RISING 2026 keeps building. The latest programming drop brings Pasifika block parties, late-night basement clubs and a string of local supports that deserve your full attention.
Running across Melbourne from 27 May to 8 June, RISING’s latest program additions are all about getting you out of your seat and into the thick of it.
They’ve got free outdoor spectacles, a neon-lit basement party and the chance to catch emerging local artists alongside international headliners; there’s quite a lot to dig into here (lucky us!).
The centrepiece of this new wave is God Save the Queens, a free Pasifika block party taking over Fed Square on 7 June.
Led by global street dance icons The Royal Family Dance Crew, it’s part performance, part full-scale audience participation, with the crew breaking down their signature Polyswagg choreography live.
As the night unfolds, the square transforms into an open-air celebration with a lineup that includes JessB, Lady Shaka, HALFQUEEN, Auckland MC Rubi Du and Kween Kong.
Closing the night, Neo Sun performs with the Pasefika Victoria Choir, blending electronic experimentation with newly developed choral works. A pretty one-of-a-kind way to wrap a major free event.
But the party doesn’t stop there!
RISING 2026
- When: 27 May – 8 June
- Where: Various venues across Melbourne
- God Save the Queens: 7 June, Fed Square (free)
Check out our gig guide, our festival guide, our live music venue guide and our nightclub guide. Follow us on Instagram here.
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Join the land of 1000 dances
And if God Save the Queens has you wanting to keep moving, RISING has you covered on that front too.
Land of 1000 Dances is reopening the historic Flinders Street Station Ballroom, built in 1910, as a living dance academy across the festival.
Classes are led by Victorian dance legends and world champions, spanning everything from ballet and Bollywood to jazz, jive and Polyswagg. On the more music-rooted end, there are Melbourne Shuffle sessions where pioneers will walk you through the iconic T-step, plus voguing classes led by Chantal Bala aka Tejan Diesel Revlon, and of course Polyswagg itself, courtesy of The Royal Family Dance Crew.
You can check out the full class schedule and plan your session here.
Late nights in Chinatown
On the late-night front, Bass Lounge is tucked beneath the Paramount Food Court in Chinatown. Enter through the golden doors and you’re in a neon-lit world of global club sounds, cracked electronica, live sets and karaoke rooms running from 10pm to 4am across two Fridays.
On 29 May, Rotterdam-based selector Karim aka Rotational brings a set spanning Algerian synth-pop to deep-cut wave, joined by Brussels producer Naomie Klaus performing live, plus sets from Kidskin, Front Page Leslie, Zalina and interstitial sounds from Elsie and Xavier.
Then on 5 June, Netherlands-based Nicolini brings his hyper-rhythmic live sets, joined by electro-femme pioneer Artificial (Nicole Skeltys) and Ed Kent, with back-to-back sets from Bridget Small with Sofay and Emelyne with Kassie carrying the night through to the early hours.
RISING support acts worth showing up early for
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Beyond the parties, the supports across the wider program are worth a closer look.
At Hamer Hall, Tokyo-via-Manhattan rapper Nina Utashiro opens for TR/ST, bringing sharp, villain-coded flows that cut across trap, pop and metal.
Same venue, different night: Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 get the Public Opinion Afro Orchestra, a percussive, high-energy Naarm outfit blending pan-African influences with hip hop, presented with PBS FM’s Stani Goma.
Two very different nights at Hamer Hall, both worth arriving early for.
Over at Festival Hall, Lil’ Kim is joined by Dutty Worldwide and Soju Gang. The latter is a proud Gunai/Kurnai, Yorta Yorta and Wiradjuri artist and Naarm nightlife mainstay whose DJ sets roam freely across old school hip hop, R&B, baile flips and jersey club.
Wednesday’s two nights at Max Watt’s each get their own distinct local support. Alien Nosejob opens night one, bringing the fuzz and punch of a project that’s grown from a bedroom recording experiment into a full six-piece band.
Night two goes to Season 2, featuring members of Parsnip, The Stroppies and Phil and the Tiles, delivering melody-driven hooks, drones and rhythmic interplay.
At Melbourne Recital Centre, anaiis is joined by Bumpy, a Naarm-based Noongar soul artist whose voice sits somewhere between tender and powerful, drawing on folk, funk and jazz.
Rounding things out, Cate Le Bon brings along Naarm-born songwriter Georgia Knight, whose autoharp-led compositions move through folk, trip-hop, noise and synth to land somewhere wildly cinematic.
RISING offers a genuinely deep program, and the kind of festival announcement that rewards a second read-through. Go on.
For more information, head here.
Beat is a proud media partner of RISING.
