The family bush dance at last year’s Cobargo Folk Festival. Photos: Supplied.
The Cobargo Folk Festival is set to return for its highly anticipated 2026 edition, bringing three days of world-class music, poetry, dance and community celebration.
This year’s festival showcases an extraordinary blend of international artists, national headliners, and beloved regional performers across multiple stages. Themed concerts, cultural showcases, dance, poetry, a children’s festival and thought-provoking panel discussions make for a truly immersive experience in Cobargo on Djiringanj Country from 27 February to 1 March.
The line-up welcomes artists from across the globe, including Iceland’s Svavar Knutur, Barcelona’s El Pony Pisador, Sweden’s Northern Resonance, and the United States’ Windborne. China’s Zhang Ling (Big John) partners with local favourite Howlin Mitch, while Adelaide’s Hazara Sounds brings rarely heard Afghan music to Australian audiences.
Returning festival favourites include Chris While and Julie Matthews, Forty Degrees South, Kate Burke, Jordie Lane, Kavisha, Martyn Wyndham-Read and Warren Fahey.
They will be joined by exciting new additions such as the Maggie Carty Band, Monique Clare, the Laura Targett Band, Worlds Collide, and East Row Rabble.
Regional voices shine through with performances by Piper Allen, Malumba, Felicity Dowd, and Daniel Champagne, while country music stars Felicity Urquhart and Josh Cunningham round out the diverse program.
A festival highlight this year is Djinjinuurun Yangamung: Sparkling Stars Sing, featuring ancient Yuin stories told through song, dance and stunning digital projections, curated by Uncle Warren Foster with digital artist Scott Baker.
Crest of Crows presents the next chapter of the legendary Pigram Brothers’ story, bringing saltwater sounds from Broome infused with generations of cultural knowledge.
There are three themed concerts to add special flavour to the weekend. Andy Baylor and the Hard Travellin’ Troubadours will present a Hank Williams Tribute, while former Cobargo Folk Festival artistic director Dave Crowden is teaming up with The Figmentz for an ‘All You Need Is Love’ Beatles Singalong. The Figmentz will also present a Celebration of the Songs of Talking Heads.
The festival’s conversation series, Ideas from the Edge, creates space for musicians, writers, farmers, activists and thinkers to explore important questions facing our communities.
Joe Muller, managing director, Music NSW, will moderate a panel discussion titled Keeping Live Music Alive – From Campfire to Main Stage. It will examine whether regional artists can build sustainable careers in folk and roots music.
The other panel discussion is titled Harmony in Discord – The Role of Music, Art and Culture in a Fractured World. Four Winds executive director Leigh Small will moderate an exploration of how creative practice can heal divisions and reshape challenges.
The Riverbend Choir.
After a resoundingly successful debut last year, the free fringe festival “It Takes a Village” will return on 26 February (Thursday) and 27 February.
A highlight will be the Cobargo Australian National Busking Championship Heats. Aspiring musicians will perform on the streets of Cobargo from 10 am to 4 pm on 26 February, with winners announced at the Cobargo Hotel that evening.
International crime writers Chris Hammer and Michael Brissenden will be chatting with musician and long-serving ABC TV chief foreign correspondent Phil Williams at Well Thumbed Books.
More music kicks off at 4 pm in four venues featuring local and regional performers.
Bethany Thurtell’s exhibition of “Faces of Cobargo” can be viewed at the RSL Hall.
The fringe festival will transform the historic village with lighting, bunting and flags created through an ongoing community art project involving Cobargo Quilters, the Disability Trust, and local artists and schools.
From English, Scottish and Irish traditions to a mega bush dance, bellydance, Morris dancing, and the return of Savoy Dance with blues dancing, the festival offers something for every dancer.
The Cobargo Folk Festival will be held at the Cobargo Showground from 27 February to 1 March while the two-day fringe festival will kick things off on 26 February. Visit the festival website for tickets and the full program.
