Astral People have spent years shaping Australia’s club and live music landscape through careful curation rather than sheer scale, and their newly announced festival Move My Way feels like a natural extension of that philosophy. Taking over Carriageworks in Sydney and PICA in Melbourne across the first weekend of October, the twin-city event leans into connection, rhythm and community rather than traditional festival spectacle.
The lineup reflects that intention clearly. Ezra Collective, Freddie Gibbs, Kokoroko and Sampa the Great headline a program that moves fluidly through jazz, hip hop, soul, Afro-diasporic club music and contemporary R&B without forcing rigid genre boundaries between them. The result reads less like a standard festival bill and more like a map of interconnected musical conversations happening across different cities and scenes.
Ezra Collective arrive following the release of 2025 album Dance, No One’s Watching, a record built around movement as a communal act rather than simple escapism. Their blend of jazz, Afrobeat and London club energy has increasingly positioned them as one of Britain’s defining contemporary groups, while collaborators including Jorja Smith and Loyle Carner underline how comfortably they move between worlds.
Freddie Gibbs brings a very different energy but one grounded in similar musical curiosity. Long respected for his technical precision and restless collaborative instincts, Gibbs’ catalogue stretches from hard-edged street rap into jazz-inflected experimentation through projects with producers like Madlib and The Alchemist. The release of Alfredo 2 this year only reinforced his ability to balance sharp lyricism with increasingly expansive production choices.
Elsewhere, Kokoroko’s return to Australia continues the London group’s steady evolution beyond the breakout success of “Abusey Junction,” incorporating Afrobeat, jazz, funk and disco into something broader and more reflective of contemporary diasporic musical identity. Meanwhile Sampa the Great remains one of Australia’s most internationally respected artists, consistently weaving together hip hop, soul and African musical traditions into work that feels personal without losing political and cultural weight.
Importantly, Move My Way also places significant emphasis on local communities rather than simply parachuting international acts into empty spaces. Sydney’s Planet Trip collective and Melbourne institution Northside Records will each curate city-specific takeovers, grounding the festival in the sounds and selectors that already shape nightlife in both cities week to week.
MOVE MY WAY
Presented by Astral People
SATURDAY 3 OCTOBER
CARRIAGEWORKS, EORA/SYDNEY NSW
2PM – 10:45PM
SUNDAY 4 OCTOBER
PICA, NAARM/MELBOURNE VIC
2PM – 10:45PM
Presale: 12pm AEST, Tuesday 19 May
General on-sale: 12pm AEST, Wednesday 20 May
Sign up for presale access here.
Find more info at www.movemywayfestival.com.
