Degrowth Festival 2026

A jam packed day of community resilience, convivial technology and joy - prefiguring the truly sustainable world we need.

The Degrowth Festival celebrates all degrowth-aligned activities by bringing together those interested in sharing skills and knowledge in a fun and convivial way. It is an enjoyable experience to illustrate the sorts of things that a future resilient community will need as collapse unfolds. This includes all manner of community-led stalls and activities that can help to serve us all well in building a society that will see us through in 'the long game'. These are things that any government is usually unable to provide for meaningfully given that the system is currently geared for consumerism and accumulation of money at all costs. The event is wheelchair accessible (via footpath within park) and has one public accessible toilet located within the park. The event occurs on grass within the park.

This event is co-hosted by Friends of the Earth Melbourne.

What happens at the degrowth festival?
There are dozens of stalls from groups working on local food, housing, community spaces and community care, protest, activism, convivial technology and more.

Dancing and music.

Workshops and talks.

An exhibition on what is degrowth.

Bring your picnic and party under the trees!

Festival program (subject to change):

12 Acknowledgement of Country

1-2 Seeds and seedlings exchange & Riff Raff Marching Band in the street

2-3 What is degrowth workshop - come and learn more about what is degrowth, and have your questions answered!

3.15-4.15 Concurrent workshops 1

4.15-4.30 Riff Raff Marching Band

4.30-5.30 Concurrent workshops 2 

6 Bush dance

(See below for workshop details!)

Stalls (so far)

What is degrowth?

Degrowth is an idea that critiques the global capitalist system which pursues economic growth at all costs, causing human exploitation and environmental destruction. The degrowth movement of activists and researchers advocates for societies that prioritise social and ecological well-being instead of corporate profits, over-production and excess consumption. This requires radical redistribution, reduction in the material size of the global economy, and a shift in common values towards care, solidarity, autonomy and sustainable prosperity for all. Degrowth means transforming societies to ensure environmental justice and a good life for all within planetary boundaries.

Do you want to be involved in the festival?

Apply for a stall or workshop here: https://forms.gle/hjScYgWjpHq4bcck6

Sign up to volunteer here: https://forms.gle/xTqym8eS6PYMXHqw6

Workshop details (many more to come!)

Mending and Make Do Circle hosted by the Merri Menders! 

All day at the Merri Menders stall

Join the “circle” to get help to mend a garment (bring one from home or find one at the festival!) Make your own individual patch, sew on a patch or embroider a snail or a mushroom!  Some hand dyed indigo thread available! Use rescued fabrics to make useful things such as produce bags, sanitary pads or wee-wee wipes. Or simply learn basic hand sewing stitches. Needles, threads and fabric will be supplied.

Concurrent workshops 1 (3.15-4.15pm):

Unionists for a Job Guarantee: An Introduction

We believe that the union movement should adopt and campaign for a Job Guarantee. This session will explain why and how you can get involved.

Defending the land from capitalist domination; Latin American perspectives from below

A discussion about anti-colonial and anti-capitalist struggles in Latin America. Presented by Latin American Solidarity Network (LASNET).

Bicycles - a future

The future of bikes as carbon neutral both challenges and possibilities

Mapping Localised Food Systems

This workshop, hosted by Guerrilla Gardening Naarm will be an exploration of historical and current systems of food growing and production in our local area. In this workshop, we will pool together our existing knowledge, and then draw on a range of different resources to gain a deeper understanding of historical and current systems of food production. We will then use these maps to further brainstorm future projects and food growing systems.

A Voyage to the Future; Finding hope, resilience and energy for the transition through positive visionining

Stories hold a special place in the human soul. Our current story, a convenient one for those that desire the status quote, can feel like a lurching from crisis to crisis, with few options, little power and often a scapegoat to blame. We are left wanting a radically better future, but seemingly unable to do enough to course correct and make it a reality. But what if we are looking in the wrong places for the solutions to our biggest threats? What if we are facing not only an energy, consumption and climate crisis but one of imagination and enthusiasm? Yes, undoubtably, we need greater political, grassroots and cultural action. We need money to matter less than people and chest beating patriotism to give way to a care, connection and community, but what if we also need to stop, stare out the window and imagine a world in which things are better. Not instead of action and change, but to empower, communicate and speed it up. Maybe it's time to recognise that at the heart of all our work is the need for those around us to be able to imagine a better world, to tell stories about it, to long for its realisation. 

This workshop, inspired by the Transition Movement and the work of Rob Hopkins, challenges us to take a moment to imagine a better world and explore its sounds, feeling and connections. To practice the radical skill of positive visioning not to replace action, but to help us fall in love with a just, resilient and sustainable future and give us the connection and energy to fight side by side to make it a reality.

Concurrent workshops 2 (4.30-5.30pm):

Do we need a de-growth internet?

The internet isn't a magical cloud somewhere. It's data centers, cables and machines, that consume a remarkable amount of the earth's resources, emit more carbon than the airline industry, and is growing at a remarkable rate to support the interest of billionaires intent on deploying AI for everything regardless of the impact on jobs, warfare and society.

In this workshop, folks from local climate resilience internet group "Merri-bek Tech" will outline the current situation, highlight a few of the movements and approaches pushing back, and facilitate a discussion on how we degrow the internet in our movements and organisations.

Degrowth and the monetary system: how we pay for a degrowth future

“The question of public finance is the Achilles heel of degrowth”.

Those were the words of Jason Hickel and his co-authors in the 2023 paper “How to Pay for Saving the World”. Indeed, for degrowth advocates, a real-world understanding of the monetary system is paramount - as is understanding why public goods are critical for degrowth. While correctly identifying the folly of mainstream economics for its belief in infinite growth, the degrowth movement risks being hamstrung by its acceptance of mainstream myths about government finance.

If we fail to challenge and reject these myths, we make the degrowth struggle infinitely more difficult and complex – adding imaginary financial problems to the long list of very real obstacles our movement faces.

In this workshop, we offer a crash course in the operational realities of our monetary system, debunking common myths and highlighting the strategic advantage that a real-world view of government finance presents. Also, we’ll show why public goods are a critical foundation for the degrowth movement and to create a just and equitable economy. We know that reality is on our side with respect to the ecological foundations of the economy. But we need to get the money stuff correct, too. Come along and find out how understanding government finance can unshackle and supercharge the degrowth movement.

From the Garden to the Wall

Discover how to use earth, or subsoil, as a natural and healthy building material. In this hands-on workshop, you’ll learn simple field tests to identify suitable soils and explore basic techniques for natural building. Through practical activities, you’ll get an introduction to the fascinating world of building with earth.

Become an Evolutionary Catalyst

If we are to achieve degrowth, we must mobilize thoughtful public will to do everything required to pull out of our ecological nosedive.

How? This workshop will introduce the League of Evolutionary Catalysts strategy and communication tactics. We conduct conversations that help people connect the dots and think realistically about ecological trends. Our vision for taking the conversations to scale is to inspire the members of established groups – there are millions – to act as Evolutionary Catalysts.

Pathways to a Degrowth Future: Mapping Change Together

What does a degrowth future actually look like — and how do we get there?

This interactive workshop invites participants to collectively map the changes needed to move beyond a growth-driven economy. Using a simple but powerful framework, we’ll explore change across culture, community, policy, and systems — and identify tangible points of action.

Participants will contribute to a shared Degrowth Transition Map, while also creating their own personalised map to take away. This session is participatory, practical, and designed to turn big ideas into clear pathways for change.

Really Really Free Market

Building community

No money

No barter

No trading

The Really Really Free Market