Melbourne’s “heart” will beat Greek this weekend (28 February and 1 March 2026), as the 38th Antipodes Festival prepares to transform Lonsdale Street into a major celebration of music, dance and culture.
With a program packed with headline concerts, traditional dance and beloved annual events, this year’s festival promises two days full of energy and Greek spirit.
At the centre of Saturday’s program is Ioulia Karapataki, one of the most dynamic voices in the contemporary Greek music scene.
The popular singer will take to the Bank of Sydney Main Stage Saturday 28 February, in what is expected to be one of the festival’s standout performances.
Blending modern musical influences with strong folk and traditional roots, Karapataki has won over festival audiences across Greece with concerts that feel like a true glendi.
She arrives in Melbourne following the huge success of “To Glenti”, a song that dominated last year’s Greek summer and evolved into a modern festival anthem. Known for her warmth and immediacy on stage, she connects effortlessly with audiences — whether they know every lyric or are hearing her for the first time. Her performance will also be livestreamed on YouTube, allowing even more people to join the celebration.
On Sunday evening, 1 March, the festival will close with Konstantina Touni, a rising voice in contemporary Greek music with roots in the Epirus tradition.
With a rich, expressive tone and deep connection to demotic song, Touni began singing professionally at just 14 years of age and gained wider recognition through her participation in The Voice in Greece. Since then, she has collaborated with established artists and performed on stages in Greece and abroad, introducing Epirotic sounds to new audiences.
The much-loved “Zorba ‘Til You Drop” competition will once again feature in the program, kicking off at 12.30pm on the AA Holdings Stage.
The iconic syrtaki endurance contest returns, with participants competing for a return airfare to Greece, offered by sponsors Consolidated Travel and the National Bank of Greece Melbourne Representative Office.
It is one of those moments when Lonsdale Street becomes an endless chain of dancers, with crowds clapping and joining in enthusiastically.
Saturday program highlights:
1:00pm Sophia Ventouris School of Greek Dance (Sydney)
1:15pm Chemist Warehouse Competition
1:30pm Zorba ‘Til You Drop
2:00pm Hellenic School of Dance, Culture, Music and Arts of the Archdiocese of Melbourne (with Kogarah School of Greek Dancing, Sydney)
2:30pm Flambouro Philanthropic Society of South Australia
2:55pm GCM Greek School Dance Group
3:15pm Hellenic Dancers – Hobart
3:50pm Canberra Hellenic Dancers
4:15pm Pontian Association of Melbourne “Panagia Soumela”
4:50pm O Periklis
6:00pm Dance with ALKI
6:20pm Florina Aristotelis Dance Group (Seniors & Intermediates)
6:50pm Greek Lyceum of SA School of Greek Dance and Culture
7:15pm The Central Pontian Association of Melbourne and Victoria ‘Pontiaki Estia’ (Seniors)
8:05pm Greek Orthodox Community of SA Dance Academy
8:25pm GCM Dance Group – Drama
Ioulia Karapataki
Sunday program highlights:
11:40am Kalymnian Dance Group
1:30pm Alphington Grammar School Greek Band
2:15pm Pancretan Association Pre-Senior Dance Group
2:35pm Chemist Warehouse Competition
3:15pm Chora Dance Academy
3:45pm Akrites Tou Pontou x Pontoxeniteas NSW
4:05pm Procal Competition
4:15pm Messinian Dance School of SA
4:45pm Ipirotiki Compania
5:50pm Cretan Brotherhood of Melbourne (Seniors & Intermediates)
6:00pm Pegasus Dance Academy (Seniors)
6:30pm Mavrothalassites – Pontiaki Estia
7:25pm GCM Dance Group – Sarakatsaniko
8:00pm Apostolis Kasparidis
Konstantina Touni
The 38th Antipodes Festival is not simply a cultural event; it is a living testament to the strength and cohesion of the Greek community. Over two days, music, dance and shared memory come together, proving that Greece may be thousands of kilometres away — but it beats strongly in the heart of Melbourne.
