Rising Festival
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Rising festival 2026
This year’s festival has kicked off. Here, our writers take a closer look.
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With 26 acts in six spaces, it’s impossible to see it all – but I gave it a red-hot go
Rising’s full-day music festival had something for everyone, even if they didn’t know it beforehand.
- Karl Quinn
This is the best dance work I’ve seen at this year’s Rising
The show runs for little more than an hour – with an ensemble of just four dancers – but nonetheless gives the impression of an epic drama.
- Andrew Fuhrmann, Nick Buckley, Will Cox and Cameron Woodhead
The sculptor who brought us the blob-like babies is back – and the blobs have evolved
The acclaimed artist’s new commission for Science Gallery Melbourne is a call-back to her first hyperrealistic sculpture from 24 years ago.
- Kylie Northover
He played Dodi Al-Fayed in The Crown. Now Khalid Abdalla is on stage in Melbourne
There were calls to cancel the Anglo-Egyptian actor’s show Nowhere after Bondi. Now he’s brought it to Rising festival.
- Karl Quinn
‘Is that a Furby?’: Return of the ’90s with a dancing toy chorus
Furbies are back, with a resurgence in popularity driven by ’90s nostalgia.
- Cara Waters
This theatre production is wild, but most people won’t be able to see it
Rising festival show Monsteen is filled with witches, vampires and werewolves. But it’s the audience that is the most intriguing.
- Nell Geraets
Clones, OnlyFans and the real you: The new play leaning into the unexpected
In The Supposed To Be, an executive embodying the conventions of the model migrant channels her fantasy life as a Sri Lankan Tamil actor and OnlyFans star.
- Vyshnavee Wijekumar
‘Maybe it’s useful to just say, we’re just people’: Kae Tempest
The lauded poet, playwright and rapper, touring Australia next month, came out in 2020 and has since spoken publicly about his transition.
- Michael Dwyer
The fantastic Ms Fox rises to the occasion
She oversaw Dark Mofo’s evolution from a tiny, intimate event to a juggernaut. Now heading Melbourne’s Rising, Hannah Fox has a keen eye for talent – and knows the festival’s ultimate goal.
- Kerrie O'Brien