Darebin FUSE Festival lights up Melbourne's north with a huge multicultural line-up.
There’s a live music weekend taking over Darebin’s cafes, bars and local spaces, presented as part of Darebin FUSE Festival.
From doom-folk witches to queer jazz, psych-rock power trios and Mediterranean disco, innovative artists will light up beloved local venues across Preston, Thornbury, Northcote and beyond, with the bulk of the action landing across the first weekend of September.
Even better, all events are either free or low cost!
Darebin FUSE Festival: Live Music Weekend Events
- Ganbu Gulin: Burndap, neto! (festival opening) – 5 September, 1pm–4pm
- Surround Sound at Tallboy & Moose – 5 September, from 2pm
- DIY on High at Cafe Gummo & Cactus Room – 5 September, 1pm–11pm
- The Mechanical Heard at JOLT Arts – 5 September, 4pm–5pm
- Kazdoura / Ταξίδι at Capers – 5 September, 4pm till late
- O.R.B @ Shotkickers – 5 September, from 7pm
- Live Music Weekend at The Tav – 5 September, 8pm–11.59pm
- A Queer Jazz Session at North Star Barbershop – 6 September, 4pm–8pm
- Darebin and Dragons at ShopFront740 – 6 September, 5pm–9pm
- ngalnya dhadjowa by Allara – 6 September, 6.30pm–9.30pm
- Zaman Festival – 6 September, from 6pm
- Delight Social at Dragonfly Café & Deli – 5, 11 and 13 September
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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The festival kicks off with Ganbu Gulin: Burndap, neto!, an opening celebration of First Nations arts and culture co-presented with the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation.
The afternoon brings together MO’JU, local rockers Liv & The Dream, MC Kimmie Lovegrove and the Djirri Djirri Dancers, alongside a Smoking Ceremony led by Uncle Bill Nicholson and family-friendly workshops running throughout.
Over at Capers in Thornbury, Kazdoura / Ταξίδι reimagines the venue as a day-into-night journey through Middle Eastern and Mediterranean sound, food and games, while Zaman Festival gathers Levantine and Asia Minor musicians for an evening of traditional and contemporary fusion.
Punk and DIY fans are covered too, with Cafe Gummo and Cactus Room splitting a free all-ages-to-eighteen-plus bill across two venues for DIY on High.
Heavy music fans have plenty to sink their teeth into as well. Darebin’s own heavy-psych trio O.R.B headline a night at Shotkickers alongside Neon Goblin, PP Rebel and Book Runner, while over at The Tav, local label Hobbies Galore throws its own Live Music Weekend with Possible Humans, Fin Healy, and the duo of Max Kohane and Alex Macfarlane, before Mikey Young and Raven Mahon close things out with a DJ set as Green Child.
Further up High Street, sound art ensemble Noise Scavengers team up with sound artist )-(u||!c|< for The Mechanical Heard, a one-hour concert built around handmade sound machines including mechanical violins and spinning-bowl instruments.
A short stroll away, Surround Sound brings Tallboy & Moose, Shotkickers, Bar303 and Cafe Gummo together to launch a collaborative beer and a full day of free live music.
For those after a lower-key weekend, Delight Social transforms Dragonfly Café into an alcohol-free hub of live music and community connection, featuring soulful piano from Felix Elliot, complete with quiet sensory spaces for anyone needing a breather.
Elsewhere, North Star Barbershop marks its debut as a live venue with A Queer Jazz Session, a free Sunday afternoon of jazz curated by respected programmer MzRizk.
The bill is led by AKEY, an ARIA-nominated trio known for blending club weight with intricate harmonic runs, followed by a DJ set from MzRizk and guest Thndo.
Also unfolding on the Sunday is Darebin and Dragons, a darker, noisier showcase of multicultural sound hosted by local space ShopFront740.
Doom-folk acts Blood of a Pomegranate and Miras headline, alongside collaborative sets from Korgistan Workers Party and Jahan Xanlü, and neko.ea with a mystery guest still to be revealed.
On the same evening, Yorta Yorta artist Allara presents ngalnya dhadjowa, a reflective performance tracing a decade-long journey of identity and intergenerational healing, co-presented by Dardi Munwurro and Liquid Architecture.
Whether it’s heavy psych, hand-drum-driven folk or a first date over chess, Darebin FUSE Festival is betting there’s something in its line-up for everyone within walking distance of High Street.
For more information, head here.
This article was made in partnership with Darebin Arts.
