A statewide celebration of Australian live music, from Sydney's inner west to the regions
Date
1 - 17 May 2026 I 21 March - 6 April 2025 I 8 - 24 March 2024Patrons
90,000 each yearLocation
New South Wales, StatewideGreat Southern Nights is the Australian Recording Industry Association’s (ARIA) statewide live music initiative, delivered in partnership with Destination NSW. Freeflow Projects has been ARIA’s stakeholder engagement and precinct activation partner since 2024.
2024 – Building the network
We engaged with stakeholders across seven key destinations for Great Southern Nights, from October 2023 to April 2024, developing and executing strategies to help each destination make the most of the festival on their patch. As part of this work, we piloted the very first Great Southern Nights Gig Trail – a curated, walkable live music journey through Sydney’s Hollywood Quarter. It was a small but significant first step in turning individual gigs into connected precinct experiences.
2025 – Scaling statewide
Our role expanded to twelve destinations, deepening our work in site activations and building stronger collaborations with local businesses, communities and government organisations to enrich each precinct’s contribution to the festival. Building on 2024’s pilot, we delivered two full Gig Trails – in Midtown Newcastle and Sydney’s Hollywood Quarter – turning a proof of concept into a repeatable format. Great Southern Nights 2025 brought more than 320 gigs to stages across NSW.
2026 – A statewide stakeholder network
The 2026 season was Great Southern Nights’ biggest yet: we engaged with 46 stakeholders across NSW, spanning 33 local councils and tourism bodies, seven Destination Networks, four city precincts and key peak industry bodies including Music NSW.
A highlight of the 2026 program was the continued growth of the Gig Trail format – from one pilot trail in 2024, to two in 2025, to four dedicated precinct activations in Chippendale (Sydney), Newtown/Enmore (Sydney), Midtown Newcastle and Port Kembla (Wollongong) in 2026 – each a connected, walkable live music journey through local venues rather than a single standalone event.
Great Southern Nights continues to grow each year – and Freeflow Projects is proud to help the state’s regions turn it into a lasting live music legacy.
Client: Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA)
Services: Stakeholder engagement, precinct activation and Gig Trail delivery, partner communications
Photos: Miguel Sicari (Chippendale Collective), Wanagi (Midtown Newcastle), Good Decisions (Newtown Enmore Precinct), Chris Frape (Port Kembla Precinct)
