Half Bent Music Festival is back in 2026!!
The Half Bent Music Festival is a 3 day event that aims to share Melbourne-made music with the people of Merri-bek. All festival events will take place in West Brunswick, mostly on Melville Road with all venues accessible via the 58 Tram. Half bent is a volunteer group committed to fostering creative music & art in local communities.
The 2026 Festival
The festival will run over the last weekend in May: Friday 29th - Sunday 31st
After a 10 year break, raising children, mid life crises and watching the world spin round, Half bent have gathered a new team of young and inspiring change makers to bring music to the streets of West Brunswick.
From 2005-2015 Half Bent ran four much loved festivals around Melbourne, in Trades Hall, Arts House and Fitzroy Bowling Club. The festival champions new and creative music, and diversity of thought and artistic practice;
but most importantly the festival aims to connect curious listeners and people from all walks of life: with each other, with live music, with their own community.
The 2026 festival will be crowd funded and we are also asking for both financial and in kind support from local businesses and entities. Programming will take place via an initial expression of interest, followed by a selection process by the Half bent committee. We encourage local music makers to apply!
Half bent is a volunteer organisation and is powered by the energy and good will of it’s committee and helpers. Money is to raised to pay for venue hire, promotion, production hire and most importantly the performing musicians. All musicians performing in the festival will be paid for their work.
Our Manifesto
Half Bent is about 'itys' not'isms" - eccentricity not formalism, plurality not minimalism, spontaneity not plagiarism, creativity not conformism.
Half Bent is a musician-run organisation committed to enhancing and nurturing creative music through its successful concerts and the annual Half Bent Music Festival.
Though driven by a shared sense of delight in the sharing of music locally, Half Bent perceives it's role as part of a much bigger movement that is taking place all around the world. This movement is a revolt against the market driven ideologies of the last 50 years, whose effects have become far more apparent in the last decade.
With fewer major record companies, fewer independent media outlets and therefore less choice, local independent music is drowned out by the bland out of the mainstream. However, we are extremely fortunate to have a thriving independent radio network and a flourishing creative music scene in Melbourne. Half Bent is here to celebrate what is great about our scene and to ensure that it continues to flourish.
Half Bent Music Festival Organising Committee
meet the team
Half Bent Friends
other community orgs
The 2026 Programme
Below are some of the great artists you will get to hear….
The festival has a different theme for each day
Friday night: The Dreamers
Sahul Sakti
Adrian Sherriff’s Oynsemble (ASCME)
Bhairavi Raman and Nantesh Sivarajah
DJ Flora
Return of the Airpoets
Matt Hoyne’s Slow Poke
DJ - Elations Recordings
Rachel Lewindon and Merinda Dias-Jayasinha
Saturday: The Romantics’
Hand Clap
Star Veneers
Voyage
Mary Doumany Trio
Fiona Burnett + Vincent Ward
Meredith Beardmore
Bouba/Bassidi
Sunday:The Groovers
I Hold The Lion’s Paw with the Snack Time Orchestra
Silent Crawl
SWEAT
DJ UomoUovo
Siwei
Aviva Endean and Josten Myburgh
Sunny Morris + Ellie Ware
DJ Billie Burrows
Charles Ives Singers
Venues
Austramax House - outdoor venue stage and bar, holds approx 150-200 people, main festival meeting space with an outdoor performance stage and marquee, drinks and snacks available
Austramax House Gallery Space
St John’s Anglican Church
4th Scout Hall Brunswick
Get involved
Join the team as a volunteer-contact us at halfbentmusicfestival@gmail.com
DONATE
The Half Bent Music festival is completely community funded- Any financial or in kind donation will help us to create a music festival we can share with everyone.
Click on the button below to visit our Go Fund Me campaign or send us an email if you want to discuss other ways to pitch in.