Sydney Town Hall to become roller derby rink as 50th festival revealed

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New Sydney Festival director Kris Nelson has taken the wraps off his first event, marking the festival’s 50th anniversary.

The 2026 festival, between January 8 and 25, encompasses music, theatre, cabaret, dance, visual art and more in venues large and small across the city.

Last year’s festival, programmed by Olivia Ansell, was attended by nearly 600,000 people.

Kris Nelson at Sydney Town Hall, which will stage one of the festival highlights - a roller derby extravaganza.

Canadian-born Nelson, the tenth director in the festival’s history, moved to Sydney about a year ago. He said putting the program together had been a whirlwind process.

“I’ve had the most fun and a few pinch-me moments,” he said. “It’s been fast but I’ve been supported by an incredible team.

“The city is such a gorgeous, incredible landscape to put a festival in. So there’s lots in the iconic nature of the Opera House and other places and then there are some interesting adventures that we’ll start to seed around the city.

“I’m excited by the idea that we could make Leichhardt as glamorous as the CBD or making a festival that people will cross town for. In that middle weekend you could be teleporting from Blacktown to Bondi because the work is worth seeing.”

‘It’s going to be something like you’ve never seen before.’

Kris Nelson

One of the highlights of the 2026 festival will be Mama Does Derby at Sydney Town Hall. Following a tradition of staging immersive works in the iconic Victorian building that has seen its interior transformed into a beach and a tennis court in previous years, Mama Does Derby is set in a roller derby rink.

“It’s a mother-daughter story,” said Nelson. “Both their lives are on the rocks and the thing that saves them is that mum joins a roller derby team. While they are hashing it out there’s this roller derby team whizzing around. It’s going to be something like you’ve never seen before.”

A number of shows will be staged at Walsh Bay’s Roslyn Packer Theatre, including the Australian premiere of Lacrima, a much-lauded show by French writer Caroline Guiela Nguyen. A three-hour immersive work, it centres around the creation of a wedding dress for an unnamed British princess, switching locations between France and India.

Lacrima is a three-hour durational work that skips between France and India.

The Roslyn Packer Theatre will also host Post-Orientalist Express from Korean avant-gardist Eun-Me Ahn, who choreographed the opening ceremony of the 2002 Soccer World Cup.

“She has the energy and vibe of Grace Jones or Yoko Ono,” said Nelson. “You never know where she’s going. She’s just ready to rip shit up.”

Jacob Nash, at Barangaroo in January, will present his final Blak Out program.

Meanwhile, Jacob Nash will present his final Blak Out program of Indigenous works, including annual festival staple, Vigil, staged at Barangaroo the night before Australia Day. This year, the event will feature a massed community choir for which there have already been 600 registrations.

Nelson urged Sydneysiders and visitors alike to plunge in to the festival and take a few risks.

“Go with your gut and trust what you like and trust what you’re curious about,” he said. “And then use the festival to stretch that and do something new.”

More details and tickets here.