Mode Festival 2026

Held on Cockatoo Island every year since 2022, Mode has gone from strength to strength. Last year the organisers put on arguably the biggest dance event of the year, with thousands flocking to catch Four Tet and Floating Points, plus Skee Mask, Rødhåd and Kink.

Now comes 2026’s line-up, which is headlined by euphoric house DJ and producer Barry Can’t Swim, UK garage star Interplanetary Criminal and techno pioneer Richie Hawtin, best known for his ’90s alias Plastikman. The same trio will also play sibling festivals Overtone (on the Gold Coast) and Freeform (in Melbourne) on the same weekend.

At Mode the remaining line-up includes further internationals in iconic American house producer Ron Trent, eclectic but always bass-heavy DJ Ben UFO, Italian techno veteran Freddy K, melodic producer Avalon Emerson, the UK’s Call Super, bouncy Dutch DJ Twiena, genre-hopping Italian Gigi FM, Rinse FM regular Storm Mollison, emerging American selector Ash Lauryn and Berlin techno upstarts D Dan and Ogazon. And, in a world of their own, media-trolling stars Two Shell.

The Sydney contingent consists of Swim, Obeido, Harry Hayes, Fuchsia, and Alilia back-to-back with Anusha. Then there’s Newcastle’s Jun Wan, plus Melbourne’s KSMBA, Bella Claxton, Hasvat Informant, Memphis LK and Ned Bennett. 

Early access tickets are on sale from 10am on June 10. General tickets are available from 10am on June 11.