Festival goers enjoying the Maleny Music Festival on the Sunshine Coast. Via Facebook.

Maleny Music Festival brings live music, camping, workshops and community spirit to the Sunshine Coast Hinterland each November.

Maleny Music Festival is a volunteer-run, family-friendly festival at Maleny Showgrounds.

The festival brings together live music, camping, markets, workshops, sessions and community connection across a three-day weekend.

Set in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, the event has become one of the region’s most loved grassroots music festivals.

Its program reaches across folk, blues, jazz, world, roots, rock and traditional music.

The 2026 festival returns from Friday, November 6, to Sunday, November 8.

What is Maleny Music Festival?

Maleny Music Festival is a boutique music and arts gathering in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. Volunteers help shape the event and give it a strong community feel.

The festival takes place at Maleny Showgrounds, the original home of the Maleny Folk Festival. That festival later grew into what is now Woodford Folk Festival.

Today, Maleny Music Festival continues that hinterland festival tradition on a smaller and more intimate scale. Across the weekend, audiences can move between live music stages, camping areas, market stalls, food vendors, workshops, poetry, singing sessions and smaller moments of festival life.

The pace is relaxed. People come for the music, but they also come for the campgrounds, conversations, volunteers, familiar faces and strong local feeling.

When is Maleny Music Festival 2026?

Maleny Music Festival returns from Friday, November 6, to Sunday, November 8, 2026.

The festival is held at Maleny Showgrounds, with weekend tickets, camping options and day tickets usually forming part of the event.

Early bird ticket offers are expected to begin for subscribers from May 1, with public ticket sales listed from June 1. Day tickets are expected closer to the festival.

The 2026 program is still to be announced.

What kind of music is at Maleny Music Festival?

Maleny Music Festival has a broad roots and community music focus, with previous programs spanning folk, blues, jazz, traditional music, Irish music, rock, world music and acoustic performances.

The event also includes more than straight stage shows. Workshops, open mics, jam sessions, poetry, singing sessions and community performances are part of the wider festival experience.

That mix gives the festival its village-like feel. It is a place where the small stages matter, where audiences can discover artists outside the usual touring circuit, and where music sits alongside the broader culture of the hinterland.

Where is Maleny Music Festival held?

Maleny Music Festival is held at Maleny Showgrounds in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland.

The site gives the festival its relaxed regional setting, with space for camping, stages, workshops, market stalls and festivalgoers spending the weekend in town.

Maleny is also close to other hinterland destinations, including Montville, Mapleton and the Glass House Mountains, making the festival part of a wider Sunshine Coast Hinterland weekend.

Why Maleny Music Festival matters

Maleny Music Festival shows the strength of grassroots music on the Sunshine Coast. It is not a glossy city festival dropped into a regional town.

Volunteers, local audiences, camping and community spirit sit at the centre of the event. That matters on the Sunshine Coast, where live music does not sit in one obvious place.

It moves through beachside venues, hinterland halls, breweries, showgrounds, community spaces and one-off events.

Maleny Music Festival gives that scene a proper weekend of its own.

Maleny Music Festival award win

In 2026, Maleny Music Festival was named Festival of the Year in the People’s Choice Awards at the Queensland Music Awards.

The recognition put the Sunshine Coast Hinterland festival in the statewide spotlight, alongside major Queensland artists, venues and music industry names.

For a festival built around community, live music, camping and volunteers, the award was also a reminder that grassroots music still has weight beyond the big-city rooms.

Read more → Maleny Music Festival wins QMA award

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