News: RISING reveals final 2026 program additions across food, film, music and public art

RISING REVEALS FINAL 2026 PROGRAM ADDITIONS WITH NEW FED SQUARE TAKEOVER, WORLD’S SMALLEST RAMEN BAR AND CITY-WIDE LATE-NIGHT DINING

As RISING draws closer, the festival reveals a final wave of programming across its 2026 lineup, bringing together large-scale public art, late-night dining, artist-led nightlife, talks and public programs.

Building on a program that will transform Melbourne from 27 May to 8 June, these final additions extend the festival into the city’s squares, bars and restaurants, opening up new ways to gather before, between and after the show.

“When the temperature drops, it signals that RISING is about to kick off and the final layer of the program is unveiled.” said RISING Artistic Director and CEO Hannah Fox. “Free art after dark, fresh live music, late-night dining and artist-led conversations, clubs and lounges  create even more doorways into the festival’s expansive program of new art, stories, music and dance.

MIDÉEGAADI: FESTIVAL OPENING WEEKEND AT THE SQUARE

Presented in partnership with Fed Square, the Square transforms into an open-air canvas for Midéegaadi, a large-scale projection and sound work by Native American artist Cannupa Hanska Luger.

First presented in Times Square, New York, Midéegaadi envisions the regeneration and return of the North American bison through a speculative world. For RISING, Luger creates a new iteration, bringing the work into dialogue with Naarm and Wurundjeri Country and exploring the ways First Peoples globally interconnect through dance and new media. Incorporating customary dance, regalia and Indigenous futurisms, the work reflects on cultural continuity, resistance and the enduring relationships between people and more-than-human kin.

Across the opening weekend of the festival, from 28–30 May, the work unfolds as a city-scale experience. At Fed Square,Midéegaadi anchors a ground-level gathering, while simultaneously illuminating the Hamer Hall façade as part ofCalling Country: The Land Speaks Back. There, it is paired with large-scale projections by Djirri Djirri Women’s Dance Group, bringing Wurundjeri ceremony to the fore.

At Fed Square, the space becomes a place to gather, warm up with a hot drink, settle into beanbags and deck chairs, and take in Luger’s multi-channel video work as it dances through the square. Beneath the city lights, the site shifts into a communal environment, inviting audiences to linger, connect and experience the work together. The experience extends beyond the projection, with First Nations food offerings from Killara Foundation bringing community together around the barbie for a reimagined sausage sizzle celebrating First Nations flavours, native ingredients, and Blak hospitality.

During RISING’s opening weekend, ACMI will also extend hours for The Vinyl Factory: Reverb, with $10 tickets available after 5pm, inviting audiences to move between the exhibition and the broader Fed Square takeover.

Following the opening weekend, Midéegaadi continues to illuminate the Hamer Hall façade as part of Calling Country: The Land Speaks Back, continuing the work’s presence across the city for the remainder of the festival.

Sapporo Supper Club: Chīsai 小 THE WORLD’S SMALLEST RAMEN-YA

Also at Fed Square, running Thursday to Saturday across both weeks of the festival, Sapporo presents Sapporo Supper Club: Chīsai 小 — a rare dining experience billed as the world’s smallest ramen-ya.

Inspired by the focused intimacy of Japanese ramen culture, this low-lit, minimalist space for two serves complimentary Hokkaido-style ramen alongside perfectly poured Sapporo in intimate 30-minute sittings. With strictly limited spots available on a first-come, first-served basis, it’s set to be one of the festival’s most exclusive experiences. No crowds. No distractions. Just one table. Reserved for you and one other.

Guests begin their experience in The Waiting Room a space to settle in before entering the intimate world of Chīsai. Here, Sapporo Beer Sensei Shimo-san will be pouring Sapporo Premium Lager and the hard-to-find Sapporo Black, alongside Japanese bar snacks by Mr Miyagi. The wait itself is part of the experience.

Returning in 2026, Moon Bites brings together a curated network of restaurants, bars and venues across Melbourne, offering bespoke late-night menus, post-show bites and dedicated festival experiences available exclusively across RISING.

From moon-made martinis to jasmine lychee cream moon cakes the series offers “whole solar systems of flavour” within the festival footprint: perfect for a pre-show ritual or post-show debrief.

