The Sydney Festival Has Dropped Their Incredible 2025 Program
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The widely beloved Sydney Festival, which will run from 4–26 January next year, has dropped their absolutely incredible program for 2025.
The almost month-long international arts festival is an opportunity to rediscover the city differently, from Sydney Town Hall’s conversion into a Wild West pioneer town, to a salacious true crime tale staged in the docks of Darlinghurst Courthouse.
Across exclusive productions and immersive experiences that reflect the city’s identity, Sydney Festival is the home of world class theatre, must-see music and powerful performance this January.
Sydney Festival also offers a action-packed free program for 2025, will ensure a truly accessible and expanded summer of art for all.
Throughout January, Sydneysiders and visitors will once again be enticed to take part in an exhilarating summer of art across 23 days of storytelling, knowledge sharing and cultural immersion.
Festival Director Olivia Ansell, delivering her fourth and final festival line-up, said: “Sydney Festival has long held summer’s cultural pulse and this year is quite the heartbeat. Stories of Oceania, destiny and what we leave behind through to bold explorations of utopia and dystopia, Sydney Festival 2025 promises an exhilarating and thought-provoking journey through the arts with exceptional talent at the reins. This January, immerse yourself in a summer of unforgettable performances, groundbreaking new works, and exclusive experiences that reimagine the world around us.”
“Sydney Festival has timing on its side, delivering a burst of cultural expression and artistic activity from January 4 when the city is largely off work and ready to celebrate and explore during the long hot days and nights,” said The Hon. John Graham, Minister for the Arts.
“This year’s edition puts First Nations artists at the forefront and brings new international works to Australia to ignite and inspire audiences. I encourage everyone to hunt through the program, attend and see what Sydney Festival 2025 has to offer.”
The Sydney Festival 2025 Program
Featuring over 130 shows and events, including 22 World Premieres, 24 Australian exclusives, 43 locations, and over 50 free events inclusive of more than 12 nights of free live music, Sydney Festival 2025 amasses an expansive roster of diverse local artists and renowned international names this summer.
Year on year, the Festival’s annual program serves as a reflection of the questions, ideas and themes consuming the cultural zeitgeist, as brought to life in the words and works of its talented class of featured artists. In 2025, the often blurry edges of utopian idealism and dystopian despair are writ large.
Concurrently, examinations of birth and destiny are explored via the transformative installations of 2025 Visual Artist in Residence Telly Tuita and the participatory What We Leave Behind project from Cave Urban, which serves as a totem of festival-goers’ hopes for the future.
Curated by Sydney Festival’s Creative Artist in Residence, Jacob Nash, the First Nations-led Blak Out program introduces a new gathering space and expanded festival footprint with three weekends of conversation and events that celebrate the coming together of people, country, spirit and truths.
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Across the city, Sydney Festival will play host to some of the hottest about shows of the season, from the highly anticipated World Premiere of Siegfried & Roy: The Unauthorised Opera and a deeply personal night of storytelling from Sydney icon William Yang, to an exciting new dance work by celebrated Australian choreographer Stephanie Lake, an eclectic run of live music gigs at the ACO On The Pier, and a blockbuster roster of powerhouse cabaret featuring Christie Whelan Browne, Rachael Beck and Katie Noonan.
Step inside the Darlinghurst Courthouse for a sensational 20th century murder trial inspired by one of Sydney’s most titillating scandals in A Model Murder, or visit the Wild West with Danish visionary Tue Biering’s breakout Edinburgh Fringe hit, Dark Noon being staged at Sydney Town Hall.
Award-winning Swiss director Milo Rau ends his trilogy of political works with a reimagining of Sophocles’ Antigone, or attend the Australian exclusive of As You Like It or The Land Acknowledgement at the Sydney Opera House
And making its World Premiere at the festival, Constantine Costi and Luke Di Somma’s brand-new Australian opera, Siegfried & Roy: The Unauthorised Opera, is a modern stage spectacle inspired by Las Vegas’ most famous and legendary duo.
The 2025 Blak Out program, as curated by Sydney Festival’s Creative Artist in Residence Jake Nash, works to unite some of Australia’s most talented First Nations artists to share their powerful stories, challenge perspectives and honour truths in a special month-long program.
Over three weeks in January, a new gathering space at Barangaroo Reserve will be home to much of the free and community Blak Out program. This program will see conversations, workshops, scoundscapes and performances, and Vigil: Truths will emerge on 25 January at Barangaroo Reserve.
Early Bird tickets are available across entire program until 2 December (or sold out). A Reserve seats are available for just $49 — to celebrate Sydney Festival’s milestone 49th anniversary.
The Sydney Festival runs 4-26 January 2025, and tickets for all shows are on sale from today (30 October, 2024).
You can see the full program at sydneyfestival.org.au.
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