City of Darebin and Darebin Arts' iconic Darebin FUSE Festival returns for 2025 with diverse programming.
For two unforgettable weeks, creativity across Darebin will be celebrated with live music, cultural celebrations, exhibitions, hands-on workshops, film screenings and immersive art experiences. The Darebin FUSE Festival 2025 will feature free and ticketed events running from 31 August to 14 September, with the full program to be announced 22 July.
Darebin FUSE Festival is excited to announce the appointment of Ethan Savage as Curator in Residence for Ganbu Gulin, the annual event that launches the festival. Meaning One Mob in Woi-Wurrung language, Ganbu Gulin is co-presented in close collaboration with the Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation.
Darebin FUSE Festival 2025
- Sunday, 31 August to Saturday, 14 September
- Various locations around Darebin
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around Melbourne here.
Ganbu Gulin: wudhanu yuwanguth
This year’s opening event is titled wudhanu yuwanguth or From Many to the Next and represents a gathering of Voice, Culture and Ceremony. The event will be held Sunday, 31 August from 1pm to 5pm at Darebin Arts Centre and the adjacent Ray Bramham Gardens. Open to all, Ganbu Gulin welcomes new citizens of Darebin with a Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony, live music, cultural activities and dance performances.
The stellar music lineup will be MC’d by FABoriginal drag artist 2joocee and feature live performances by Wurundjeri dancers, renowned singer-songwriter and Darebin local Emma Donovan, up-and-coming indie rock band Doe Eyes fronted by lead guitarist Jordan Clay and Indigenous vocalist Izzy Skye, and hip hop artist Torres Green. The day will also include a native planting workshop and kids’ workshops with crowd favourite Aunty Brenda.
Festival highlights
FUSE @ Northcote Town Hall Arts Centre will transform the venue and Civic Square into a vibrant festival hub from 5 to 7 September, illuminated by works from some of Australia’s most celebrated puppet companies. The opening night party on 5 September will feature performances from First Nations drag artists Cerulean and Stone Motherless Cold.
Visitors can experience Tarutharu – The Kaurna Skink, a 27-metre luminous puppet created by Elizabeth Close Arts and Jack Buckskin in collaboration with Darebin-based puppet company A Blanck Canvas. The project translates and interprets a traditionally oral history, bringing together Kaurna Elders’ stories with contemporary Aboriginal visual art and puppetry.
The main hall will feature a giant Cochlea by Snuff Puppets, a colossal 15-metre sculptural body part that shares the experiences of trans and gender-diverse people through real, uplifting and poignant stories.
Other program highlights include Rock-A-Bye-Baby featuring Wrong Way Up on 4 September, a kid-friendly music event co-presented by PBS 107.6FM showcasing the Afro-disco-psychedelic-boogie duo. A Night Under the Stars with Watty Thompson and Friends on 6 September will see the acclaimed storyteller recreate a bush side campfire atmosphere with music from his debut album and new material.
FUSE Films presents six free curated film sessions on 2 and 10 September at Thornbury Picture House, featuring diverse selections including Mani Ratnam’s Bombay, Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and Robert Connolly’s Paper Planes.
For more information, head here.
