Melbourne’s Out On The Weekend festival has announced a hiatus, confirming that it won’t be going ahead this year. Promoter Love Police confirmed the decision on Tuesday afternoon (31 March) after more than a decade of delivering events packed with alt-country and Americana artists.
Every year, the festival is carefully curated by Love Police’s Brian “BT” Taranto. In a statement, he explained that “sometimes it doesn’t all come together,” and with the rising costs of hosting a festival, the team has decided to give 2026 a miss.
“Out On The Weekend has always been a true labour of love for us,” Taranto said. “We’re really proud of the community of music lovers that we’ve built and the experiences we’ve shared over many years of Out On The Weekend. But the reality is sometimes it doesn't all come together, and you just get sick of reaching into your pockets for funds to make it all happen.”
Taranto continued, “With the rising costs and increasing pressures across the live music industry, we’ve just got to hang up our boots for the year and take a breath and see if we can't bring back the magic in 2027, which will be 30 years of Love Police delivering the good shit.”
Don't miss a beat with our FREE daily newsletter
Out On The Weekend festival was launched in 2014. The event quickly drew a devoted community of die-hard music fans who love seeing artists in the alt-country and Americana scene.
For over a decade, the festival has been held at Seaworks in the Melbourne suburb of Williamstown. What was previously an abandoned shipbuilding yard has been turned into a colourful day of live music and discovery.
Acts who have previously graced the Out On The Weekend stage include Cash Savage & The Last Drinks, Sierra Ferrell, Ella Hooper, C.W. Stoneking, Fanny Lumsden, Kerryn Fields, Liz Stringer, Marlon Williams and the Yarra Benders, Emma Donovan, Brian Cadd, Andy Golledge, All Our Exes Live In Texas, Margo Price, No Fixed Address, The Pleasures, and many others.
On social media, the Out On The Weekend team added:
With great sadness, and some frustration, we need to let you know that Out On The Weekend will be taking a break in 2026.
Since 2014 Out On The Weekend has been an absolute labour of love, but rarely a money maker for us. We do need to remember that this is a business after all, and we can only sustain so many losses, or break-evens, without coming to our logical senses.
So many people tell us in person and online that it is their favourite day of the year - ours too! But the simple reality is with that with the rising costs of everything, the unavailability of Artists or the fees that are just unaffordable for an event of this size, we have decided it's time to take a break this year.
Unlike some major festivals, Out On The Weekend is not financially assisted by significant government grants or dodgy ticketing companies. We don't support the non-payment of Artists and contractors or crazy schemes to keep it all rolling.
So as we take a breath in 2026, let's see what we can cook up for 2027 – which marks 30 years of Love Police.
