Mode Festival
from $440
Sydney · SYD
Sydney
260 m straight-line from Cockatoo Island (ferry) · © OpenStreetMap contributors
Lineup · explore the artists
Meet the artists
Barry Can't Swim →
Edinburgh-born Barry Can't Swim makes electronic music that leaves room for both club energy and reflective songwriting. His debut When Will We Land? brought together formative influences; its follow-up Loner turned toward his own experience of a rapidly changing life as a touring artist.
Listen: How It Feels ↗
Interplanetary Criminal →
Interplanetary Criminal is British producer and DJ Zachary Bruce, associated with UK garage and breakbeat. His 2022 collaboration with Eliza Rose, B.O.T.A. (Baddest of Them All), introduced his music to a much wider audience.
Listen: B.O.T.A. (Baddest Of Them All) - Edit ↗
Richie Hawtin →
Richie Hawtin is a British-born, Canadian-raised electronic artist with roots in Detroit techno. His work as Plastikman explores sparse rhythms and electronic atmosphere, while his DJ and live projects experiment with how music, equipment and visual design interact.
Ash Lauryn →
Ash Lauryn connects DJing, writing and community-building through the Black American history of house and techno. Born in Detroit, she developed Underground & Black from a blog into radio and events. Her deep and soulful selections belong to that wider work of keeping the music's roots visible.
Avalon Emerson →
Avalon Emerson is a DJ and producer whose selections range across genres and decades. Her formative San Francisco warehouse work and later Berlin club experience sit alongside a recording career that also explores singing and songwriting as Avalon Emerson & The Charm.
Ben UFO →
Ben UFO is a selector whose reputation was built behind the decks. He co-founded Hessle Audio with Pearson Sound and Pangaea, emerging from the UK dubstep scene while keeping his selections much wider than a single genre.
Call Super →
Call Super is the main name of Joseph Richmond Seaton, a London DJ and producer working across techno and house. His record The Present Tense helped start Houndstooth, the record label of London nightclub fabric. His second album, Arpo, arrived in 2017, and he records as Ondo Fudd for The Trilogy Tapes.
D.Dan →
D-Dan is a techno DJ and producer, born in the US and based in Berlin. His sets and records lean on raw grooves with a psychedelic edge. He launched his own label, summerpup, in 2021, and has released on Blue Hour, Arsenik and Amniote.
Freddy K →
Freddy K is the DJ name of Alessio Armeni, an Italian techno DJ and producer who started in Rome and moved to Berlin in 2009. He launched the Virus radio show in 1993, and his first EP, Control, came out on ACV. He runs the techno label KEY Vinyl and is known for very long, vinyl-only club sets, including at ://about blank.
GiGi FM →
GiGi FM is the name of Giulia Fournier, a DJ, producer and dancer who came up in South London's underground raves and is now based in Berlin. Her sets blend techno, bass and breaks, and she also makes ambient music. She has a long-running show on NTS Radio and runs the label Sea~rène.
Memphis LK →
Memphis LK connects electronic production with pop songwriting and her own vocals. Her club selections span early-2000s trance, jungle, breaks, electro and techno, drawing on the nightlife she explored after moving from Melbourne to London.
Ogazón →
Ogazón is a Berlin-based DJ of Spanish and Luxembourgish descent. Her vinyl-focused selections connect house and techno, with an approach built around careful transitions and the audience’s journey.
Ron Trent →
Ron Trent is a house producer and DJ whose music reaches into soul, jazz and a broad range of rhythmic traditions. His recording history connects the club-focused Altered States with more expansive collaborative work.
SWIM →
SWIM is a Melbourne-born electronic producer whose work moves between house, techno and emotive electronica. His Dear Friend album brings garage rhythms, deep bass, strings and atmospheric vocals into that sound.
The venue
A former industrial island reached by ferry, with event areas spread across lower and upper levels. The journey and terrain are part of planning a night here.
Public ferries serve the island. Check the event’s return transport before booking; a city venue’s late-night departure options do not apply here.
The lower island is mostly accessible. The upper island involves stairs or steep Burma Road, and some buildings have steps. The Harbour Trust warns of uneven surfaces; wear suitable footwear.
More about Cockatoo Island →