Southern Lights Festival — A New Kind of Arts Experience on the Far South Coast

A youth-powered audiovisual takeover of Cobargo

On Saturday 18 April 2026 Southern Lights Festival transforms the Cobargo Showground Pavilion into an immersive digital art and live performance space — created and delivered by young people from the South Coast.

Southern Lights is a youth-led, multi-art form festival where young people don’t just attend — they run the show.

Across three intensive workshop days, participants work with professional mentors to design visuals, build décor, run audio, create content, manage the site and perform live. The festival culminates in a public event on Saturday 18 April 2026, entirely delivered by the young people involved.

Get Involved!

If you are ages 13-24 – Get Involved!

Love music, visuals, performance, tech or media?
Join one of five production teams:

Audio & Production
Décor & Installation
Visuals & Projection Mapping
Performers
Media & Promotion

No experience needed — just curiosity and commitment.

Delivering a Festival requires lots of different roles. For Southern Lights there are four main production teams – Production, Decor, Visuals and Media. You can also choose to be a Performer or work with one of the creative teams – Electronic Music Band, Experimental Music Band.

Production Team: Working under the famous Sam’s Caravan you will learn all about live music production through setting up the sound system and operating it for the Festival

Decor Team: Working with artist Nicky Hutteman you will design and install multiple creative elements to run the Festival space into another world

Visuals Team: Working with the Bioluminescence project crew you will create custom video content, install projectors and video projection map the space and then be the VJ’s for the Festival

Media Team: Working with social media guru Alison Baker you will be the voice of the festival and also record the acts

Electronic Music Band: Working with experienced electronic music artists you will learn how to use the latest electronic music production tech and create performance ready set

Experimental Music Band: Create a tentacle musical instrument and work with your team to captivate the audience with the weird and wonderful

GET INVOLVED HERE:

https://events.humanitix.com/southern-lights-production-team-sign-up

Get Tickets

About the Festival

Southern Lights is a youth-led, multi-art form festival where young people don’t just attend — they run the show.

Southern Lights is equal parts live music, digital art and community celebration — making it a must-see event for families, festival lovers and adventurous audiences ready to experience something bold, new and unforgettable.

Step into a full-day celebration of creativity, sound and light as the Southern Lights Festival transforms the Cobargo Showgrounds Pavilion into a playground of electronic music, hands-on workshops and immersive visual art.

By day, the festival becomes a collaborative learning hub where curious minds can dive into the world of music and technology. Learn the basics of DJing from friendly performers, explore the foundations of sound design and synthesis, experiment with music hardware and software tools, and wander through the interactive Synth Expo — a crowd-sourced display of unusual instruments, vintage gear, homemade noise machines and digital curiosities.

Whether you’re a musician, tinkerer, tech enthusiast, or just love trying something new, these workshops offer the chance to create, experiment and play.

When the sun goes down, the showgrounds evolve into a surreal night-time festival of eclectic electronic music performed by local and touring artists. Expect genre-bending beats, experimental rhythms, ambient soundscapes and live audiovisual performances surrounded by decor, lighting and projection installations unlike anything seen before in the region — built in collaboration with local young creative producers.

GET YOUR TICKETS HERE:

https://events.humanitix.com/southern-lights-festival-pass/tickets