The best festivals happening in and around Melbourne this June
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Culture
04.06.2026

The best festivals happening in and around Melbourne this June

melbourne festivals
words by staff writer

Some people think Melbourne shuts down in the winter. They're wrong!

In fact, June may be one of the biggest months for Melbourne festivals, even if they’re not the classic music-and-camping type. On the calendar, you’ll find plenty of food and drink events, raves, and multi-venue music events.

Plus, if you’re open to driving an hour or so, you’ll be met with a ton of cool regional events – the perfect excuse for a weekend away. So rug up, grab your friends, and get ready to warm yourself from the inside out.

Check out our gig guide, our festival guide, our live music venue guide and our nightclub guide. Follow us on Instagram here.

RISING

 

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  • 27 May – 8 Jun
  • Melbourne

Melbourne’s flagship festival of new art, music and performance wraps up its 12-night winter takeover across theatres, galleries and public spaces. The 2026 program features more than 100 events and 376 artists, including hip-hop icon Lil’ Kim at Festival Hall, post-punk outfit Dry Cleaning, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 and a massive free public dance event at Fed Square from Royal Family Dance Crew. 

National Celtic Folk Festival

  • 5-8 Jun
  • Portarlington

Australia’s premier Celtic and folk festival celebrates its 21st anniversary over the King’s Birthday long weekend, transforming the bayside town of Portarlington into four days of music, dance, theatre, storytelling and games across more than 10 venues. The 2026 lineup features more than 60 acts, including Irish siblings Séamus and Caoimhe (fresh off the RTÉ Folk Awards) and Dublin’s Saltaire.

Woodend Winter Arts Festival

  • 5-8 Jun
  • Woodend

Australia’s longest-running winter arts festival returns for its 21st year in the heart of the Macedon Ranges with a four-day program of classical and contemporary music, jazz, words and ideas. Highlights include ARIA Award-winning pianist Tamara-Anna Cislowska and composer Elena Kats-Chernin performing their chart-topping four-hands collaboration Ancient Letters.

Mornington Winter Music Festival

  • 5-8 Jun
  • Mornington

Main Street Mornington transforms into a multi-venue music crawl across the King’s Birthday long weekend, with street corners, bars and restaurants hosting live performances from jazz, blues, soul and R&B acts. Free outdoor stages and roving performers spill into the street while venues run late-night sets, creating a walkable, venue-hopping festival that blends local talent with a strong community feel.

Teletech 2026

 

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  • 6 Jun
  • PICA

Manchester hard techno powerhouse Teletech returns for its second Australian run of 2026, landing in Melbourne at PICA on 6 June with a five-act international lineup led by Italian live duo 999999999. Known for hardware-only sets and relentless BPMs, they’re joined by DJ Cringey, Natte Visstick, Cara Elizabeth and Onlynumbers for a night of industrial techno, strobe-heavy production and full-scale warehouse energy. 

Roam Rutherglen 

  • 6–7 Jun
  • Rutherglen

Explore 17 cellar doors, wear your bold outfits, and have a King’s Birthday weekend you won’t forget. Hop between North East Victoria’s finest wineries via hop-on hop-off buses, dance to live music and DJs, sip Muscat cocktails, and compete in the infamous best-dressed competitions.

Castlemaine Jazz Festival 

  • 6–7 Jun
  • Castlemaine

Now in its 10th year, this King’s Birthday weekend celebration brings diverse jazz styles to historic pubs, theatres and unique venues across Castlemaine. From swing to modern fusion, the festival fosters community warmth while boosting this vibrant Central Victorian town through the winter months.

Hyperave

 

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  • 7 Jun
  • PICA

Symbiotic’s Hyperave returns over the June long weekend with a laser-focused (literally) production upgrade, promising a record-breaking 360° light and laser show inside PICA. The lineup leans into trance and harder styles, featuring international heavyweights including Gareth Emery, Cosmic Gate, John O’Callaghan and Jeffrey Sutorius (Dash Berlin classics set). 

Lightscape

  • 12 Jun – 2 Aug
  • Royal Botanic Gardens

Melbourne’s award-winning immersive winter light trail returns for its fifth season with 15 new and returning installations across a 2.1-kilometre after-dark walk through the gardens. This year’s highlights include the Australian premiere of Bifrost, a 20-arch tunnel of flowing light by French studio Pitaya, and Firefly Field by Dutch studio TOER, where 200 glowing points dart above the grass. A reimagined 30-metre Winter Cathedral and a circular spiral Fire Garden of 150 candles round out the program. 

East Gippsland Winter Festival

  •  19–30 Jun
  • East Gippsland

This is one of Australia’s largest winter festivals, with 100-plus events transforming towns across Victoria’s far east. There will be lantern parades, medieval bonfire nights, solstice swims, winter feasting in spectacular locations, light installations, live music and immersive art across the sprawling month-long program.

Mansfield Lantern Festival 

  • 19–21 Jun
  • Mansfield

At the foot of snow-capped Mt Buller, hundreds of handmade lanterns wind through Mansfield’s streets in a beloved winter solstice parade. The event features three days of firelight ceremonies, local food and wine, open fires, live music and a gentle Sunday sunrise yoga and solstice brunch.

Darker Days Festival

  •  20 Jun
  • Bright

Bright Brewery’s alpine winter festival returns with 10 hours of live music headlined by The Grogans, plus RAGEFLOWER, Five Buck Kid and more. Guest breweries including Garage Project and Kaiju! join the taps, alongside local wine and spirits. Expect bold brews, big fires and mountain air.

Sorrento Solstice Festival 

  • 20–21 Jun
  • Sorrento

This spectacular one-night celebration on the Mornington Peninsula foreshore features live music, DJ sets, fire performers and a large-scale burning installation lighting up the winter sky. Round it out the next morning with the Solstice Sunrise Swim in the waters of Port Phillip Bay.

Castlemaine Documentary Festival

  • 26-28 Jun
  • Castlemaine

Held at the historic Theatre Royal, this mid-winter film festival delivers a tightly curated program of Australian and international documentaries alongside Q&As, panel discussions and live events. Running across a compact weekend format, it’s built around conversation as much as screening, pairing non-fiction storytelling with industry talks, community engagement and late-night social events.

Dangerous Goods XXL

  • 27 Jun
  • Melbourne Showgrounds

Dangerous Goods’ flagship XXL event returns for its seventh Melbourne edition, scaling up to Melbourne Showgrounds with a 15-artist lineup and a three-stage warehouse-style setup. Early lineup announcements include SLVL, OMAKS and USH.

For more on Melbourne festivals, head here.