A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to sleep over at the Royal Exhibition Building, a series of large-scale light installations along the Yarra River, and a homage to world-renowned American composer Philip Glass have been announced as highlights of this year’s Now or Never festival in Melbourne.
Running from 19 to 30 August, the festival of art, ideas, sound and technology returns for its fourth year with more than 250 local and international artists and creatives taking over iconic Melbourne venues and public spaces for a citywide program of more than 150 events – with 20 premiere works and festival exclusives.
Now or Never highlights for 2026 include:
Reimagination of the Royal Exhibition Building:
- SOMNIA: William Basinski (US) / Bendik Giske (NO) – an overnight, durational sleep concert under the architectural Dome, featuring a performance of genre-defining ambient music.
- Philip Glass: In the Upper Room performed by Orchestra Victoria / Piano Etudes performed by Maki Namekawa (JPN) – a unique classical music concert experience celebrating the legacy of visionary composer Philip Glass.
- The Breath Haus x Now or Never – a live breathwork and sound bath ritual, featuring the magnetic sounds of First Nations artists David and Daniel Wilfred from Narrm-based ensemble Hand to Earth.
Free large-scale light installations along the Yarra River – Birrarung:
- Multimmersion 浸 漬 的 ( ) 線 Upside Down V2 – a monumental laser light installation reflecting on the water, by light artist AKA Chang (TW).
- The Falls Before Us – an illusionary piece where Evan Walker Bridge vanishes into mist, by local artist Emily Parsons-Lord.
Transformation of Melbourne Town Hall (MTH), with:
- Time Remaining – a world premiere piece from beloved Melbourne contemporary dance company Chunky Move, featuring a hypnotic dance of bodies, lasers and light.
- PRESENCE – a takeover of the Main Hall with a totalising encounter of lasers and sound, from Australian audio-visual artist Robin Fox
- Revivification – a groundbreaking sound and sculptural exhibition that attempts to posthumously extend the life of experimental composer Alvin Lucier, using his biological material.
- Row, Row, Row Your Boat by Jung Haejung (KR) and Knot Protocol by HKASON (KR) – a takeover of the MTH forecourt with a thought-provoking video installation and hypnotic kinetic sculpture, in partnership with Arts Korea Lab.
A headline late-night music program at Melbourne Town Hall will feature diverse music shows across three nights from local and international artists including: A.Chal, Slim Soledad, LIZZ, Dinamarca and Zalina; Octave One, Sleep D x Hybrid Man, JNETT and Baby G; and Robin Fox, MY DISCO, and Jeho Yun + Kyoungjin So.
Talks:
- A SEXUAL HISTORY OF THE INTERNET – a lecture performance from sexual historian Mindy Seu at the State Library Victoria.
- Derrick Gee’s Radio Hour – a live edition of Gee’s popular show where music, stories and conversations unfold as a shared listening experience, with special guests Julia Jacklin and cult record label founder Michael Kucyk.
- Enshittification – an exploration of the creeping decay of online platforms from technology critic Cory Doctorow.
- First Nations Futures – looking at how new worlds are imagined into being through storytelling, visual language and acts of creative resistance, with Axel Garay, April Philips and Allara Briggs Pattison.
An ongoing collaboration with ACMI will also see the presentation of Feng Mengbo’s canonical videogame installation Long March: Restart. Other returning festival favourites include the XR headliner collaboration with MIFF, Library Up Late at State Library Victoria, Friday Night Social at Science Gallery Melbourne and Queer PowerPoint at Fed Square.
Centred on the theme A Whole New World, this year’s festival explores cultural shifts driven by immersive technologies, AI and digital storytelling – blurring the lines between installation, performance, reality and imagination.
