Sydney Festival Unveils Massive 50th Anniversary Program

Sydney Festival will celebrate 50 years of live music, culture, and community upon its return in January 2026.

The diverse, city-wide program takes place from Thursday, 8 January, to Sunday, 25 January, featuring imaginative performances, theatre, dance, music, visual arts, and other immersive experiences held at historic venues, pop-up spaces, and unexpected corners of the city.

A major highlight of the festival, London party group Hot Chip will celebrate their 25th anniversary with two nights at the Sydney Opera House, showcasing their spectacular Joy In Repetition live show.

Emma Donovan performs as part of the festival’s Blak Out programming, paying tribute to soul icons such as Aretha Franklin, Al Green, and Ann Peebles with Take Me to the River, which will take place at City Recital Hall.

The Blak Out program also features Thomas Mayo’s groundbreaking work, Dear Son, which will be brought to life by twelve renowned Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men, including Stan Grant, Troy Cassar-Daley and John Liddle.

Sydney Festival also will host “the Queen of the Bandaral Ngadu Delta,” Gooniyandi and Walmatjarri Elder Kankawa Nagarra, and events such as HELD, Vigil: Belong, Garabari, Garrigarrang Badu, and more.

Elsewhere, the festival’s live music programming has secured the buzzed-about British star Paris Paloma, visionary American artist Lonnie Holley, Noongar sensation INKABEE, Persian-Aotearoan genre-defying artist CHAII, Australian R&B innovator Milan Ring, as well as Sydney Symphony Under the Stars, Disco Never Dies, and many more.

In addition to live music, Sydney Festival will be home to theatre performances by the likes of Reuben Kaye and THISISPOPBABY, as well as opera, immersive, and visual art activations.

To explore the full program, head to the Sydney Festival website. Tickets for all shows will be available from 9:00 am AEDT today.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Sydney Festival, early bird tickets priced at $49 will be available for A Reserve seats and General Admission among all ticketed shows. The offer is strictly limited and will run until Saturday, 29 November (or until the allocation is exhausted). You can find tickets here.

The 2026 festival marks the first program from Festival Director Kris Nelson, who remarked: “Inspired by the complexity of our global city, this edition brings leading international and Australian artists whose performances will resonate with everyone.

“In honour of our 50th, it's a festival full of intergenerational experiences too. Over the next four years, my vision is to create festivals that transform us – shaping not just the shows we present, but how Sydneysiders experience art, and inspiring us to imagine the future of this great city together.”