JOY 94.9 and Vision Australia Radio are proud to announce the hosting of a collaborative live broadcast from Midsumma Carnival 2026.
JOY Media, a Media Partner of Midsumma Festival, and Vision Australia Radio, an Inclusion and Access Partner of Midsumma Festival, will be broadcasting together live from Midsumma Carnival on Sunday, January 18 2026.
The first hour, exclusive to Vision Australia Radio from 10am, will feature radio reading content, sharing articles from LGBTIQA+ publications, mainstream media and Midsumma’s own materials.
From 11am, the simulcast between both stations will begin, during which listeners can enjoy interviews, music and coverage of Carnival festivities until 2pm.
Midsumma Festival is Melbourne’s biggest yearly queer arts festival, spanning 22 days and drawing more than a hundred thousand attendees across key events Carnival, Pride March, and Victoria’s Pride Street Party.
Quote attributable to Paul Scott-Williams, JOY Media CEO:
JOY Media is proud to partner with Vision Australia Radio in this wonderful community event, and amplify the voices of disability and queer communities through this special simulcast.
JOY’s yearly coverage of Midsumma Carnival always seeks to bring the excitement, colour, and pride of the day to those who are unable to attend in person, and our hope is that through this collaboration with Vision Australia Radio, we may open up new conversations and opportunities for involvement in our diverse shared communities.
Quote attributable to Conrad Browne, Vision Australia Radio and Audio Services Manager:
“The opportunity to collaborate with JOY Media at Midsumma Carnival 2026 on an outside broadcast is not only a great example of the way that community broadcasting works together in such a positive way but is also an incredible way for us to collectively highlight and celebrate the intersectionality of queerness and disability at this major Melbourne event. We look forward to bringing our audiences and communities together for this fantastic broadcast and laying the foundations for more collaborations in the future.”
Where to listen to the collaborative live broadcast
Listen live on Sunday, 18 January from 10am until 2pm:
- Melbourne: on 1179 AM, VAR Digital and via our Melbourne web stream at varadio.org.
- Vision Australia Radio local AM, FM services across Victoria.
Listeners who wish to hear our reading services can visit varadio.org and select their local web stream, where they will be greeted by our Melbourne broadcast teams.
Listeners beyond Victoria wishing to listen to our Midsumma live broadcast can select our Melbourne web stream, or ask their smart device to play ‘Vision Australia Radio’.
Learn more about Vision Australia Radio and JOY Media
- Learn more about Vision Australia Radio at varadio.org.
- Learn more about JOY Media at joy.org.au.
