Got a theory about the next five billion years? Now or Never would like a word.
The City of Melbourne has just launched the Now or Never Open Call for the 2027 festival, less than two months after the 2026 edition, A Whole New World, wrapped on 30 August.
This round’s theme is The Next Five Billion Years, built around the relationship between nature and technology and the idea that artificial intelligence is changing how people relate to the natural world.
The brief wonders whether the two were ever really separate, and what machines might pick up from the way living systems think and communicate. Applicants are free to read both words broadly.
Now or Never’s 2027 Open Call
- Applications close: 27 November, 5pm AEDT
- Outcomes: February 2027
- Program announced: June 2027
- Festival: mid to late August 2027
- Support: up to $75,000 per project
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around Melbourne here.
What do Now or Never want?
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Now or Never wants large-scale work across four areas: contemporary performance, sound experimentation, talks and big visual art. Everything needs an in-person public outcome inside the City of Melbourne municipality in late August, though projects that need more development time can pitch for the 2028 edition instead.
Successful projects get a festival partnership shaped around what they need, with up to $75,000 in support that can go on presentation fees, venue deals, production help, marketing or access costs. Exactly what each one gets is worked out with the programming team.
Musicians, read this bit twice
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Standard gigs and single music performances won’t make the cut, and neither will workshops, educational sessions or events that already happen year-round. Projects reaching fewer than 500 people are out, as is anything without serious technology built into it. Work that has already had a significant Melbourne season won’t get a second run either.
Ticketed shows need to budget at least 25% of net box office for Now or Never, with the remaining 75% going to the project. Artists without an ABN and $20 million public liability insurance will need an auspice body if they’re selected, though nobody needs one confirmed at the application stage.
Each project should also bring its own producer, ideally someone other than the lead artist. Anything already funded through another City of Melbourne grant, sponsorship or EOI program can’t come back for the same project in the same timeframe.
Priority goes to First Nations-led projects that celebrate Indigenous innovation and creativity. Applicants who’d rather not write it all down can pitch over the phone or in an online meeting, which the team will transcribe, and [email protected] is the place to arrange it.
Anyone with more than one idea can lodge several applications, one project each. First-round knockbacks come with no notes attached.
For anyone sitting on an idea too big for a band room or a gallery wall, this is the way in.
Applications for the Now or Never Open Call 2027 close 27 November, with up to $75,000 in support for selected projects. For more information, head here.
