WILD AT HEART

Bangalow is about to get very loud, very jazzy, and very much its own thing — meet DINGO, the Northern Rivers’ newest festival.

Bangalow has long been a small town with a big creative engine, and this year it gets a festival that matches its character. From 8-11 October, the inaugural DINGO Music & Arts Festival will unfold across the village, using its halls, back rooms and public spaces as a ready-made cultural map.

Hiatus Kaiyote

DINGO doesn’t build a temporary site on the outskirts. It moves through the town itself — the A&I Hall, Moller Pavilion, Old Scout Hall, Flo Records, You Beauty, The Lumber Yard, Station Street, plus opening and closing nights in Byron Bay. Audiences drift between venues the way locals already do, stepping from a jazz set into a listening session or a life-drawing salon without ever leaving the main street.

The music program is anchored in jazz, but not in a traditional sense. It leans into improvisation, collaboration and the edges where genres blur. Leading the inaugural program are three-time Grammy nominees Hiatus Kaiyote, London’s acclaimed Kokoroko, legendary Philadelphia selector Rich Medina, internationally celebrated DJ Coco Maria, alongside Australian artists Nai Palm, Miss Kaninna, Harry James Angus and Barney McAll.

Kokoroko-9 - Image: Delali Ayivi

Completing the program is a handpicked lineup that traverses jazz, soul, hip hop, electronic music and contemporary club culture, featuring Steve Spacek, Andras, Don Glori, David Versace, Greg Sheehan’s The Life Of Life, Finn Rees, Mr Rhodes, Clever Austin, Horatio Luna, YL Hooi, Uncomfortable Science, Albrecht La’ Brooy, Good Morning Tapes, La Sape Records, Mangrove Symposium, Flo Records DJs, Free Jazz Church, Tralalablip, Zac Stars and others.

The festival’s scope extends well beyond performance. DINGO layers its program with artist talks, in-conversation sessions, performance art, sound installations, deep-listening rooms, DJ and beat-making workshops, rhythm labs, and an avant-garde life-drawing salon. Food and drink are treated as part of the cultural offering, curated by Mosey On Inn Group and Salty Mangrove. One of the more playful elements is a Guinness World Record attempt to create The Smallest Jazz Club In The World.

Festival Director Si Jay Gould and a team of Northern Rivers programmers — Flo Records, Main Arm Records, Mangrove Symposium, Musical Bonanza, La Sape Records and arts curator Dr Stuart Grant — have shaped DINGO around the region’s existing creative networks. Production comes via Moniker Audio with support from SAE students, adding another layer of local involvement.

Nai Palm - Image: Prue Stent

The Northern Rivers has hosted its share of festivals, but few that feel this embedded. DINGO is intimate without being slight, ambitious without being inflated, and built from the inside out. For Bangalow, it’s an opportunity to show what happens when a town doesn’t just accommodate a festival — it becomes one.

DINGO Music & Arts Festival – 8-11 October 2026 – Bangalow & Byron Bay. Tickets and full program at dingofestival.com