Your ultimate guide to the 2026 Sydney Festival

2 months ago 26

Headliners

Lacrima
Roslyn Packer Theatre, January 23-25
This monumental show comes from Europe with great critical acclaim. Clocking in at three hours with only a three-minute break, it will be a test of concentration (and bladders). Described by the UK Guardian as a “chokingly emotive story of overwork and enslavement” it tells the story of the creation of a wedding dress fit for a (British) princess as the action flits back and forth between France and India.

Mama Does Derby
Sydney Town Hall, January 15-22
This continues what has become a festival tradition of taking over Sydney Town Hall for immersive performances – who can forget 2023’s Sun & Sea, which involved bringing tonnes of sand into the Victorian building? This year, the Town Hall will become a roller derby track for a world premiere that examines the bond between a single mother and her teenage daughter.

Lonnie Holley
ACO On The Pier, January 9-10
Attempt to categorise Lonnie Holley at your peril. The 75-year-old from Alabama co-opts almost any means of expression – from music to film and sculpture to photography to tell his truth born from the pain of the Jim Crow era. In this three-night residency he will improvise with Australian artists Yasmina Sadiki and Kankawa Nagarra.

Lucky Dip

Wansolmoana: Lunar Assembly
McIver’s Ladies Baths, Coogee, January 18
The first in our “lucky dips” involves a literal dip. Join Tongan-Australian artist Latai Taumoepeau at the heritage-listed baths on the occasion of the new moon. Taumoepeau will guide the women-only participants through a cleansing ritual “that howls back at violence and invites the audience into a shared act of renewal”.

Blacktown Garage Party
Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre, January 15-16
Step under the roller door into the brash, petrol-fumed world of garage and car culture, Pasifica style. Created by artists Sione Monu and Salote Tawale, there’ll be music, karaoke, hands-on workshops and a performance of Siren Boyz, a collaborative piece from New Zealand artist Edith Amituanai celebrating the unique Siren Kings culture. Earplugs optional.

Nooriyah and DJHabibeats
City Recital Hall, January 17
Saudi-born, Japanese-raised and now resident in the UK, superstar DJ Nooriyah is uniquely placed to bring together global music cultures. In recent years she has brought her eclectic genius to stages as big as Coachella and Glastonbury. In Sydney, she will share the stage with Palestinian-American DJ Habibeats, another innovator who brings together genres from around the world.

Opera For the Dead
Neilson Nutshell, January 15-18
Before you say “Not another contemporary Chinese cyber-opera …” this show sounds particularly intriguing. Opera For The Dead is the creation of Chinese-Australian composer-performer Mindy Meng Wang and composer-sound artist Monica Lim and considers life, death and what might lie beyond. Don’t be fooled by the word “opera”; there’ll be no opening-night black ties here. Audience members will be encouraged to wander through the work.

Free/cheap

Symphony Under The Stars
Tumbalong Park, January 17
Back, somewhat controversially, in Sydney after its stint in Parramatta, Sydney Symphony Orchestra will bring the night air of Darling Harbour alive with this free concert. The program is yet to be unveiled, but you can be sure there will be plenty of classical music favourites to hum along to. Bring a picnic rug and Esky and get there early to bag a good possie.

Live On Hickson Road
Walsh Bay, January 10
When festival director Kris Nelson described this event, I admit I didn’t quite get it. I still don’t. However, I do think it sounds like a lot of fun. There’s a movie being filmed, with DJs and dancers and fireworks and it might be real – or not. And you get to take part. And afterwards you get to watch the movie and have a big party. What’s not to like?

Observer, Observed
Pyrmont Bridge, Darling Harbour, January 8 - 25
Who doesn’t enjoy a good old nose into other folks’ business, especially if you can do it surreptitiously. Step right up to these bronze binoculars, seemingly identical to a million other pairs in tourist spots around the world. However, at the same time as you turn your gaze on the people wandering around Darling Harbour, your beady eyes will be on show on a massive screen. The perver perved, if you will.

Conflictorium
Carriageworks, January 14-25
In an era defined by conflict writ large and small, this interactive exhibition couldn’t be more timely. Originally established in the Indian city of Ahmedabad by a collective of artists and historians, Conflictorium looks head-on at the causes – and opportunities – of our seemingly endless capacity for discord and includes a series of free, practical workshops.

Blakout

Vigil: Belong
Barangaroo Reserve, January 25
Now in its seventh year and well on the way to becoming a permanent fixture in our annual calendar, the Vigil invites everyone to gather on the shore of Barangaroo on the eve of the anniversary of the invasion of Australia to consider the meaning of nationhood and what it means to be a First Nations person. This year’s ceremony will feature songs and stories among the sculptures of artist Lucy Simpson.

Garriagarang Badu
Sydney Opera House, January 9, 10
Choreographed by Dharug woman Peta Strachan, Garriagarang Badu translates as salt water/fresh water. The 70-minute work tells the story of Dharug culture and the women who have nurtured and preserved it down the ages. Jannawi Dance Clan will combine traditional and contemporary movement in this world premiere, which promises to be a highlight of the festival.

Dear Son
Belvoir St Theatre, January 8-25
This production is based on a brilliantly simple idea from writer Thomas Mayo. He asked a dozen Indigenous men, Stan Grant, Troy Cassar-Daley and Blak Douglas among them, to write a letter to their father or son. The stage adaptation is a powerful, funny and emotional work examining fatherhood and masculinity through the lens of the Indigenous experience.

Garabari
Sydney Opera House, Northern Boardwalk, Jabnuary 9-11
Wiradjuri man Joel Bray has a history of co-opting unusual spaces for performances. For Garabari, he will take over the area north of the Sydney Opera House. He’s promising a show that is equal parts dance party and ritual, and “unlike any corroboree that has come before it”.

Family

The Censor
ATYP, The Rebel Theatre, January 22-25
As the eyes of the world turn to Australia’s experiment in banning social media for under-16s, this piece from Australian Theatre for Young People couldn’t be more timely. The Censor asks the simple question, what would happen if the kids were in charge? It’s the perfect show for youngsters sick of being told “No”. Prepare for some interesting conversation in the car on the way home.

Rothar
Sydney Opera House, January 14-18
From Galway-based theatre company Branar, Rothar is perfect for the littlies, and not-so-littlies willing to embrace a sense of fun and adventure. Clocking in at a child-friendly 45 minutes, the worldless action centres around Miquel and Moises, two bicycle mechanics in a small Irish town who turn their workshop into a playground of make-believe.

Garden of Sound
Pavilion, Sutherland and Riverside Theatres, Parramatta, January 7-11
This world premiere from Parramatta-based Form Dance Projects promises to get youngsters up and out of their seats to help create an innovative soundscape. The hi-tech show uses motion-capture sensors and video game software to allow audience members to “play” in the sound garden, creating their own masterworks.

The Bogong’s Song: A Call to Country
Parramatta and Sutherland, January 15-20
Creatives Yolande Brown and Chenoa Deemal present this work for families. Through stories of the iconic bogong moth the audience is invited to explore issues around Country and the interconnection of all living beings. A new creation from Bangarra, it follows on the heels of the smash-hit family show Waru–journey of the small turtle.