Sam Strong and Gasworks 2026

Ahead of the creative precinct’s 40th birthday in 2026, new Creative Director and CEO Sam Strong has unveiled a fresh vision for Gasworks as a home for creativity. Complete with park upgrade, a new brand, and a renovated foyer, Gasworks will now be curated in quarterly instalments, with the first season, Summer @ Gasworks, being launched on 6 December 2025.

Summer @ Gasworks (and subsequent quarterly seasons) will be unveiled through a new program of signature free events: Seasons in the Glade. On the first Saturday of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter, Gasworks will host a celebration of creativity, connection and community.

Events will feature live music, art and craft markets, food trucks, kid’s workshops, light shows, interactive exhibitions, open artist studios and more. This will commence on 6 December with Summer in the Glade, including bringing Christmas Carols back to Gasworks through a partnership with Lakeside Community Events.

Gasworks is distinct in its showcasing of multiple art forms and Summer @ Gasworks will see the next generation of queer storytellers programmed as part of Midsumma. This includes full productions of two previous winners of the Queer Playwriting Award, Tom Ballard’s A Comprehensive & Profoundly Queer Accounting Of The Brief (Yet Glorious!) History Of The Gay & Lesbian Kingdom Of The Coral Sea, and Danish Sheikh’s Much To Do With Law, But More To Do With Love.

Other highlights include the next edition of the Queer Playwriting Award and Queer Reckoning by Scotty So, Lux Newman and Xanthe Dobbie, and Queer Reclamation by Ayman Kaake and Elyas Alavi.

2026 will also see a range of new partnerships, including one withSorrento Writers Festival and Avenue Bookstore, adding literature and ideas to the Gasworks season. Sorrento Writers Festival Director Corrie Perkin will curate a series of events showcasing the finest writers and thinkers, kicking off in February with an Australian exclusive in conversation with Geoffrey Robertson AO KC on his new book World of War Crimes.

Gasworks has always been a vital part of Melbourne’s independent arts landscape. In 2026 this support will be expanded with the groundbreaking Open Studio, a program that will see Gasworks giving over the Studio Theatre to the independent artists of Melbourne for free on the last Monday of each month.

Sam Strong :

We’re celebrating the milestone of turning 40 by connecting our groundbreaking past to an even more ambitious future. Gasworks has always been unique as a home for multiple artforms, a champion of the independent arts, and a space where everyone from the community can engage in creativity.

To kick off our next 40 years, we’re kicking it up a gear. On 6 December 2026, we’ll launch a new vision, a new park, a new foyer, a new brand, new quarterly seasons, new art forms, new partnerships, and new initiatives to support Melbourne’s independent artists.

And we’ll do it all at the first of our new blockbuster Seasons in the Glade free events.

For more information click HERE