context is editorial commentary, reviewed periodically; unlike the figures above it does not refresh nightly.