Yours & Owls Festival Announces New 2026 Event Format

“As the lights dim on Wollongong’s shoreline, lighthouses standing sentinel, there’s no doubt—this is more than a festival. It’s a love letter to live music, and every note hits home.” Backseat Mafia

“The energy and camaraderie were intoxicating, and many left the festival feeling part of something so incredibly special.” The BackBeat Pod

“Fans from near and far give tick of approval to Yours and Owls’ Flagstaff Hill festival.” Region Illawarra

“Yours and Owls Festival has received a resounding thumbs up for its new location at Flagstaff Hill.” Illawarra Mercury

Something’s change, some stay the same. After an electrifying debut at Flagstaff Hill on Wollongong’s stunning foreshore in 2025, we are happy to confirm we will return for day one again in 2026.

What about day two, you ask?

Day two will take a different turn, as Yours and Owls turn Steel City into Music City! Music will spill out of every nook and cranny in the city centre, we are talking closed off streets, big and small venues, music filling the air in plain sight, with hidden away, waiting to be discovered around every corner as you wander through the laneways and streets, popping in and out, up and round at your leisure.

Why the changes?

Partly because we love to keep things fresh.

Mostly because we want to keep things affordable and accessible to everyone! The current festival model, in the current insane climate, isn’t working, so we gotta mix it up a little.

When the shit hits the fan, we swivel! When COVID told us we couldn’t dance, we delivered a quadrant site with a spinning stage, weird, yes, but we danced into the night and still talk about it years later.

When the overlords running our globe catapult us into a worsening cost-of-living crisis, we adapt to ensure we still get the big names you know and love on the big stage and still spark your curiosity with your yet-to-be-discovered new favourite bands in and around the city at a price you can afford.

“Having run this festival for a touch over 10 years (some would call that a lifetime and others just the blink of an eye), one thing we have become accustomed to is a changing landscape,” says promoter Ben Tillman.

“Whether it be bushfires, floods, a global pandemic, or the cost-of-living crisis, we have always found a way forward. At times this has meant being flexible and adapting to new conditions; a format change, moving sites or rethinking our approach entirely. But the one thing that has always remained, and stays with us still, is our commitment to deliver the best festival, grounded in what we believe a festival should be. A place to connect to music and community, a place to lose yourself, discover something new and have an adventure. In a world that feels increasingly heavy and chaotic, we want to offer a place to unwind and have a good time. We want to offer an unforgettable experience whilst making sure we’re viable and able to come back and grow year on year, and we feel that this 2026 festival model will allow us to achieve that.”

To walk our talk, we are issuing a limited number of discounted (15% off) first-release tickets, going on sale today at 8 am, for our most loyal, most organised crew. These will be available until the allocation is exhausted.

Full lineup details will drop in the coming weeks. Sign up here https://bit.ly/YAO26SignUp and follow at all the usual places to keep ahead of the game.