Birrarung Riverfest is back for a fourth year, and comedian Sammy J has signed on to lead the party.
Running from 27 September (World Rivers Day) through to 18 October, Birrarung Riverfest fills three weeks with more than 70 free events along the Yarra (Birrarung) River and the smaller urban waterways feeding into it. The Yarra Riverkeeper Association runs the program, pulling together artists, educators, environmental organisations and Traditional Owners.
Thousands of people are expected to turn out across the program, which swings from platypus-spotting to Bollywood-inspired performances on the riverbank. There’s also a chance to slip through the middle of the city in a zero-emission, self-drive boat while scooping rubbish from the water along the way.
Birrarung Riverfest 2026
- What: More than 70 free events along the Yarra (Birrarung) River
- When: 27 September to 18 October
- Where: Warburton in the upper reaches down to Westgate Park at the river’s mouth
- Cost: Free
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Sammy J’s ambassador run kicks off on opening day, when he’ll MC and perform at River Rhythms, a singer-songwriter competition staged in Warburton on 27 September. Musicians who fancy a spot can send in a song through the festival’s website.
On 10 October, he’ll front The Big Birrarung Paddle, pushing volunteers out in kayaks and rowboats to haul litter out of the river as they move downstream. The festival then closes with Confluence 2026, a get-together for community waterways supporters at the Edge in Fed Square.
Pollution sits at the heart of this year’s program, with stormwater runoff flagged as one of the river’s biggest threats. More than 828 million litter items wash into Port Phillip Bay through the Yarra’s surface waters each year, most of them microplastics such as polystyrene fragments.
The Yarra (Birrarung) travels 242 kilometres from the Yarra Ranges out to Port Phillip Bay, and it holds the distinction of being the first river in Australia recognised in law as a living entity. Major partners for 2026 include Melbourne Water’s Burndap Birrarung burndap umarkoo collaboration and Water4Good.
For more information, head here.
