Move My Way

Astral People is one of Sydney’s most respected and enduring promoters. In recent years it’s thrown parties headlined by names as diverse as Detroit techno legend Carl Craig, hip-hop icons De La Soul, IDM luminary Flying Lotus and fast-rising DJ Yung Singh.

Now, after 15 years into the game, the group is launching Move My Way, a daytime Sydney and Melbourne festival about “comfort, connection and community”. It’ll spotlight rap, hip-hop, jazz and R’n’B acts from the UK and elsewhere, with a smaller focus on contemporary club sounds.

Headlining is London jazz quintet Ezra Collective, which has achieved phenomenal success of late, winning the Mercury Prize in 2023 and Group of the Year at the 2025 Brit Awards, plus collaborating with Olivia Dean, Jorja Smith, Loyle Carter and Sampa The Great.

Seven-piece band Kokoroko, also from London, will bring an infectious mix of West African disco, highlife, Afrobeats, neo-soul, bossa nova and funk that shows off the broad range of influences they’re exposed to within the city’s numerous black diasporas.

Other acts coming from the English capital are R’n’B singer-producer Qendresa; Tash LC, with a high-energy set of UK bass, kuduro, gqom and other African club sounds; and prolific radio DJ Jamz Supernova. Also on the bill are Worldwide FM host Luke Una, a Mancunian who’s been spinning jazz and soul for 40 years, and NTS radio host Coco María, an Amsterdam-based Mexican DJ who specialises in Latin American rhythms.

From across the pond (i.e. the US), we’ll have singer-percussionist duo GENA (Liv.e and Karriem Riggins); Grammy-nominated rapper Freddie Gibbs, who last year dropped album Alfredo 2 with influential producer the Alchemist; and New York-based DJ and multi-instrumentalist Takuya Nakamura, known for fusing live instrumentation with club sounds.

The home contingent is headed up by Zambian Australian rapper Sampa the Great, young crooner and instrumentalist Xmunashe, and Fijian and Aboriginal Australian rapper-producer Miles Nautu. Planet Trip Records, best known for its parties at Club 77, is also curating a local line-up: La Foxy Fuzz, Lu Faria, Lauren Hansom, Mike Who, Ritual, Setwun and Sista Cini.

Tickets are on sale from 12pm on May 20.

movemywayfestival.com