If your fave kind of night out involves wandering between bars filled with live music and accidentally stumbling into a laneway gig, clear your calendar: Great Southern Nights is dialling things up for 2026.
Running from May 1–17, this statewide celebration of live music is back with a stacked lineup (headliners include Missy Higgins, Jessica Mauboy, Lime Cordiale and Genesis Owusu, to name a few) plus a fresh drop of 110 additional gigs. The big name gigs are the headline stealers, but the real magic is the return of the much-loved Gig Trails – popping up this year in even more remote corners of NSW.
Think of the Gig Trails as your choose-your-own-adventure night out. Each precinct transforms into a walkable music playground, where you can dip in and out of venues depending on what’s calling you. Expect buskers on corners, surprise acoustic sets in tucked-away rooftops, and pop-up performances lighting up laneways you’ve probably walked past a hundred times without a second glance.
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Kicking things off is Newcastle’s Midtown precinct, which will host a one-night-only music takeover from 5pm on Friday, May 1. With 11 venues involved – including faves like Bernie’s Bar, The Happy Wombat and The Rogue Scholar – you can bounce between gigs, jump on a karaoke rickshaw (yes, really) and hop a courtesy bus home when your feet need a break.
The following weekend, Sydney gets its turn. On Saturday, May 9, Chippendale will come alive from 1pm ‘til late, with its tiny streets and heritage pubs hosting intimate acoustic sets and rowdy, rockier performances.
That same day, down the coast, Port Kembla will join the Gig Trail party for the very first time. This one’s a little more left-of-centre, blending live music with record label pop-ups, art spaces and creative workshops across venues like The Servo and Black Metal Motor Co. It’s a love letter to the town’s fast-growing arts scene – and a solid excuse for a weekend road trip (in case you needed one).
Then, on Saturday, May 16, Newtown and Enmore will take the baton with a 12-hour marathon of music from 2pm to 2am. Lace up your comfiest shoes and hit iconic spots like Young Henrys, The Duke of Enmore and Pleasure Club, with plenty of unexpected detours along the way.
Beyond the trails, the broader Great Southern Nights program spans Sydney, the South Coast, Newcastle and beyond, blending free and ticketed shows across intimate venues and more well-known stages. Other big names on the line-up include Baker Boy, Keli Holiday, Kita Alexander, The Jungle Giants, Thundercat, Ninajarachi, Dope Lemon and Young Franco – and that’s truly just scraping the surface.
You can find out more, browse the line-up and book tickets over here.
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