ARIA's Best Music Festival Award Returns for a Second Year as Entries Open
The ARIA Award for Best Music Festival will return for a second year in 2026, with entries opening on 7 September and closing at 5 p.m. AEST on Friday, 18 September.
The category, developed jointly by ARIA and the Australian Festival Association (AFA), is designed to recognise the role Australian music festivals play in showcasing and advancing local talent. To be eligible, a festival must feature an Australian headline act or a lineup that is at least 50% Australian artists, and must hold AFA membership Billboard.
Laneway Festival won the inaugural award in 2025, beating nominees Ability Fest, Beyond the Valley, Bluesfest Byron Bay and Yours and Owls Festival. By the time it took home the trophy, Laneway had been backing emerging artists for 21 years (TEG, Instagram).
ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd said the award recognises that festivals are where Australian artists meet the audiences that change their careers Billboard. AFA chair Adelle Robinson, who also leads Australian promoter Fuzzy, called festivals a key part of the music industry's ecosystem.
The 2026 ARIA Awards ceremony will be the 40th anniversary of the event. It is set for Wednesday, 18 November at Sydney's Hordern Pavilion on Gadigal Land — the sixth consecutive year the venue has hosted the ceremony Billboard. The show will be presented in partnership with Spotify and broadcast on Network 10 and Paramount+.
Nominations for the main ARIA Awards will be announced on Thursday, 24 September, giving festival entrants roughly a week to submit their bids before the broader shortlists follow.
The Best Music Festival category is presented by Tixel, the ticketing resale platform, according to ARIA's past winners listing (ARIA).
For festival organisers, the timeline is tight: entries close in under two weeks, and the eligibility rules narrow the field to events genuinely centred on Australian talent. For everyone else, it is a chance to see the festivals that shape local careers get a spot on one of the industry's biggest nights.
