Against The Grain Festival Returns After 8 Years With XXL Lineup

Brissie, clear your calendars and cancel your plans (yes, all of them). Cult fave fest Against The Grain is officially back after an eight-year hiatus – and it’s not just a comeback, it’s a full-blown block party takeover.

Celebrating 10 years of local tastemaker powerhouse GRAIN, the one-day chaos engine will sprawl across multiple venues in Woolloongabba’s Clarence Corner precinct on Saturday 20 June 2026, packing 30+ artists across five stages into one gloriously curated mess of music, art and late-night antics.

“A real marker of where GRAIN has come from and where it’s heading.”

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And the lineup? Filthy (complimentary). We’re talking avant-pop legends Stereolab making their first Brisbane appearance in 17 years, psych-rock juggernauts Pond dropping an Aussie-exclusive set, plus the long-awaited return of Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever. Add in post-punk heavyweights Protomartyr, hometown hero Hatchie, and a stacked undercard featuring everyone from The Belair Lip Bombs to Public Figures, and you’ve got yourself a genre-hopping fever dream.

Beyond the bands, Against The Grain is levelling up into full sensory overload territory – with an open-air carpark dancefloor, immersive art installations, and a late-night afterparty at The Princess Theatre to keep the wheels spinning ‘til 2am. It’s all part of Brisbane’s Open Season takeover, but honestly? ATG feels like the main character energy.

“With Against The Grain, we’ve wanted to build something that feels true to the community that surrounds it, something independent, intentional and a little bit unpredictable,” GRAIN’s Chris Langenberg says in a press statement.

“To bring it back after eight years, and to do it at this scale with artists we’ve grown alongside as well as those shaping what comes next, feels like a real marker of where GRAIN has come from and where it’s heading.”

Tickets are on sale now – and if history’s anything to go by, this one’s gonna get weird (in the best way).

You can suss the full lineup and details down below.