Picture this: it’s 9am on a Monday, you begrudgingly started work an hour ago, still feeling the sore head from the weekend. Half your friends are living it up in some warm European town and you’re watching highlight reels of a European festival wishing you were there. This random Monday morning everything changed: “Pitch Music and Arts Festival 2026 Lineup Announced”. You hurriedly scan through the lineup, while in your head you're thinking, “omg I love that artist”, “oh yeah I’ve heard of them”, “didn’t Yasmin say that they played an amazing set?!”. All your worries of the Aussie winter dissipate as the light at the end of the tunnel glows extra bright today. The first sign that summer is coming.
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Soon, everything goes into overdrive. You organise your festival crew. Fix the tent pole that broke last year. Figure out who’s driving and if you can borrow mum’s car. Do the calculations on how to best prepare a nutritious meal on a four-day bender.
The months leading up to a festival involve putting the pieces together to create a Michelangelo type plan - beautiful and cohesive. Behind the scenes, teams of people are also gathering their pieces, beyond Michelangelo, they’re putting together a feat not dissimilar to the Sistine Chapel.
The Silver Platter
The lineup of a festival is often served to us on a silver platter. We see the big names, the unknown names, the friends of friends names. We see this silver platter, no matter how shiny it is, for face value.
In reality, the lineup of a festival represents a year of hard work, creativity and patience.
Pitch Music & Arts (PMA) is taking place in the Victorian Grampians for its ninth year in 2026. Happening just around the corner in March, we were lucky enough to sit down with Ela Rutherford, promoter at Untitled Group, to gain an insight into the work behind curating this year’s PMA lineup.
Ela first started working at PMA as a volunteer artist liaison. As a big part of Untitled Group’s on-ground team at PMA, she worked her way into the role of running artist operations and now has been part of programming for the past two years.
The Creation
The curation of a lineup starts with establishing a vibe. Through taking inspiration from international lineups, Untitled Group creates their own, unique concept, year after year.
Well-rounded. Multifaceted. Community-focussed. Culturally connected. Inclusive and evolving. PMA’s core values are maintained and represented in their lineups, aiming to create spaces where different sounds and spaces can belong together.
It all starts with artist discovery. Extensive research is done to find artists who have something unique to offer. They might be creating waves in other parts of the world, or simply caught the eye of the promoter. Conversations are had with local and international promoters to flag artists who are gaining momentum in their local scene. Untitled Group’s team are able to connect and collaborate with these promoters to see what they can do for each other.
Further afield than a good network, the team undergoes on-ground research, through attending ADE and festivals in Europe and the USA (working holibobs? I think yes). For those at home, the usual social media platforms are used to discover new artists who are accelerating within their niche and could be an interesting addition to the Australian festival scene.
Keeping trends in the back of the mind, the lineup is shaped through assessing statistics and finding where the momentum lies. The program will always shift in one certain way, whether it was a conscious decision or not. This year, PMA is following a shift towards more groovy rhythms, seen through a higher ratio of house artists.
The initial phase of brainstorming can be a very creative process, with endless combinations of headliners, mid and small tiered artists. Then it all comes down to the admin: reaching out, checking logistics, touring schedules and availability. Ticking away in the background, the lineup starts to form over the year prior to the festival. Over time, things start to fall into place.
A simple comparison for the people at the back
Lineups are like situationships. They need to be interesting enough to see out, be familiar at times and largely fit into what you already enjoy. But it’s imperative that they challenge you, take you out of your comfort zone and force you to try something different. They need to be the thing you didn’t realise you needed or wanted. Sitting just one step ahead, whether you know it or not now, the future you is always astonished at how much you still think about that random two month situationship from six years ago.
No risk, no reward
There’s an excitement in the unknown in curating a lineup. The Australian scene is unique in itself. Promoters have no idea how the punter will receive each year's program. With international lineups being used as a sounding board and sitting with numbers and statistics in front of you, there is always a chance of unforeseen reception (good or bad).
In 2024, fifteen thousand people watched the I Hate Models set, something the team was not expecting. Gabber Eleganza, with their never-seen-before (in Australia) performance, swept the feet away of many curious punters, turning out to be one of the highlights of PMA 2025.
There needs to be a reframing of fear when you create lineup after lineup, especially successful ones. There needs to be risk involved to achieve anything. That’s for everything in life, but particularly when you’re creating the lineup of one of the biggest Australian dance music festivals.
In a time where many independent festivals are suffering, PMA surges with nail on the head type lineups. We see the PMA punters returning year after year, maintaining a loyal community. I asked Ela, what is it about PMA that sets it apart? She said: the festival is created by punters, for punters. It's the carefully curated stage design, interactive art installations and the focus on community. It’s a well rounded lineup with thought out set times, imagining what the crowd is feeling at each specific moment - elation, fatigue or celebration.
2026 is the year of the horse
Galloping into this year there are new additions to PMA that have never been done before. These large festivals are more than just the lineup now. There’s an emphasis on the whole experience and an expectation to find the unexpected.
The addition of the ‘Rock Pool’ is a standout incorporation. It adds that summer-feel you don’t always get in the dusty Grampians falling in the middle of March. Local crews will take over side stages with diverse live performances like Bitter Babe, LB aka LABAT and Spritz by Spray, to name a few. There’s also new stage designers, ready to play with a fresh perspective.
PMA is coming back strong, drip feeding what might be in store for the future of this festival. With the 10th year anniversary next year, Untitled Group has some big things planned; maybe a nod to previous years, or something completely new (unforch I couldn’t squeeze out any actual intel but it was giving… flashy, fun and exciting).
All in All
Pitch Music and Arts Festival is one of the biggest Australian electronic music festivals, showcasing the world’s best dance music. The effort put into creating an accessible, high-quality bush doof should be celebrated.
While the lineup is served on a silver platter and we don’t think twice about it, this is your reminder to think three, even four times, because there’s more than what meets the eye. Consider the brainstorming, long collaboration, deliberation, logistics and admin. Remember the team behind it all and if you come across a group of half nerd, half ravers on the last day that are absolutely sending it - it’s probs the programming team.
If you haven’t been to PMA before, do yourself a favour and experience it in all its glory. Sleep when you’re dead!
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