Inaugural DINGO Music & Arts Festival Reveals 2026 Line-up

Mary Varvaris

Hiatus Kaiyote, Kokoroko, Miss Kaninna, Rich Medina and many others are heading to the Northern Rivers region for the inaugural DINGO Music & Arts Festival.

Hiatus Kaiyote, Kokoroko(Credit: Rocket Weijers, Delali Ayivi)

Hiatus Kaiyote

A new music and arts festival is heading to the Northern Rivers region, with the inaugural DINGO Music & Arts Festival to be held across 10 venues in Bangalow this October.

Held from Thursday, 8 to Sunday, 11 October, DINGO has amassed a program featuring “internationally acclaimed musicians, leftfield selectors, performance artists, chefs and thinkers” over four days.

Hiatus Kaiyote lead the inaugural program. They’re joined by London outfit Kokoroko, Philadelphia selector Rich Medina, internationally renowned DJ Coco Maria, and homegrown artists such as Nai Palm, Miss Kaninna, Harry James Angus, and Barney McAll.

Elsewhere, festival organisers have put together a handpicked line-up of jazz, soul, hip-hop, electronic music, and contemporary club icons, such as Steve Spacek, Mr Rhodes, Greg Sheehan’s The Life Of Life, David Versace, Horatio Luna, and many others. Check out the line-up below.

Aside from music, DINGO will welcome artist talks, in-conversation events, performance art, a life-drawing salon, DJ and beat-making workshops, listening sessions, and plenty more, anchored by locally sourced food and drink experiences.

Events held by the festival will be free and ticketed, taking over venues including the Bangalow A&I Hall, Moller Pavilion, Old Scout Hall, Flo Records, Bangalow RSL, You Beauty, The Lumber Yard, and Station Street, as well as the opening celebration at the Northern Hotel Byron Bay and a closing party at the Beach Hotel Byron Bay. Plus, DINGO will host after-parties and events at secret venues to be announced soon.

Pre-sale tickets will be available on Monday, 13 July, followed by the general sale on Wednesday, 15 July. Head to the DINGO Festival website for tickets and more information.

Festival Director Si Jay Gould said of the inaugural DINGO Music & Arts Festival, “We weren’t interested in creating another festival that could happen anywhere.

“DINGO is built around Bangalow itself, where every venue and public space becomes part of the experience. This isn’t a jazz festival but the whole festival ‘is jazz’. We wanted to bring together artists from different worlds to improvise, take risks and collaborate into new possibilities.”

Gould has developed the festival along with Flo Records, Main Arm Records, Mangrove Symposium, Musical Bonanza, La Sape Records, Dr Stuart Grant, Mosey On Inn Group, and Salty Mangrove.