Castaway Festival is returning for the 2026/27 summer with a distinctly Australian lineup spanning hip hop, rock, pop and emerging talent.
Headlined by Hilltop Hoods, Violent Soho and Amy Shark, the festival will travel across Perth, Melbourne and Wollongong, with Playlunch, Trials, Lyric and Birdland completing a seven-act bill.
The first stop will be Whitfords Nodes Park in Hillarys, WA on Saturday 21 November 2026, followed by Mornington Racecourse in Victoria on Saturday 12 December, before Castaway heads to Wollongong on Saturday 20 March 2027.
At the top of the bill are Hilltop Hoods, the Adelaide trio whose career has stretched across more than two decades. With multiple ARIA Awards and a catalogue of releases that have helped shape Australian hip hop, their festival sets have become a reliable home for big crowds and bigger singalongs.
Joining them are Brisbane rock favourites Violent Soho, bringing a very different kind of energy to the lineup. Their raw, guitar-driven sound gives the festival a heavier edge, while Amy Shark adds a pop and singer-songwriter perspective to the day.
Shark is also coming into Castaway with fresh material following the release of her latest album SOFT POP. She says she’s a fan of both Hilltop Hoods and Violent Soho and was more than happy to join the lineup.
“I don’t think you could get a better lineup. Hip-hop, rock and pop – I can’t wait!” Shark said.
The supporting lineup gives the festival plenty of room to move beyond its three headline acts.
Playlunch arrive after a busy period of international touring across the US, UK and Europe, while Trials, Lyric and Perth’s Birdland bring a younger wave of Australian talent into the mix.
For Playlunch, returning home after their overseas run makes the timing particularly exciting.
“We’re so stoked to be a part of Castaway Festival with this STACKED lineup of incredible acts,” the band said, describing the festival as a chance to get back on home turf and kick off the Australian festival season.
The appeal of Castaway is in the mix. Rather than building a bill around one particular sound, the festival brings together artists from different corners of Australian music and gives them a common stage.
Hilltop Hoods can move a crowd with decades of Australian hip hop behind them, Violent Soho bring the guitars and volume, and Amy Shark offers a completely different side of contemporary pop. Add Playlunch, Trials, Lyric and Birdland to the day and there’s plenty for audiences to discover between the headline sets.
Castaway Festival 2026/27
Saturday 21 November 2026
Whitfords Nodes Park, Hillarys, WA
Saturday 12 December 2026
Mornington Racecourse, Mornington, VIC
Saturday 20 March 2027
Wollongong, NSW
Lineup:
Hilltop Hoods
Violent Soho
Amy Shark
Playlunch
Trials
Lyric
Birdland
Tickets go on general sale Friday 28 August at 12pm local time, with Telstra Plus and artist presales beginning Wednesday 26 August. A Face To Face presale follows on Thursday 27 August.
Get Castaway Festival tickets and information
With three cities, seven Australian acts and a lineup that refuses to sit neatly inside one genre, Castaway is shaping up as one of the bigger Australian festival runs of the 2026/27 summer.
