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The Top Half Folk Festival
1-4 May 2026
Returning to Inteye-Arrkwe (Ross River Resort), NT
After the Top End Folk Club put on the BIGGEST EVER Top Half Folk Festival in 2025, the NT's largest folk event returns to Central Australia for 2026.
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The theme for this year's festival is Connected, Grounded.
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Grounded - as we look down to our feet, and the incredible country that we walk upon together. We will gather on Eastern Arrendte land at Ross River Resort known by the First Nations people as Inteye-Arrkwe. We pay our respect to the traditional custodians of this land, their elders past and present, and the current caretakers of the Ross River Resort.
Connected - as we build our community, sharing stories, culture and songs with locals, people from the wider Northern Territory and beyond. The act of connecting at a safe and inclusive festival will bring understanding and positive paths for the future.
Getting There
Ross River Resort is around 80km east of Alice Springs. Driving is the best way to get to the festival, with ample parking available onsite. There will be a shuttle bus from Alice Springs to Ross River Resort, operating on a limited timetable. Should you wish to carpool we recommend reaching out to other festivalgoers via our Facebook page.
Interstate visitors can fly into Alice Springs Airport, located 15km out of Alice Springs.
Facilities
Ross River Resort is located in the beautiful East MacDonell Ranges, 80km from the nearest town, so facilities are limited. Please note there is no Telstra mobile reception and very limited Optus signal.
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The Top Half Folk Festival will feature a fully stocked bar and a range of food trucks selling snacks, meals and non-alcoholic drinks. EFTPOS will be available at all our vendors.
There will be facilities to refill water bottles. We also encourage festivalgoers to BYO cups, plates and cutlery to minimise waste.
St Johns Ambulance will be on site providing First Aid. The nearest hospital and pharmacy are located in the town of Alice Springs. Festivalgoers will need to bring their own mediations and medical aids due to limited facilities.
Have any questions or need any help during the festival? Visit the Festival Hub. A noticeboard outside the Hub will communicate any updates with festvialgoers over the weekend.
Camping
Camping is included in Weekend Pass tickets, with very limited powered sites available at an additional fee.
There will be two campgrounds at the festival, one near the Festival Site and one near the Homestead, around 500m walk from the Festival Site. There will be no vehicle access to the Festival Site campground during the festival, so campers will need to arrive before 5pm Friday and vehicles can leave the site after lunchtime on Monday. Vehicles can come and go from the Homestead campsite throughout the festival.
No personal fires can be lit in the campgrounds.
No BYO alcohol, even at the campsites, due to liquor licensing restrictions.
