Overview
Great Southern Nights has just dropped its lineup for 2026, confirming the return of the multi-city festival of Aussie-made music for its fifth run, and showcasing a list of huge names and a mix of genres that will bring it to life in 2026. If you've never paid it any mind before, a TLDR: where most venues pick one venue to roll with, GSN picks hundreds.
Hundred of venues calls for hundreds of gigs, and 2026 will see over 300 performances take place on stages from the South Coast up through Sydney, out as far west as Dubbo and all the way up to Byron Bay, from Friday, May 1 to Sunday, May 17. The lineup is just as expansive, too, bringing legends and rising stars alike together across the state.
Jesse Thompson
First up is a 2026 GSN first: Live Fest. The curated, single-day event is first taking place in Dubbo, featuring country and folk icons Paul Kelly, Missy Higgins and Kasey Chambers, indie rockers The Cruel Sea, funk legends The Cat Empire and rising genre-defying songwriter Jess Hitchcock. Then the fun heads to Tamworth with indie pop and local rock talent like Jet, The Living End, Kita Alexander, Thelma Plum and Lime Cordiale.
For the rest of the statewide program, well, you can imagine there's plenty of artists to pick from. Some of the standout names are Jessica Mauboy, Peking Duk, Genesis Owusu, Ball Park Music, The Whitlams, Playlunch, Jack River, Meg Mac, Young Franco, Gordi, Keli Holiday, The Grogans, WILSN and many, many more.
Matt Jelonek
Great Southern Nights is organised in part by Destination NSW and ARIA, helping to drive visitation to cities across the state, instead of just piling crowds into the same Sydney venues and regional fields year after year.
Minister for Jobs and Tourism Steve Kamper said, "Great Southern Nights shows the power of live music to bring people together and create energy in communities right across NSW. When you see local venues buzzing and artists performing in towns big and small, you really feel the impact these experiences have beyond the stage".
Georgi Griffiths for Destination NSW
CEO of ARIA Annabelle Herd added, "Great Southern Nights is about connecting audiences of all ages across NSW with the unique joy of great live music and showing up for the places that support it. Bringing iconic artists to multiple regions across NSW creates big, shared moments for local communities, friends, and families".
Visit the Great Southern Nights website to browse the full program and start planning your trip to any one of the participating cities.