Scholarpalooza 2026
Rock Scholars is delighted to announce that Scholarpalooza is back for the ninth consecutive year in January 2026. Scholarpalooza is proudly supported by the City of Stirling Community Grants Program, under its Vibrant Communities stream.
Scholarpalooza is an old fashioned battle of the bands competition organised and hosted by Rock Scholars, and it is open to any West Australian bands and musicians aged 18 and under, including solo and acoustic acts.
The competition format is simple - 25 acts will be selected to compete across five heats, with the winner of each heat plus one wildcard entry invited to take part in the Final.
Each heat and the Final will be judged by an independent panel selected from the local music industry, with bands and artists being assessed on a number of criteria including musicianship, stagecraft, songwriting, originality and WOW factor.
This event will take place at Rock Scholars’ own live performance venue The Garage, giving all competitors the opportunity to play on a big stage with professional sound and lighting. Scholarpalooza is an All Ages, smoke-free and alcohol-free event. Participating bands and artists are encouraged to invite as many friends and family to watch them as they can - a good reaction from the crowd can influence the judges.
Registrations are now open! To lodge your application for Scholarpalooza 2026 please complete and submit the below form and take care when completing it to make it interesting - only the best 25 applications will be shortlisted to take part in the competition.
Dates:
Heat 1 - January 3rd, 2026
Heat 2 - January 4th, 2026
Heat 3 - January 8th, 2026
Heat 4 - January 9th, 2026
Heat 5 - January 10th, 2026
FINAL - January 16th, 2026
Prizes - Our Final winner will receive a recording package, a professional photo shoot, gift vouchers and more.
Applications for Scholarpalooza 2026 will close on Friday 19 December OR earlier if we are over-subscribed. Early entrants may be selected to participate before the closing date so don’t delay .
The full Terms and Conditions for Scholarpalooza can be found HERE .
