Yours & Owls has unwrapped its 2026 lineup, and it’s the properly eclectic haul that keeps this one near the top of our list every year. Gong Christmas, as the festival likes to call it, lands on October 3 and 4 — and this time it hits even bigger.
This festival is never afraid to switch it up. This year, the two days run differently. Day one settles into the greenspace of Flagstaff Hill on the Wollongong foreshore, the traditional Yours & Owls setting. Day two spills the whole thing into the city centre — closed streets, big rooms and small ones, music tucked down laneways and around corners waiting to be stumbled upon. Steel City turned Music City. It’s an ambitious expansion of the footprint, and we can’t wait to experience it.
At the top: bbno$ plays his only Australian show, bringing the billions-of-streams, party-anywhere unpredictability that’s made him one of contemporary hip hop’s more entertaining live draws. Alongside him, G Flip makes their Wollongong debut, fresh off “Bed On Fire” going organically viral and an ARIA #1 to show for the year. It’s hard to believe it’s their first time at Y&O. It’s going to be a highlight.
Then there’s the band we were always going to single out. We love DMA’S, and right now is a particularly good moment to catch them: they’re rolling out singles from their self-titled fifth album, due in August, and we caught them twice on their recent UK run, where they were on fire. This is their third Yours & Owls — save your voice for them.
Ball Park Music are a perennial favourite around here — we handed their self-titled record our Album of the Year back in 2020, and they remain one of the country’s most upbeat live acts. And don’t sleep on Folk Bitch Trio: the Melbourne group are genuinely brilliant, and they’ll make you fall hard for folk music if you aren’t already on board.
There’s plenty more depth where that came from: multiple ARIA Award-winner Genesis Owusu, three-time Grammy nominees Hiatus Kaiyote, PNAU, Tkay Maidza, Middle Kids and Luude all feature, while The Drones make a rare return after a decade away — their comeback shows having sold out in hours. Below them sits one of the deepest local and emerging contingents you’ll see on an Australian festival poster this year. Drag yourself away from the big stages, and you will be rewarded.
The full 2026 Yours & Owls lineup
bbno$ (Aus Exclusive) · G Flip
Ball Park Music · DMA’S · Genesis Owusu · Hiatus Kaiyote · Luude · Middle Kids · PNAU · The Drones · Tkay Maidza
1tbsp · C.Frim · Cosmo’s Midnight · Fanny Lumsden · First Day Back · Folk Bitch Trio · Furnace & The Fundamentals · Georgia Maq · Mietze Conte · Moktar · Playlunch · Princess Chelsea · Rona. · WAAX · Yes Boone · Zach Stephenson
Bootleg Rascal · Dust · Fool Nelson · Fukhed · Mid Drift · Mini Skirt · Mudrat · Nerve · Radium Dolls · Spike Fuck · Surf Trash
Antenna · Any Young Mechanic · Blind Girls · Carla Geneve · Cold/Heat · Delivery · Dem Mob · Down And Out · Egoism · Feel The Pain · Horse · Krystal Rivvers · Loose Content · Lucky · Mac The Knife · Mel Blue · Nice Biscuit · Secret World · Sex Mask · Silky Roads · Slim Krusty · Special Features · Supernew · The Cheaks · The Gnomes · The Good Kids · The Vandastruts · Vlads · Volatile Ways
Airline · Alienist · Chelsea Daghita · Courtesy Bus · Creeping Jenny · Dropping Honey · Holiday · Hot Pursuit · Liotta Rail · Local Tough Guy · Miran.da · Proxy Diver · Shakamoto · Silvas · Smartcasual · Sort It Out · Sultans Of Spin · The Chordroys · The Midnight Tides
Y&O Ticketing Details
Pre-sale opens 8 am AEST, Monday June 22, with sign-ups HERE for guaranteed first-release prices (and entry into a prize draw). General on-sale follows at 8 am AEST, Wednesday June 24 via the festival website HERE. Get your gig buddies together and sort your tickets out before they sell out. With this lineup, they will.
Yours & Owls 2026 takes place across Wollongong Foreshore, South Beach and Wollongong City, on Dharawal Country. It’s a 16+ event, supported by triple j.
Header image credit Bruce Baker
