Does Masculinity have a Future?
Sydney | 21-22 November 2026 | Rushcutters Bay
How can I be sexy without having to conform to macho standards?
How can I show my vulnerability but also be strong ?
Many people today cling to old stereotypes, thinking in this way they can escape everything that is happening in our culture around sexuality and gender. In this festival, we seek to follow another path. Now more than ever we need to explore and celebrate new forms of masculinity, that are not simply reactive to feminism, but are responsive and can enter into dialogue.
The Festival of New Masculinities is two days of workshops, performances and play spaces, exploring psychological, embodied and erotic facets of masculinity.
We welcome all genders and orientations to our playground!
This festival is for you if you are:
Curious about how to think and feel beyond traditional masculine role models and ways of feeing and being attractive
Feel curiosity and/or shame about your masculinity
Bringing up young men (cis or trans)
Seek to connect with like-minded people and feel more self-assured
Where? The Drill Hall, 1c New Beach Road, Rushcutters Bay
When? 21-22 November 2026
Investment? $249 (early bird to October 1st)
Program
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Animal/God: A Journey into Trance
with Tony Yap
In this workshop, Tony will direct you into specific stages and modes of trance with an attention to ‘becoming animal/God.’
Tony adopts specific inductions into deep-trance, exploring some of the ways in which the term "emptiness" is understood in Daoism.
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Men in Dresses
with Lian Loke and Gideon Payten-Griffiths
Blending fashion history, gender-fluid styling, and pattern drafting, we empower participants to break gender norms, explore wearable art, and create custom garments. -
Money - the Last Taboo
with Peter Banki
In polite culture, it is often considered to be a taboo to talk about money. However, for many of us money is more intimate than sex. This workshop focusses on breaking down the shame we hold around money.
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Grieving Who and What We Never Got to Become
with Jessica Aszodi
Join a musical exploration of grieving the un-lived, un-realised aspects of masculinity that we have been waiting to meet.
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Psychedelic Fatherhood
with Sebastian Job
An experiential gathering to explore healing intergenerational trauma, ego dissolution, emotional resilience, vulnerability and intimacy.
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The Receptivity of the Artist
with Luke Fischer
The creative process also involves a receptive dimension, rather than a brute act of will; the artist cultivates a gentle openness to the spark or inspiration that ignites the process of art-making. This workshop will explore ways in which poetry and art bring us into touch with the receptive, affective and empathetic sides of ourselves. -
Understanding the Manosphere & Online Misogyny
with Simon Copland
Join Australian sociologist, Dr. Simon Copland, discussing community and alienation, neoliberalism and injured subjects as they relate to the contemporary phenomenon of the manosphere and online misogyny.
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Come in, Sir, you're next
with Alessandra Massi
Genital examinations - how you can adorn and embellish the penis
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Mother's Love
with Alessandra Massi
Maternal Nurturing and ambivalence
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The Future of Virility
with Peter Banki
The male philosopher is in a way the ultimate know it all. A workshop to explore how virility functions in philosophy and how it has developed. Literally it is about bringing children into the world, but metaphorically it is about giving birth to new thoughts and ways to speak about what is most foundational and important. The ambition to know-it-allness - philosophy is a site where traditional masculinity might slide into something else.