St Kilda Festival 2026

New Music Stage Competition

2026 Entry Form

Bring you music to the masses - enter your act for the chance to perform on the New Music Stage at St Kilda Festival in 2026.

Up to ten acts will be selected by an internal panel to perform a 30-minute set of original material at the forthcoming St Kilda Festival on Sunday, 15 February 2026.

The crowd favourite will take home:

• A $5,000 cash prize 

• An invitation to perform on one of our key stages at St Kilda Festival in 2027.

Before you start

Documents and files you will need to complete this form:

• Links or files to 2 tracks

• Hi-res photos for your band/performance (no text or logos)

• Tech specs

• Stage plot (if avaliable)

New Music Stage elegiblity

• Your band/act must reside in Australia.

• Your band/act must have written and performed the original materials submitted in the application.

• Your band/act must have sufficient original material (no covers) to perform a 30-minute set.

• Your band/act must not be receiving financial assistance from a label.

Provide two tracks

Please provide links of files to two tracks that are the best examples of your work.

Please ensure you links are correct as assesors are unable to request new links if any submitted are broken or do not work.

Band/performance information

Names and pronouns of all band/performance members

Marketing and promotion

If your band/performance is successful, the following publicity information will be used to publicly promote your act.

Organisers reserve the right to edit publicity materials as required.

Terms and conditions

To be eligible for the NEW MUSIC STAGE:

• The band/act must have written and performed the original materials submitted in the application

• The band/act must have sufficient original material (no covers) to perform a 30-minute set.

• The band/act must not be receiving financial assistance from a label

• The band/act must reside in Australia.

By completing this application form, you will be considered for the NEW MUSIC STAGE at St Kilda Festival 2026. 

Please note that other St Kilda Festival stages are programmed separately, and you cannot apply for these stages.

By submitting an application on behalf of your band/act, you agree to being available to perform live on the New Music Stage at St Kilda Festival on Sunday 15 February 2026 with time to be advised once the shortlisted acts have been chosen. 

You will need to cover your own costs to get to the Festival site to perform.

This application process does not guarantee that your band/act will perform at the St Kilda Festival. A selection process will take place once applications have closed and you will be notified in mid-October 2025 on the outcome of your application.

If your application is successful, the contract will reserve the Council the right to make use of the band/act’s name, biographical information, images, songs and other related materials for the purpose of advertising, publicising and promoting St Kilda Festival through such outlets as print, TV, radio and online media.

It is the entrant's responsibility to protect the copyright of their own work. The St Kilda Festival and City of Port Phillip has no such obligations or liability regarding this matter.

Data privacy and collection

The personal information requested on this form is being collected by the City of Port Phillip (CoPP) and will be handled in accordance with the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014. This information will be used solely by the council for that primary purpose or directly related purposes. It will be treated in compliance with the CoPP Information Privacy Policy and the Information Privacy Act.