Melbourne is set to come alive with music, movement and performance as RISING festival unveils its 2026 program, running from 27 May to 8 June. The city’s theatres, galleries, town halls and public spaces will host more than 100 events featuring 376 artists, including seven world premieres and eleven Australian premieres.
The program spans large and small venues, offering major international acts alongside bold Australian works and accessible free events. Highlights include Florentina Holzinger’s new epic A Year Without Summer at Arts Centre Melbourne, The Royal Family Dance Crew’s arena-scale showcase at Hamer Hall, the reopening of Flinders Street Ballroom as a participatory dance academy, the multi-room music marathon Day Tripper, and the Australian premiere of The Vinyl Factory: Reverb at ACMI. Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Raven Chacon brings Voiceless Mass to St Paul’s Cathedral, while Narcissister transforms The Substation into the warehouse-sized performance Voyage Into Infinity. Brooklyn rap icon Lil’ Kim will also perform in a celebration of hip hop legacy across the city.
Artistic Director Hannah Fox said the festival reflects Melbourne’s enduring culture of music and movement. “Music and dance are universal languages that bring communities together, from folk dance to raves, from sticky carpets to arenas,” she said. Parliamentary Secretary for Creative Industries Katie Hall MP added that the festival provides Victorians and visitors alike with free experiences and opportunities to explore creativity through the first Australian Dance Biennale, offering classes and performances for all ages.
The Australian Dance Biennale forms the heart of RISING 2026, offering a city-wide invitation to engage with dance in all its forms. International works include Oona Doherty’s Hard to Be Soft: A Belfast Prayer, a portrayal of Belfast’s conflict and resilience through dance and music, and New Zealand’s The Royal Family Dance Crew in Defend the Throne. The Flinders Street Ballroom will host Land of 1000 Dances, reconnecting Melbourne with its historic dance hall through workshops in styles from ballet to Polyswagg. Lucy Guerin Inc premieres The Forest, a dance meditation on human connection to trees, while Chunky Move revives its 2006 work Glow, combining live performance with interactive light technology. Melanie Lane presents Into the Woods, exploring historical witch hunts, and Dancenorth’s RED returns for a full season, using aerial choreography to address environmental fragility.
RISING’s music program spans genres and generations. Day Tripper, a festival-within-the-festival, brings Kae Tempest, Saul Williams, Kahlil El’Zabar, The Congos, Lil’ Kim, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, Chanel Beads, TR/ST, Saint Levant, Wednesday and others to multiple city venues. New works include Brian Jackson and Yasiin Bey’s tribute to Gil Scott-Heron and The Vinyl Factory: Reverb, a multi-sensory vinyl-focused exhibition featuring works by William Kentridge, Jenn Nkiru and Virgil Abloh. Melbourne venues from Hamer Hall to St Paul’s Cathedral host performances exploring sound, space and cultural histories, including free access events like Chacon’s Voiceless Mass.
International and Australian theatre and performance works engage with identity, history and society. Holzinger’s A Year Without Summer juxtaposes historical and contemporary anxieties, while Khalid Abdalla’s Nowhere weaves personal narrative with global events. Narcissister presents a chaotic Rube Goldberg-inspired installation, and Brian Lipson examines the mind of Sir Francis Galton in A Large Attendance in the Antechamber. Other offerings include Jenn Kidwell’s we come to collect, Infinity’s participatory Monsteen for teenagers, and Chenturan Aran’s sci-fi satire The Supposed To Be.
Public art, large-scale projections and interactive installations spread RISING throughout the city. The Royal Family Dance Crew brings a free sunset performance to Fed Square, while Barkindji artist Kent Morris’s Flower Power celebrates the murnong (yam daisy) and First Nations heritage. Hamer Hall’s façade hosts Calling Country: The Land Speaks Back, and the First Peoples Melbourne Art Trams return to the city for a year-long celebration of Blak imagination. EMERGENCE(Y) at Melbourne Science Gallery explores human and non-human adaptation through sound, robotics and environmental art, while Emporium Melbourne presents playful robotic installations.
ahm is a major partner of RISING 2026, offering on-ground support and concierge services to help audiences navigate the festival. With its mix of dance, music, theatre, performance art and public engagement, RISING 2026 positions Melbourne as a city alive with creativity and shared experience.
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