Melbourne’s beloved winter festival, RISING, returns in 2025 with its most ambitious program yet, transforming the city into a pulsating playground of art, music, and performance over two electrifying weekends from 4 to 15 June 2025.
Featuring 65 events, 327 artists, 15 new commissions, and 9 world premieres, RISING 2025 promises to captivate audiences with its bold, boundary-pushing creativity.
“RISING is about breaking conventions – bringing wild, intimate, and unexpected creativity into the heart of Melbourne,” say Co-Artistic Directors Hannah Fox and Gideon Obarzanek. “
This year, audiences are invited to navigate a storm of lasers, swim through tactile soundscapes, or compete in the defiant act of doing nothing. It’s a festival that’s proudly challenging and uncompromisingly inclusive.”
Highlights include Japanese artist Shohei Fujimoto’s intangible #form, a mesmerizing kinetic light installation at The Capitol, and Saturate, an underwater sound experience at The City Baths by local artist Sara Retallick.
The festival also introduces Space Out Competition, a global phenomenon challenging participants to do absolutely nothing for 90 minutes, and Swingers: The Art of Mini Golf, a playful exhibition in the Flinders Street Station Ballroom featuring holes designed by artists like Miranda July and Kaylene Whiskey.
Music takes centre stage with performances by British indie icon Suki Waterhouse, Portishead’s Beth Gibbons, and Brooklyn hip-hop legends Black Star. Meanwhile, Day Tripper returns with an eight-hour music marathon featuring acts like DIIV, Mount Kimbie, and Ripple Effect.
Theatre and dance offerings include Argentine choreographer Marina Otero’s raw and vulnerable Kill Me, a neurodiverse reimagining of Hamlet by Peruvian company Teatro La Plaza, and Stephanie Lake Company’s The Chronicles, a sweeping meditation on time and resilience.
RISING 2025 also celebrates First Nations culture with Matha, a public artwork by Moorina Bonini on Hamer Hall, and the Melbourne Art Trams project, featuring works by First Peoples women.
Don’t miss this city-wide celebration of art, music, and performance. Tickets and full program details are available at rising.melbourne.
