Afrosoul Brings Timbaland and Fireboy DML to Brisbane

I found out about Afrosoul the way I find out about most good things, slightly too late to sound cool about it. A festival built by a UFC champion, headlined by Timbaland, landing in Brisbane, and here I am still practising how to say half the lineup out loud before I embarrass myself in the group chat. Afrosoul 2026 is the Australian edition of the Afrobeats, R&B and hip hop festival, and it touches down at Eatons Hill Hotel on Sunday 11 October.

The facts, before the group chat asks

• What: Afrosoul 2026, the Australian edition of the festival, spanning Afrobeats, R&B, hip hop, dancehall, grime and Afropop.
• When: Sunday 11 October 2026.
• Where: Eatons Hill Hotel, Brisbane.
• On sale: 5pm AEST on Thursday 23 July, through the official site at afrosoul.com.au.

Who's actually playing

The short version is that the top of this bill would headline a festival on its own, and Afrosoul has stacked five of them.

• Fireboy DML. The 'Peru' and 'Bandana' hitmaker who helped redefine modern Afrobeats with his 'Afro-Life' sound, and the first Afrobeats solo artist to land on the Billboard Hot 100.
• Timbaland. The man behind Verzuz, who made stuttering rhythms and off-kilter beats mainstream and basically drew the blueprint for futuristic hip hop.
• Omah Lay. The Afrobeats artist with the mellow bangers 'Soso' and 'Holy Ghost', and CEO of his own label, Boy Alone.
• Stefflon Don. The Jamaican-English rapper who blends UK rap with dancehall and Afrobeats, behind '16 Shots' and 'Hurtin' Me'.
• Jabbawockeez. MTV's original 'America's Best Dance Crew' winners and the first dance collective to headline their own Las Vegas residency.

Rounding out the bill: Jamaican reggae and dancehall master Kranium, British-Ghanaian producer and DJ Juls, UK garage and grime pioneer Donae'o, and New Zealand rapper JessB. Repping the Green and Gold are Adrian Dzvuke, Jerry C, ADECHOON and K-Time. Thirteen acts, one very long, very good day.

More than a gig: "welcome to the culture"

Afrosoul was created by Nigerian-New Zealand UFC champion Israel Adesanya and entertainment entrepreneur Mitch Lowe. In 2026 it expands to host the festival in Brisbane alongside its sister event in Auckland this October, so Australia's getting its first proper taste.

Adesanya frames it as bigger than a lineup. "We started off local, now we're going global," he says. "Feeding souls through music, dance, food and much more. There's nothing quite like the energy felt at Afrosoul, the sights, sounds, tastes and movement come together to share a true slice of Africa, all on the other side of the world. Australia, welcome to the culture."

So it's music, dance and food, not just a stage and a queue for the bar. Which, going by the venue's own build-up, is exactly the plan.

How to get tickets without losing your mind

The on-sale is 5pm AEST on Thursday 23 July, and a bill like this with a single Australian date is the kind that sells fast. So a bit of honest advice from someone who has watched a lot of on-sales go sideways.

Be ready a few minutes early, sign up for any early access the festival offers, and have one person on it, not your whole group hammering refresh on six phones. A well-run on-sale puts everyone in a fair, first-in queue rather than rewarding whoever refreshes hardest, and if you want to understand what's happening while you wait, I wrote a whole thing on how fair ticket queues work. Panic-refreshing does not move you up the line. It just raises your blood pressure.

One more logistics note, because I care about your Sunday night. Eatons Hill Hotel is a big venue on Brisbane's northern side, so sort how you're getting home before the encore, not after it, when a whole festival is trying to book the same rides. And if you're hunting for more to do around town while you wait for October, have a browse of what's on.

That's the lot. A festival that a UFC champion built, Timbaland is playing, and my dancing will absolutely not do justice to. If you see a bloke near the back doing the one move he's confident in, nod politely and keep moving. I'll be having the time of my life, one beat behind everyone else.