Yarra's beloved winter music festival Leaps and Bounds is back, and it's going all in on ten days of local magic.
Leaps and Bounds Music Festival is coming back to the City of Yarra for ten massive days of live music across Fitzroy, Collingwood, Abbotsford and Richmond.
Running from 16 to 26 July, the Yarra City Council-presented festival takes over beloved local institutions, late-night haunts, DIY spaces and neighbourhood pubs, with every single event either free or low cost to attend.
This year’s Leaps and Bounds program is absolutely loaded with all-day venue takeovers, record fairs, live broadcasts, pop-ups and one-off collaborations, championing the venues, artists, DJs, promoters and collectives that make the inner north one of the country’s most significant live music communities.
Leaps and Bounds Music Festival 2026
- 16–26 July 2026,
- Across Fitzroy, Collingwood, Abbotsford and Richmond
- Tickets here
Check out our gig guide, our festival guide, our live music venue guide and our nightclub guide. Follow us on Instagram here.
Highlights include IN MOTION, part of HIGH GROUND, taking over The Night Cat, The Evelyn Hotel and Punters Club with Public Figures and Skeleten among the acts.
Over in Collingwood, the brand new train carriage venue Trainscendence hosts Loco Motion, a weekend of music, arts and creative culture for all ages featuring Charlie Needs Braces.
The Gem hosts a free Sunday session with Stone Fest with Stone Fest, featuring Girlatones, Daisy Kilbourne and Hannah Kate, while Liberate Community brings Equaliser: A Disability Pride Party to The Leadbeater Hotel in Richmond.
Global sounds and cultural exchange are also a massive part of this year’s Leaps and Bounds lineup.
Stani Goma’s To Bina: A Night of Soukous Vibrations Powered by El Gran Mono lands at Abbots Yard, Diversity Funk heads to The Horn, and Akwaaba at Old Plates celebrates West African music, culture and food, headlined by Immy Owusu and Sensible J.
The Builders Arms Hotel hosts The Yalinguth Archives, a special night of yidaki, songs and stories reflecting on Fitzroy’s iconic meeting places and the Aboriginal community that helped shape them.
Nighthawks and The Bendigo team up for Lowlight on Lojo on Lower Johnston St, while nearby Lulie Tavern hosts the free and fully accessible all-day LittlePalooza, featuring Leroy MacQueen and Platonic Sex.
The Tote welcomes South Australian Aboriginal hip hop crew DEM MOB, The Old Bar hosts a zine fair soundtracked by loud DIY punk, and Baxter’s on Brunswick St spotlights emerging artists across three nights with Sounds Like Tomorrow. Glamorama and REELIZE Studio also join forces for immersive AV club night INFUSE ft. dozie.
The Leaps and Bounds Record Fair returns to Collingwood Town Hall, and PBS keeps up its festival tradition with a live broadcast from the Yorkshire Stingo Hotel in Abbotsford.
There’s plenty more magic to explore too, with events also taking place at Bodriggy Brewpub, Skydiver Records, Smith St Hotel, The Catfish, Railway Hotel, Yah Yahs, The Standard, The Grace Darling and Bar Open.
For more information, head here.
This article was made in partnership with Leaps and Bounds.
