Queensland Music Festivals 2026: Upcoming Guide

Festival season in Queensland

From city showcases to major festival stages.

Queensland’s music festival calendar stretches from Brisbane touring events and Fortitude Valley showcases to beachside weekends, country festivals, hinterland gatherings and regional events built around local communities.

Major festival destinations include Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast, the Gold Coast, Woodford, Gympie, Airlie Beach and regional towns where music, camping and road trips become part of the same weekend.

YELO follows lineup announcements, festival changes, ticket releases, artist news and the local stories surrounding these events. This guide is updated as new festival information is announced.

Strummingbird music festival on the Sunshine Coast

Strummingbird · Sunshine Coast

October 2026 onward

Upcoming Queensland music festivals.

Major festival weekends, showcase events and live music gatherings still ahead across Queensland in 2026 and 2027.

October 1–11

BLEACH Festival

The Gold Coast arts and culture festival returns to HOTA with live music, performance, installations and major outdoor events.

Visit festival site →

October 8–11

Savannah in the Round

Mareeba Rodeo Grounds hosts the Far North Queensland country and roots festival, with ICEHOUSE, Don McLean, Lee Kernaghan, Ian Moss and Troy Cassar-Daley among the 2026 names.

Visit festival site →

October 16–18

Groundwater Country Music Festival

Broadbeach becomes a free country music precinct with outdoor stages, bars and live music across the Gold Coast.

Read the Groundwater guide →

October 18

Strummingbird

Tyler Childers, Bailey Zimmerman, Sam Barber, James Johnston, Cooper Alan, Brad Cox, Cam, Sons Of The East and more head to Kawana Sports Precinct on the Sunshine Coast.

Read the latest Strummingbird update →

October 21–November 8

Melt Festival

Brisbane’s queer arts and culture festival returns with more than 100 events across music, performance, visual art, parties and live entertainment.

Visit festival site →

October 23–25

Tablelands Folk Festival

Queensland’s long-running folk festival returns to Yungaburra with more than 50 local and national acts across folk, rock, blues, swing, jazz and comedy.

Visit festival site →

November 5–9

Airlie Beach Festival of Music

The Whitsundays festival returns with live music across Airlie Beach venues, turning the town into a tropical music weekend.

Visit festival site →

December 4

Ministry of Sound Summer Dance Festival

HOTA hosts an open-air electronic festival across its parklands and lake precinct on the Gold Coast.

Read the festival story →

December 6

Good Things Festival

The national alternative, punk, rock and heavy festival returns to Brisbane as part of its 2026 Australian tour.

See Brisbane festivals →

December 13

Spilt Milk

Spilt Milk returns to the Gold Coast Sports Precinct with Lewis Capaldi, RAYE, KETTAMA, Baby Keem, Maisie Peters, Remi Wolf, DMA’S and more.

Read the Spilt Milk story →

December 27–January 1

Woodford Folk Festival

Six days and nights of music, performance, workshops and culture return to Woodfordia.

See regional festivals →

December 31

Wildlands

Brisbane’s New Year’s Eve festival returns to Brisbane Showgrounds for another huge night of electronic, hip hop and live music.

Visit festival site →

March 19–21, 2027

CMC Rocks QLD

Eric Church, Brooks & Dunn and Ashley McBryde lead the 20th-anniversary lineup at Willowbank Raceway, Ipswich. General tickets are on sale.

See the lineup and tickets →

YELO festival picks

Festival guides and the stories behind them.

YELO guides and editorial stories covering major events, regional festivals and Queensland festival season.

Gold Coast Spilt Milk 2026 RAYE, Lewis Capaldi, Remi Wolf, KETTAMA and more are heading to the Gold Coast this December. Read the Spilt Milk story →

Sunshine Coast Sunny Side Up returns Pendulum DJ Set, What So Not and Hot Dub Time Machine lead the September edition at Aussie World. See Sunny Side Up →

BIGSOUND music festival and conference in Brisbane

Brisbane BIGSOUND YELO’s guide to the Fortitude Valley conference, live showcases, artist announcements and 2026 program. Open the BIGSOUND guide →

Regional Queensland Gympie Music Muster One of Queensland’s best-known regional festival weekends returns to Amamoor Creek State Forest in August. Read the Muster guide →

Groundwater Country Music Festival in Broadbeach

Gold Coast Groundwater A free country music weekend spread across Broadbeach stages, venues, bars and public spaces. Read the Groundwater guide →

Browse by region

Choose your Queensland festival region.

Each regional guide combines major festival names, useful dates, local context and links to current YELO coverage.

01 / Sunshine Coast SUNSHINE COAST FESTIVALS. Coastal festivals, hinterland events, country lineups and local cultural programs. ↗ 02 / Brisbane BRISBANE FESTIVALS. Showcase festivals, touring events, dance festivals and city-wide cultural weekends. ↗ 03 / Gold Coast GOLD COAST FESTIVALS. Beachside festivals, country weekends, dance events and major touring lineups. ↗ 04 / Regional QLD REGIONAL FESTIVALS. Campouts, forest festivals, country gatherings, town takeovers and road-trip weekends. ↗

Festival questions

Planning a Queensland festival weekend.

A few quick answers before you pick a lineup, book somewhere to sleep and start plotting the drive.

Where are Queensland’s major music festivals held?

Major festival destinations include Brisbane, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, Woodford, Gympie, Airlie Beach and regional centres across Queensland.

Does YELO list free Queensland festivals?

Yes. YELO covers ticketed events and free festivals, including city programs, public outdoor events and multi-stage precinct festivals.

How often is the Queensland festival guide updated?

The guide is updated as major dates, lineups, ticket releases and festival announcements become available.

How can a festival be added to YELO?

Festival organisers, promoters and venues can use YELO’s submission form with the event name, date, location, lineup and ticket link.

Festival organisers and promoters

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IT TO
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Put your festival on the radar.

Send lineup announcements, festival dates, ticket information, artist news and regional music events for possible inclusion across YELO’s festival guides and editorial coverage.

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