Sydney Festival has announced the line-up for their 50th anniversary program – a multi-generational celebration of culture and community.

From 8-25 January, Sydney becomes a playground of imagination, with bold theatre, dance, music, visual arts and immersive experiences taking over historic venues, pop-up spaces and unexpected corners of the city. this diverse city-wide program will honour five decades of cultural transformation and looks ahead to the next generation of artistic innovation.

Celebrating five decades, the program will feature intergenerational experiences, including:

• Opening night event Live on Hickson Road: Efectos Especiales, a recorded street performance featuring Argentinian artists. Spectators to the show will be involved as extras.
• First Nations-led Blak Out program
• Sydney Symphony Under the Stars in a new location in Tumbalong Park at Darling Harbour
• Virginia Gay’s mother-daughter roller derby comedy Mama Does Derby to Dear Son
• Dear Son, a theatrical production featuring an exchange of letters between First Nations fathers and sons
• English synth-pop band Hot Chip

The festival will run 8-25 January 2026.

Tickets will be on sale from 9:00 am TODAY – Thursday 6 November 2025. Early bird sale ends 29 November 2025, with tickets from $49.

Visit sydneyfestival.org.au for more details.

Festival Director Kris Nelson joined Danny on 2SER Breakfast to discuss some of the many highlights of the 2026 Sydney Festival.