Welcome to JOY’s Summer Season 2025-26
JOY 94.9 is thrilled to announce the launch of this year’s Summer Season schedule, running from Monday 8 December 2025 to Sunday 1 February 2026.
It’s summer, and with that comes more time spent in the car travelling to events, epic roadtrips, and of course Pride Season. With that in mind, we’ve assembled a lineup of programs to be your escape, your friend, and your soundtrack all summer long.
Premiering on JOY this summer
GayFL
6:00pm Wednesday
GayFL is a radio show and podcast that showcases the game we love from a uniquely queer perspective. Hosted by Brendan and Chris, GayFL celebrates AFL and AFLW news, culture, events and social media and off-field antics and mixes our deep and serious love for the game with fun, topical and sometimes irreverent commentary.
There will be interviews, match highlights, season and ladder discussion, news and current events and more, all mixed in with a pro-inclusion message for the whole LGBTQIA+ community.
If you feel like mainstream footy commentary doesn’t include you, then this is the show for you.
Talk Therapy To Me
8:00pm Wednesday
Talk therapy, but make it gay!
Each week, queer therapists Ashley (she/her) and Maxi (he/they) dive deep into the real stuff, unpacking the mess and the magic of mental health, exploring all kinds of queer relationships and intimacy, and tackling your burning questions in Ask a Queer Therapist. Thoughtful, cheeky, and full of heart – it’s the conversation you didn’t know you needed.
Verbena Radio
6:00pm Thursday
In Latin America and Spain, a verbena is a nighttime festival full of music, dancing, colour, movement, food, and community.
Inspired by that vibrant energy, Verbena Radio celebrates Latin American LGBTQIA+ voices through stories, candid interviews, and DJ sets infused with Afro-Latin and global sounds.
Each episode explores a different theme from Latin American LGBTQIA+ life in Melbourne — from community groups, Latin American and Hispanic drag artists, and Latin Americans in sports to Latin art and activism, Latinx experiences with sexual and mental health, Latin Americans and professional networking, Latinos in film, and the Verbena Party.
Follow Verbena Radio on Instagram.
PrideFinder
6:00pm Sunday
Revisiting Pridefinder Season 2, this special summer broadcast brings listeners back into the vibrant world of LGBTQIA+ people living across regional Victoria. Originally produced by award-winning audio storyteller Helene Thomas, Season 2 continues the project’s mission to illuminate the richness, resilience, and nuance of queer life beyond metropolitan centres, reflecting the diversity and pride found throughout regional Victoria.
Pridefinder was originally commissioned through the 2023–2024 Regional Activation Program (RAP), as part of Victoria’s Pride, a state government initiative presented by Midsumma.
Returning to JOY this summer
Four of your favourite programs are returning from hiatus:
For One Night Only
7:00pm Thursday
Guests explore the soundtracks of their lives.
Take Me To Your Reader
4:00pm Saturday
A space for emerging, established, and interested writers
Beatz Radio
10:00pm Saturday
Your home of harder trance and EDM
D.I. Hard
9:00pm Wednesday
Diversity and inclusion through the lens of disability and identity
Special events you’ll love
‘tis the season for special events with community:
Christmas Magazine
Live to air on Christmas morning
Saturday Magazine, JOY’s long-running weekly news, current affairs and opinion program, returns for their annual Christmas Magazine special on Christmas Day in 2025.
A yearly tradition, the Saturday Magazine team join together in the JOY studio on Christmas morning to provide valuable community connection, ensuring those in the LGBTQIA+ community and allies don’t have to feel alone on Christmas.
Previous years’ specials have featured conversations with Victorian Commissioner of LGBTQIA+ Communities Joe Ball, Minister for Equality Harriet Shing, Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp, and allies from across politics and the media.
Midsumma Carnival
Sunday 18 January 2026
Come and visit the JOY booth for the opportunity to hang out with the JOY Street Stars, record some on-air station IDs, meet your favourite JOY presenters, connect with community, and learn more about opportunities to get involved at JOY.
Midsumma Pride March
Sunday 1 February
Can’t make Midsumma Pride March in-person? Or just lining the march route and looking for some live commentary? Tune into JOY wherever you are for the celebration, advocacy, and community from the annual Midsumma Pride March.
If you’re a JOY Member or volunteer, you can register to march with JOY at Midsumma Pride March 2026 here.
Victoria’s Pride Street Party
Sunday 8 February
Come and visit the JOY booth for the opportunity to hang out with the JOY Street Stars, record some on-air station IDs, meet your favourite JOY presenters, connect with community, and learn more about opportunities to get involved at JOY.
Come celebrate with us!
We’re wrapping up the year and turning up the volume for JOY’s Summer Season Launch!
Get ready for an afternoon of feel-good tunes, from Latin heat to disco grooves, trance energy and the iconic Turn the Beat Around channel – all soundtracked by the Melbourne skyline and sunshine vibes.
Rally your mates and dance your way through the afternoon at the Victorian Pride Centre rooftop in St Kilda. Whether you’re spinning to your favourite DJ or sampling both channels, you’re in for a full-colour soundtrack like no other.
Performing live:
Tim Little from Beatz Radio and JOY Breakfast
Robbie Molinari from Turn The Beat Around
Matt Warne from Soul Provider
and introducing
Miguel Angel from Verbena Radio
Book your ticket here — we’ll see you on the rooftop!
A number of JOY shows will be taking a break over summer: Game On!, Knowing Me Knowing You, The I In Us, Backstage Confidential, Living Life Single, Miss Chatelaine, Still Here Still Queer, and The Cabaret Room. Enjoy the rest, soak up some sun, and we’ll see you in the new year!
We’re also bidding a fond farewell to Brisbane’s Jess and Lauren from Brisbane’s Just Gay Stuff, who have been simulcasting their podcast with us since 2024. Thank you for all the good vibes and deep conversation you’ve brought to JOY!
You can keep with new episodes of Just Gay Stuff at their YouTube channel and their podcast feed.
JOY Summer Season kicks off Monday, 8 December 2025 and runs until Sunday, 1 February 2026.. Tune in via JOY 94.9FM, DAB+, or stream online anywhere in the world.
About JOY 94.9
JOY 94.9 is Australia’s only LGBTQIA+ community radio station, broadcasting from Melbourne and streaming worldwide. For 32 years, JOY has been a beacon for queer voices, stories, and music.
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