RISING (Melbourne)
RISING — Melbourne’s contemporary winter festival
RISING is the Melbourne winter arts festival that succeeded the Melbourne International Arts Festival and White Night Melbourne in 2021, after both predecessor festivals were paused through the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns. The festival was reconceived under co-artistic directors Hannah Fox and Gideon Obarzanek as a single ambitious twelve-day winter festival running across the Melbourne CBD, Southbank arts precinct, the Yarra River, the Melbourne Recital Centre, and bespoke festival-only outdoor spaces. The first edition ran in 2022 (after the 2021 launch was cancelled by lockdown); subsequent editions have run each June for twelve days, with the 2026 edition the festival’s fifth.
What it’s known for
RISING’s curatorial identity is dark, ambitious and contemporary. The programme leans heavily into contemporary international theatre and dance, electronic and experimental music, large-scale outdoor installations and projections, and the kind of cross-art-form work that doesn’t fit neatly into a discipline. The festival has distinguished itself from Adelaide Festival’s mainstage curatorial focus by running a substantial contemporary music and club programme alongside the mainstage productions — the late-night Night Trade programme is a defining festival element, with a different international DJ and electronic-music line-up each night across multiple venues.
The signature visual element of the festival is the lighting and projection work that transforms central Melbourne after dark — buildings, bridges and public spaces are programmed with festival-only installations across the twelve days. The free public-realm component is one of the most ambitious of any Australian festival.
The programme pattern
A typical RISING programme runs across approximately fifteen ticketed mainstage productions, an extensive contemporary music programme split between dedicated festival venues and existing Melbourne clubs and concert halls, the projection and installation programme across the CBD, and a substantial First Nations programme that has been integrated into the festival from its founding rather than added as a sidebar. The mainstage productions tend to skew international — recent editions have included productions from Théâtre du Soleil, NTGent, the Berlin Komische Oper, Compagnie Marie Chouinard, and the international touring contemporary dance circuit (Akram Khan, Crystal Pite collaborations, Pina Bausch revivals).
Key venues
- Arts Centre Melbourne — Hamer Hall and the State Theatre for the larger-scale productions.
- Melbourne Recital Centre — chamber music and contemporary classical programming.
- Sidney Myer Music Bowl — outdoor concerts and the larger festival events.
- Forum Theatre — the festival’s principal contemporary music venue.
- Festival Bar — the dedicated festival-only outdoor venue, location varies year-to-year.
- Public realm: Federation Square, Birrarung Marr, the Yarra River bridges and central CBD streets.
How to plan a trip
RISING’s programme launches in March each year for the June festival — significantly later than Adelaide Festival but still requires advance booking for the marquee productions. The international touring productions at Hamer Hall or the State Theatre sell out within two weeks of single-ticket release. The contemporary music programme has variable availability — some sell out instantly, others release tickets in waves close to the dates.
If you’re flying to Melbourne for the festival, lock the trip in March when the programme launches. Accommodation in Melbourne in June is much easier than Adelaide in March — the city has more capacity and the Melbourne winter is not the high tourist season. The festival’s twelve-day length means the Melbourne weather is genuinely a planning factor — pack for cold nights and rain. Pair the festival with the standard Melbourne arts programme — the MSO, MTC, the National Gallery of Victoria — all of which run their winter seasons concurrently.
Recent highlights
The 2022 inaugural festival’s outdoor projection work across the central Melbourne grid. The 2023 Théâtre du Soleil L’Île d’Or. The 2024 contemporary music programming at the Forum and Festival Bar. The 2025 First Nations contemporary programming including the Bangarra collaboration. The 2026 ten-night outdoor projection work along the Yarra has set the bar for any future Melbourne winter festival.
Useful links
- Official: rising.melbourne
- Where we cover the festival: Festivals, Reviews