The Sunshine Coast Hinterland’s grassroots community festival has taken the People’s Choice award at the state’s most prestigious music industry night, a first for an event that has never chased recognition.
The Maleny Music Festival has been crowned Festival of the Year (People’s Choice) at the 2026 Queensland Music Awards, announced on the Gold Coast on Wednesday night, a major milestone for the small, volunteer-run event that has operated quietly out of the Maleny Showgrounds for more than a decade.
Now in its 12th year, the Queensland Music Awards celebrates the state’s most outstanding musicians and live music contributors across genres including blues, folk, rock, jazz, hip-hop, country and electronic. Winners are determined by a panel of more than 100 Australian and international industry professionals, with public voting reserved for selected categories, among them Festival of the Year, Regional Venue of the Year and Metro Venue of the Year, all presented by The Music. The People’s Choice result reflects strong audience engagement from fans across Queensland.
The festival’s team was not in the room when the award was called, but one of their own performers was. Andy V, who appeared at last year’s event, sent word immediately from the Gold Coast.
“He was so excited that we won, he shared it with us immediately,” says Festival Director Rachel Clarke. “The whole team at Maleny Music Festival was ecstatic.”
First Recognition for a Grassroots Event
For a festival that has deliberately avoided the grants and awards circuit since its founding, the Queensland Music Awards win carries particular weight. Rachel says the result is a reflection of something the team has built slowly, without fanfare. “Maleny Music Festival is a grassroots festival,” she says. “It started small without applying for awards or grants, just quietly delivering a quality festival each year. But lately there has been a real buzz for this event, so we are not surprised that the people of Maleny and our loyal attendees voted for us.”
That relationship between the festival and its audience is, Rachel argues, precisely what makes Maleny Music Festival what it is. “People feel like they are part of the festival when they buy a ticket,” she says. “And in turn, the festival crew feel like part of the community. It truly is a community event.”
Small by Design
The award will not change what the festival looks like. Rachel is unambiguous about that. Camping, just 300 metres from the festival gate, sells out every year, and the Maleny Showgrounds will remain the home of the event for the foreseeable future. “Maleny Music Festival is small and intimate, just the way we like it,” Rachel says. “We don’t have any plans on outgrowing the Showgrounds. We will continue to put this festival on for as long as the community wants it.”
The volunteer model is central to that identity. The crew begins arriving the week before the event, sharing meals and building together. With musicians throughout the team, impromptu jams around the campgrounds have become part of the festival’s fabric. “We are a big family,” Rachel says. That sense of participation extends to ticket holders. Two sessions tents run for the full three days, open to both performers and audience members who want to pick up an instrument and join in.
What’s Ahead for 2026
The 2026 lineup is still being finalised, with Rachel working through a strong applicant field and waiting on confirmations before releasing names. What is confirmed: the Friday Night Youth Showcase, introduced last year to highlight young Sunshine Coast talent, returns, as do the Saturday lantern parade and Sunday kids’ games. Children remain free.
Musically, the program will hold to the festival’s trademark range: storytellers and vocalists through the day, giving way to blues, horns, and late-night dancing. This year, Rachel hints at junk yard guitars joining the bill, following last year’s appearance of a nose flute on the main stage. “We have a few other ideas in the making for 2026, but it is too early to say right now,” Rachel says. “The program will be out in a few months’ time.”
Subscriber tickets are on sale now at malenymusicfestival.com at the lowest available price, ahead of the lineup announcement. Early bird tickets open to the general public on 1 June alongside the full lineup release. Day tickets are available for non-campers, though full festival and camping packages are expected to sell out.
From Attendee to Director
Rachel Clarke’s path to the director’s role follows the same arc as many of the people the festival attracts: she arrived as an audience member, stayed to volunteer, and never quite left.
Her love of live music runs deep, forged across Brisbane’s 1990s scene at the Roxy, Crash and Burn and Festival Hall, catching Custard, Regurgitator, TISM and The Toothfaeries most weekends. When a young child entered the picture, the mosh pits had to go. She found Maleny Music Festival and was immediately at home.
“I attended Maleny with a small child, looking for a more relaxed festival with no mosh pits or crazy behaviour so I could continue seeing live music with a little one in tow,” she says. “When I found Maleny Music Festival, I was hooked.” She joined as a volunteer, taking on waste and recycling, and eventually built a full sustainability program. Waste Action Maleny is now a partner, and the festival produced just three wheelie bins of waste across its entire three-day run last year.
Rachel was appointed Festival Director in 2023, the event’s 10th anniversary year, bringing with her a new programming team drawing from NSW and Brisbane. She admits the role was never part of the plan.
“Wow, no way, it was not in the plan,” she says. “But I am so glad it is now. I have experience in running events, I love live music, and I enjoy camping and meeting new people. So, in hindsight, I am surprised that I didn’t plan for this, as it suits me perfectly. This festival attracts people, the community want to get involved, and that is what happened with me.”
Maleny Music Festival 2026. Subscriber tickets available now at malenymusicfestival.com. General early bird tickets and full lineup released 1 June.
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