Coffs Harbour - Bellingen • 30 October / 1 November 2026
Taranta Festival Lineup 2026 (First Release)
Get ready to meet the heartbeat of Taranta Festival. Our 2026 lineup feature world-class artists who bring the colours, sounds, and stories of their cultures to Bellingen. From high-energy dance bands and dazzling instrumentalists to powerful poets and soulful ensembles, these performers will light up the stage and create unforgettable moments of music, dance, and community.
Ars Nova Napoli is a vibrant street-band and Nu Folk ensemble from Southern Italy. Formed in 2009, they blend traditional Neapolitan melodies and Mediterranean folk with fresh, high-energy compositions. Using traditional instruments like mandolins, accordions, and frame drums, their lively shows capture the spirit of an outdoor Italian festival.
Alessandro is an acclaimed Calabrian guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, and composer. He is widely recognised by critics as one of the leading virtuosos of the chitarra battente (a traditional 5-course Southern Italian guitar). His signature style blends traditional 17th-century repertoire and Calabrian ethnic music with contemporary experimentation, improvisation, and live electronic music.
Farhan Shah is widely regarded as one of Australia's leading South Asian vocalists. Dubbed the "Pakistani Pavarotti," he is celebrated for his powerful interpretations of Sufi and Qawwali music—one of the world's most spiritually rich musical traditions. Since arriving in Adelaide from Karachi, Pakistan, in 2016, Farhan has collaborated extensively with leading Australian artists and producers. A recipient of the MusicSA UNESCO City of Music Award and the Governor's Multicultural Award, he has toured nationally and internationally as a solo artist, with his tradtional Brothers Qawwali group, and with his contemporary world music ensemble Farhan Shah & Sufi Oz.
Hyperbaroq is Mirko Guerrini, Ilaria Crociani and Stephen Magnusson. It began six years ago, on a rainy night during lockdown. Mirko and Ilaria sat at the piano and played "No, no, non si speri", a cantata Giacomo Carissimi wrote around 1664. Something became irreversible. The Baroque principle of the affetti, music as the direct, uninhibited expression of feeling, was never a closed system. It was an invitation. They understood that the invitation was asking not to revive this music or interpret it, but to continue it. Bringing their own sound to it, loops, samples, electronic textures, felt at first like touching something sacred with irreverent hands. They create a conversation that has never broken off, one that asks not for answers, but for the courage to keep searching. Always in motion, never in amber.
Wombatuque is a high-powered Brazilian Samba de Raiz (Root Samba) ensemble based in Naarm/Melbourne. Combining infectious, driving rhythms with soulful storytelling, they specialise in authentic, community-driven acoustic samba, capoeira-influenced folklore, and the hypnotic grooves of the Recôncavo Baiano. Their performances are more than just a concert—they are an interactive celebration. Moving seamlessly between original tunes and timeless classics from legends like Zeca Pagodinho and Clara Nunes, Wombatuque creates a joyous, high-energy atmosphere that instantly blurs the line between the stage and the dance floor. Get ready to move, sing along, and feel the true spirit of Brazilian carnival!
Diego Jascalevich is an internationally acclaimed Argentine charango virtuoso, guitarist, and composer. Born in Buenos Aires, his musical journey took him through Brazil and Italy before he settled in Germany in 1995, where he studied classical guitar and composition at the Kassel Music Academy.Jascalevich is widely celebrated for revolutionising the traditional South American charango. By blending its vibrant Andean roots with classical music, jazz, and contemporary world folk, he has elevated the ten-stringed instrument onto the global concert stage. He has collaborated with diverse international ensembles and global icons, including recording with opera legend Andrea Bocelli. Known for his technical mastery and expressive phrasing, he delivers deeply emotive performances that bridge cultural boundaries and redefine modern folk music.
Ginkgobiloba is an Argentinian power folk rock trio formed in 2001 in the city of Santa Fe. The band consists of Emiliano M. Beltzer (bass and vocals), Demian Pozzo (guitar and vocals), and Jorge E. Mockert (drums and vocals). Their unique sound blends 1970s classic rock, 1990s Seattle grunge (reminiscent of Soundgarden), heavy funk (similar to Living Colour), and traditional Latin American rhythms. This is their first time in Australia!
Born from a hunger to share ancestral sounds in a new land, Santa Taranta burst onto the Australian music scene in 2013 bringing the infectious rhythms of southern Italy's folk revival to Melbourne. After conquering festival stages across Australia from the National Folk Festival to Fairbridge and beyond the band eventually found their homebase in Bellingen, where they continue to evolve their distinctive sound. The dynamic core trio of Salvatore, vocalist Hayley Egan, and Argentinian bassist Emiliano Beltzer forms the heart of the band, but the stage will be filled with a larger ensemble to present their latest album supported by the Australia Council for the Arts. Be ready, you can't miss this one!
Sinfonia is Bellingen Youth Orchestra’s most advanced ensemble. Hosting the leading string players, Sinfonia provides opportunities to take on challenging repertoire in an innovative musical experience. For the Taranta Festiva the ensemble will present a special program, accompanying international acclaimed vsiting artists Ferhan Shah, Diego Jascalevich and Alessandro Santacaterina. This event is unmissable, they will taking the audience through an incredible musical journey!
Prepare to be enveloped by sound as The Bellingen Singers take the stage. With over 60 members, this vibrant Gumbaynggirr-country phenomenon is a testament to the joy of collective singing. Guided by Hayley Egan, the choir operates on a model of radical inclusion, learning complex, multi-part harmonies entirely by ear without a single piece of sheet music. Rich, raw, and deeply moving, The Bellingen Singers deliver a powerful celebration of human connection that will leave your heart full and your spirit lifted.
Bellingen Playback Theatre Company is a dynamic, unscripted ensemble that brings community stories to life. Using the unique art form of Playback Theatre, the company invites audience members to share real-life experiences, which are instantly transformed into compelling theatre through music, movement, and words. Deeply rooted in the Bellingen Shire, they create intimate, transformative spaces where personal moments become universal connections. From joyous celebrations to quiet reflections, this versatile group honors the diverse fabric of human experience with empathy, creativity, and spontaneous magic.
Passionate dancers of Al Zayton Palestinian Dabke Troupe come from far and wide to ignite your heart with invigorating sounds of the Levant and the strong exhilarating movements of this captivating dance form. Dabke is a traditional dance for celebrations and gathering in Palestine, ad a dance of identity, belonging and connection to the land. Take your part in the celebration of the land and people; learn the joyous moves of Dabke and how to stomp in style to join the dance line to the invigorating and reviving music of Dabke.
Anna Cerreto teaches and performs the dances of Southern Italy in Meanjin/Brisbane, sharing cultural dance as a way to explore questions about land, solidarity and diaspora identity. At Taranta Festival, Anna will share some pizzica, tarantella and tammurriata (different Italian folk dance styles) through workshops and demonstrations alongside our musicians.