Schaubuhne Berlin and Complicite / Beware of Pity
Every January, Sydney Festival starts the new year with a bang, transforming the city with a bold cultural celebration based on critical ideas and cutting-edge art and performance.
The 2019 program, running through January 27, is adventurous and diverse, from cutting-edge international theatre such as Beware of Pity and HOME to glittering, raucous nights of music and cabaret like Shànghǎi MiMi and Pigalle.
Our Indigenous program BLAK OUT returns with powerful new theatre including Man With The Iron Neck and The Weekend, as well as art installations, music and dance-theatre by First Nations artists, and the third edition of our popular Indigenous language classes Bayala.
Legs on the Wall / Man With the Iron Neck
Barking Gecko Theatre / A Ghost in my Suitcase
There’s a stacked contemporary music program featuring everything from a Cuban mambo band to feminist pop icon Neneh Cherry, glam-pop superstar Nakhane, experimental electronic composer Ben Frost and much more.
There’s also plenty to do and experience that doesn’t cost a cent, from the moon art installations at World Square, Darling Harbour and Barangaroo South to the return of the beloved Sydney Symphony Under The Stars in Parramatta Park and our Circus Comes To Town weekend in Prince Alfred Square.
Plus you’ll find free art installations at Carriageworks, the Museum of Contemporary Art, UNSW Galleries and Artspace, and free talks with artists and experts at UTS, NSW State Library and more.
Dancenorth / Dust
Dancenorth / Dust
Dancenorth / Dust
Our accessible pricing policies for ticketed shows (including new Under 30s pricing for certain shows and Playwave pricing for 15 to 19-year-olds) means Sydney Festival is open to all, welcoming Sydneysiders and visitors from wherever they live.
Sydney Festival returns to Hyde Park with the Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent and Festival Garden, where you can drop in for a drink and some food before or after a Spiegeltent show, plus enjoy free until-late weekend parties with Sydney’s fabulous DJing duo The Dollar Bin Darlings.
Just Not Australian
Seidler Salon Series / Mary Lattimore
Nakhane
More than any other cultural event, Sydney Festival defines Sydney’s personality. For over four decades we have presented international artists who guarantee headlines, and whose presence in Sydney adds to the Festival’s buzz and prestige, including names like Björk, Brian Wilson, Grace Jones, Manu Chao, Elvis Costello, AR Rahman, Cate Blanchett, Ralph Fiennes, Robert Lepage, The Flaming Lips, Nick Cave, Peter Sellars, Sir Ian McKellen and David Byrne & St. Vincent. Some of the world’s great companies – Wayne McGregor’s Random Dance, Cheek by Jowl, Gate Theatre and The Wooster Group, among others – also share the Festival with the most exciting artists and companies in Australia.
Sydney Festival’s audacious contemporary programming positions it at the forefront of arts practice in Australia and up there as one of the most wonderful festivals in the world. It’s your city and your festival.
Sydney Chamber Opera in association with the Song Company / La Passion de Simone
Sydney Chamber Opera in association with the Song Company / La Passion de Simone
Daptone Records / Orquesta Akokan
HISTORY
Sydney Festival was originally conceived by the Sydney Committee, the NSW State Government and the City of Sydney with a view to attracting people into the city centre during the holiday month of January.
The first Festival took place in 1977 and it has since grown to become one of Australia’s largest annual cultural celebrations with an international reputation for modern, popular and intelligent programming. In many ways it is probably still best understood as a celebration of Sydney, and its style and energy reflect the confidence, diversity and vigor of one of the world’s most beautiful cities.
The Chat / J R Brennan And David Woods
T5 Camouflage Fuel Tank Project
Xiao Lu / Impossible Dialogue
The Festival has a history of presenting Australian premieres, and many of Australia’s most memorable productions such as Cloudstreet and Smoke & Mirrors have resulted from Sydney Festival’s commitment to nurture local artists.
It has brought many of the world’s great artists to Sydney including: Ariane Mnouchkine and Thèâtre du Soleil (Flood Drummers); Robert Wilson (The Black Rider); Robert Lepage (Far Side of the Moon, The Andersen Project, Lipsynch); Schaubühne Berlin (Hamlet, Beware of Pity); Netherlands Dance Theatre; James Thiérrée; Philip Glass; Ian McKellen (Dance of Death); Peter Sellars; Batsheva Dance Company; National Theatre of Scotland (Beautiful Burnout, Black Watch, Aalst); Al Green; AR Rahman; Kneehigh Theatre (Tristan & Yseult, The Red Shoes); Wayne McGregor’s Random Dance (Entity) and Studio Wayne McGregor (Tree of Codes); Ludger Engels and Vivienne Westwood (Semele Walk); and Fabulous Beast (Rian).
[via Sydney Festival]
Sydney Festival 2019
January 9–27, 2019 / Sydney, Australia
Visit the festival page >
