Review: Wildlands Festival 2026 at Arena Joondalup

Wildlands Festival 2026 at Arena Joondalup
w/ Dom Dolla, Kid Cudi, Addison Rae, Kettama and more
Saturday, January 3, 2026

Wildlands Festival returned for its fourth edition in Perth on Saturday, taking over its fourth consecutive new venue at Arena Joondalup. Having weathered the bizarre festival landscape of recent years, the event once again proved its staying power, with Perth turning out in droves on a hot day for a celebration of fun and drum & bass.

Starting early, Mincy’s set was far too good for the small lunchtime crowd. The Orbit stage was an interesting setup, giving it a Boiler Room–style feel. While open and easy to find, the new immersive 360-degree stage still felt like a secret—if you knew, you knew, and if you knew, you were there.

The Summit stage was under a large tent, offering shade as well as music for the punters. Jazzy kept those standing dancing, especially playing her song Someday.

The Sahara stage lived up to its name as it baked out in the sun. Luude brought in a big crowd, however, he was well and truly outshone by the previous acts. His mixing was anything but smooth as he shifted between songs aggressively. The crowd seemed to enjoy it, but the set was rather jarring.

This was especially so when 070 Shake took to the Sahara stage after him. This seemed like a bit of a misbook by the festival, as the crowd seemed to barely interact with the rapper. Recognising this, she played out her feature in Fred again’s Danielle (smile on my face), rather than the original version of her song Nice to Have. Her set was great, full of smooth vocals covered in reverb and neat guitar licks, but it went underappreciated.

Addison Rae took to the stage shrouded in mystery as a swirl of performers in trenchcoats and wigs took to the stage. She revealed her identity in the throes and launched into Fame is a Gun. With dancers swirling around her, Addison gave an excellent performance. Her vocals still need some work; however, they have vastly improved compared to footage of her first shows, especially considering she was upside down, doing cartwheels and flips.

Her dancing background shone through in her performance, and it was nice to see her “living that life.” She performed her remix of Von Dutch, and confetti cannons shot out Addison dollars, which fans proudly carried around as a souvenir the rest of the night. Addison’s fun and carefree performance ended with her hit Diet Pepsi, which felt like a euphoric celebration, especially for Addison considering what she had achieved in 2025.

As we approached the Summit stage for Kettama’s set, we were met with an overflowing tent. Thousands of patrons spilled out desperate to catch a glimpse of him, or at least be able to say they saw him. He was ever so cool as he mixed in hits like Yosemite and Pretty Green Eyes. The only disappointment of his set was how quiet it was, especially considering the amount of people trying to watch from outside the tent, meaning you could barely hear from the back of the crowd. Closing with a mix of It Gets Better, there’s no doubt Kettama will be on the main stage headlining next time.

As the sun set, Kid Cudi took to the stage and played a slew of old and new hits. He was full of energy and so was the crowd, and he looked to be genuinely enjoying himself which made the set more fun to witness. He closed with Pursuit of Happiness which was epic to witness live, and he, smartly, played the remix, complete with airbursts and a whole lot of jumping. His set felt short at the 45-minute mark, maybe because we were all having too much fun.

It seemed like almost the whole festival was ready to see Dom Dolla. The crowd was so big you could barely walk around the edges. Daddy Dom, as he is affectionately known, appeared on top of a giant DJ tower, and luckily there were cameras because he looked very tiny atop the behemoth decks. His set was extremely professional, and he worked in such a great mix of his hits like RhymeDust, MiracleMaker and San Frandisco, popular tracks like Heads Will Roll, as well as some new music he is working on, one of which is a remix of Addicted to Bass. The crowd ate up every second of his set until it ended with fireworks, which felt very fitting for the start of the year.

The lineup for Wildlands 2026 was very headliner heavy, and it showed in the crowd’s enthusiasm across the day. While many were sitting down and seeking shade earlier on, they went hard once the sun went down as the headliners fully delivered.

KIERRA POLLOCK

Photos by Adrian Thomson, Mikaela James and Gabrielle Clement