Participating venues each bring a distinct response: Cathedral Coffee leans into late-night dessert culture, collaborating withFrozen Cola on a menu inspired by Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan, with lychee Swiss rolls, hojicha ice cream sandwiches and black sesame lattes; Melbourne Supper Club is collaborating with Melbourne Gin Company to present The Midnight Martini, moon-inspired cocktails with Kirk’s Wine Bar’s cult classic Pig’s Head Doughnut alongside deluxe cheese-cellar toasties, Dom’s Social Club delivers a RISING roast beef dippa’ pizza; while Bottega offers a pre-theatre tasting menu spanning soft shell crab, ravioli and braised beef cheek.

Elsewhere, Mr Mills channels coastal Portugal with croquetas, gilda and late-night sweets, Boire serves Mauritian flavours over wood fire, and Aru pairs Southeast Asian-inspired snacks with a lunar-aligned cocktail.

RISING ARTIST BAR: NIGHTLY LINEUP AT WAX MUSIC LOUNGE

At the centre of RISING’s after-dark culture, the RISING Artist Bar takes over Wax Music Lounge as a free meeting point for artists, audiences and industry.

Open Wednesday to Sunday throughout the festival, the Artist Bar is a space for pre-show meetups, post-show drinks and late-night sessions. Expect warm lighting, cold drinks and a rotating program of music and performance that evolves across the week.

Early evenings are anchored by the RISING Blue Lobster Band, featuring a rotating lineup of Melbourne’s best jazz-leaning musicians, before the program opens into live sets and DJs spanning rock’n’roll, punk, pop, techno and beyond.

Highlights across the lineup include performances from Betty Grumble, Dimmy Charms, Synergy Trilogy, Tripping Ballz and Maxine Funke, alongside DJ sets from Sofay, Hip Hop Hoe, Mikey Young, YL Hooi, Faux Rabbit and Bridget Small. Pop-up markets, surprise performances and a closing-night karaoke takeover round out a space that shifts from early evening hangout to late-night dancefloor, where audiences and artists converge as the night unfolds.

TALKS, FILM AND IDEAS

RISING expands its talks and ideas offering with a series of artist talks and post-show conversations that invites audiences deeper into some of the festival’s standout works.

Across the program, post-show talks create space for reflection and exchange, with audiences invited into conversations following works including The Shepherds, The Supposed To Be and Nowhere.

Artist-led panels extend these discussions, including Sovereignty and Sonic Resistance at RMIT, bringing together Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Raven Chacon, artist Hayden Ryan and RISING Senior Curator of Exhibitions, Kimberley Moulton, to explore listening, sovereignty and sound on Country, and the role of sonic practice in shaping contemporary cultural discourse. While over at City Square, there will be a day of free talks focused on First Peoples artists from across the program, anchored around Kent Morris’s newly commissioned public artwork Flower Power. Speakers include Kent Morris, curator and Djirri Djirri dancer Stacie Piper, Art Trams artist Jenna Mayilema Lee and Art Trams curator Kate ten Buuren.

Running alongside The Vinyl Factory: Reverb, ACMI will also present Selector: Kahlil Joseph, a special film screening program curated by acclaimed filmmaker and artist Kahlil Joseph, whose work BLKNWS features in the new exhibition. Running from 4–23 June, the film program unfolds as a compilation of music centric films that sonically explore different corners of the globe and the people that inhabit those frames. Featuring Born in Flames (1983) by Lizzie Borden, Neptune Frost (2021) by Saul Williams, and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) by Jim Jarmusch. Opening and closing the program is Joseph’s own film, the rarely screened director’s cut of Beyoncé’s Lemonade.

As RISING approaches, the full shape of the program now comes into view: more than 100 events unfolding across theatres, ballrooms, basements and public spaces anchored by the inaugural edition of the Australian Dance Biennale. Highlights include Florentina Holzinger’s incendiary new workA Year Without Summer at Arts Centre Melbourne, The Royal Family Dance Crew’s Fed Square takeover, the return of the Flinders Street Station Ballroom as a live dance floor for Land of 1000 Dances, and the multi-room music marathon Day Tripper. Across the city, The Vinyl Factory: Reverb, Raven Chacon’s Voiceless Mass and Narcissister’s Voyage Into Infinity sit alongside major music moments from Lil’ Kim,Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 and TR/ST, tracing a path from cathedral to club, ballroom to basement.