Hopkins Creek announces that 2026 will be the festival's last
The much beloved festival is calling the curtain, coinciding with its 10th birthday this November.
“Help me make the most of freedom and of pleasure. Nothing ever lasts forever.”
Cult-loved festival Hopkins Creek has announced overnight that 2026 will be its last, spurring an outpouring of love typical of the legacy it leaves behind. Set to celebrate its 10th year this year, the Victorian festival hangs up its boots and appears to cite the ever-changing financial landscape for festivals as a root cause.
In any case, Hopkins’ announcement seems made not with a whimper, but a bang, and it does so with the same kind of honest determinism that has become not only a strength in navigating the numerous hurdles of its lifetime, but a rallying cry to guests of a similar spiritual persuasion.
After a three-year hiatus, Hopkins returned last year to a huge response by supporters not only across its home of Victoria or Naarm/Melbourne itself, but nationally too. Having weathered all manner of logistical storms, including fires, floods, postponements and a pandemic, Hopkins Creek’s return was a relieving and reassuring “fuck you” to those very challenges.
A move from the festival’s long-time home in the iconic Kulkurt Crater to NaarmMelbourne’s West, to seemingly greener pastures on Taungurung Country at the city’s North, looked to herald a new breath of life for Hopkins. In his 2025 retrospective for Mixmag ANZ, writer Darren Cheah (aka CHEAHDX) noted that:
“Hopkins’ return marked a return to form as much as it did the start of a new era.”
READ: The doof that wouldn't die: Hopkins Creek
However, instead, it seems that rising costs not only for the festival but also in the cost of living for its attendees have become too large a challenge.
“This event has never been about making profits, and we have remained fiercely independent since day one. This November is about celebrating everything we have created with the beautiful people who helped us create it,” the festival shared in a social post yesterday evening.
As upsetting as such a closure is, especially for reasons outside the festival’s control, Hopkins appears to be doing what it does best and taking it in stride.
“What began as a birthday party beside a creek grew into something we could never have imagined. …But life is a cycle and we feel like now is the right time to bring this chapter to an end,” they shared.
The outpouring of support from the musical community Hopkins built has been predictably meaningful, demonstrating in real time the legacy it’s set to leave behind.
Host of PBS’ The Breakfast Spread, Milo Eastwood, shared, “thanks for all the years of service Hopkins
“A celebration of music & mateship. Long live Hopkins Creek.”
-
Jack Colquhoun is Mixmag ANZ's Managing Editor. Find him on Instagram.
