Every summer, right after the dust settles from the Harbour City’s epic NYE fireworks display, Sydney Festival is waiting to take over the city with a great big helping of fresh arts and culture. This is your chance to get in on an almost-month-long program that’s crammed with exciting performances, immersive art installations, phenomenal live musicians, and parties that rock on well into the night.
Featuring more than 130 experiences and running from January 4–26, highlights of the 2025 festival include a salacious true crime tale staged inside Darlinghurst Courthouse; Sydney Town Hall’s conversion into a Wild West pioneer town; the world premiere of a wacky unauthorised opera about the magical duo Siegfried and Roy; and intimate contemporary gigs in regal spaces like the ACO on the Pier and the City Recital Hall.
You also have the chance to explore some sizeable new statement-making art installations – like Colour Maze, a vibrant installation unravelling across the wharf at the heart of the festival hub that invites the entire family to walk inside; and What We Leave Behind from Cave Urban, which invites you to share messages of hope for our environmental future that are woven into a unique bamboo structure on Tallawoladah Lawn.
As with last year, the festival hub takes the form of ‘The Thirsty Mile’ – a full-swing festive takeover across both of the historic piers that make up the Walsh Bay Arts Precinct and the eight national performing arts companies that call them home (long gone are the days when Sydney Festival would take over Hyde Park). At the heart of this pop-up is the festival bar where you can kick on throughout the month, plus there’s 12 nights of free live music to satiate you.
You’ll see indoor and outdoor spaces across The Thirsty Mile enveloped by the bold and brilliant ‘Tongpop’ aesthetic of Visual Artist in Residence Telly Tuita. This Tongan-born and Western Sydney-raised artist is influenced by his Polynesian diasporic experience, nostalgic pop-culture references and memories of his homeland in Tonga.
This is the fourth and final festival line-up programmed by outgoing Festival Director Olivia Ansell, and her farewell gift is a love letter to what makes Sydney unique, along with a good wink to the city’s naughtier histories. Taking the reins for the 2020 festival, it certainly hasn’t been the simplest time in history for Ansell to run an event with so many moving parts. Heading into 2025, Ansell was passionate about programming some great live music to fill the blank space left by the closure of many of the city’s favourite gig venues. The cost of living has also been front of mind, and she’s made sure that ticket prices are as affordable as they can be, to complement more than 50 free events. With Ansell’s help, we’ve whittled down a list of the best shows to see this year, check it out below.
13 top shows to see at Sydney Festival in 2025
Dark Noon
An Australian exclusive for Sydney Festival, a South African cast flips the script on America’s Wild West in this internationally acclaimed immersive theatre show. Described as “outrageously entertaining” by Time Out New York, Dark Noon promises to tear down Hollywood tropes with slapstick humour, breathtaking stagecraft and biting satire.
As Ansell explains: “Dark Noon was the hit of the Edinburgh Fringe, and it’s an exhilarating ride for young people interested in theater. It's immersive, it's irreverent, it's satirical, it's so meta, and I think that it’s the play for Time Out readers who want to take somebody on a date night, or go out with friends and see something that's radical and might blow their minds.”
January 9–23, Sydney Town Hall, $80-$119+bf. Find tickets & info over here.
Siegfried & Roy: The Unauthorised Opera
Making its world premiere at the festival, this brand-new Australian opera is a modern stage spectacle inspired by one of the most famous and legendary magical entertainment duos in the world. Constantine Costi and Luke Di Somma’s Siegfried & Roy: The Unauthorised Opera unveils the origin story of the eccentric German men who went on to become the highest paid magic act Sin City had ever seen – complete with live magic, puppets, powerhouse vocals, inevitable tragedy, and yes, a beloved white tiger called Manticore.
“So of course, you know the tragic ending to Siegfried and Roy,” Ansell began to explain, struggling to stifle a morbid laugh. “But this is the story of two young, queer, introverted boys who grew up in war-torn Germany, Bavaria, and went on to become this very famous Las Vegas act.”
January 8–26, STC Wharf 1 Theatre (The Thirsty Mile), $49-$129+bf. Find tickets & info over here.
A Model Murder
Immerse yourself in this brand new site-specific play inspired by a historic murder case from 1950s Sydney, in which real life glamour model Shirley Beigner was on trial for shooting her two-timing boyfriend outside one of the city’s ritziest nightclubs. “In those days, you know, women's only lifeline to security and financial independence was to be married. And so, I think in a fit of rage, she went down to Chequers nightclub with a rifle in hand, and I don't think she really honestly meant to shoot him, or who knows, actually,” explains Ansell. “It was a massive, sensational court case that sold a lot of papers, and we're going to stage that play in the very courtroom in Darlinghurst where the trial took place! I just went through a script read in the courtroom, which was pretty fabulous...”
A little bit Chicago meets Witness for the Prosecution, A Model Murder is the work of playwright Melanie Tait (The Appleton Ladies’ Potato Race; The Queen’s Nanny, A Broadcast Coup) and co-writer/director/multi-award-winning theatre maker Sheridan Harbridge (44 Sex Acts in One Week, RedLine Production’s A Streetcar Named Desire).
January 4–25, Darlinghurst Courthouse, $69-$129+bf. Find tickets & info over here.
Afterworld
Before the Australian debut of Hadestown arrives in Sydney, check out the world premiere of this provocative immersive performance inspired by the timeless Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. A fusion of contemporary dance and percussion featuring five live dancers, the centerpiece of this performance is the ethereal film presence of 110-year-old Eileen Kramer as Eurydice – the late dance icon recorded her final performance before she sadly died in November 2024. Produced by Time Out Sydney Future Shaper Dino Dimitriadis (Overflow) with acclaimed choreographer Sue Healey and percussionist Laurence Pike, Afterworld is a fitting tribute to one of the greatest performers Sydney has ever produced, celebrating the miraculous power of art to defy the limits of existence.
January 7–11, The Neilson Nutshell at Bell Shakespeare (The Thirsty Mile), $49+bf. Find tickets & info over here.
William Yang: Milestone
One of Australia’s most revered social photographers and performance artists, William Yang is celebrating his 80th birthday and reflecting on his remarkable life in Milestone. Set against a haunting score by Elena Kats-Chernin alongside a live chamber ensemble, this special performance will capture Yang’s signature blend of warmth, candour and disarming humour; and his unique viewpoint a third-generation Chinese-Australian artist who is also among the last of his generation of gay men. Drawing on his vast collection of documentary photographs and poignant personal reminiscences – including chronicles of queer community, from the early days of Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras to the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the 1980s and ’90s – Yang weaves together themes of family, cultural and sexual identity.
January 10 & 11, Roslyn Packer Theatre (The Thirsty Mile), $53-$89+bf. Find tickets & info over here.
Antigone in the Amazon
Drawing on the ancient wisdom of a play by ol’ mate Sophocles, which dates back to 5th-century BCE Greece, this new adaptation by Swiss theatre-maker and agitator Milo Rau reimagines the drama of Antigone as a global endgame on the edge of the Amazon rainforest. Rau concludes a trilogy of ancient myths with this political tragedy – his other projects including an attention-grabbing production of Orestes in Mosul, staged in the former capital of the Islamic State, and his film The New Gospel, inspired by the life of Jesus and set in the refugee camps of southern Italy.
January 4–8, Roslyn Packer Theatre (The Thirsty Mile), $69-$119+bf. Find tickets & info over here.
Yaya Bey
Ansell is quite excited about the “pumping music program” which is bringing a bunch of free and ticketed gigs to Sydney Festival this time around, and one of the acts that she is most thrilled for is the Australian debut of Brooklyn R’n’B artist Yaya Bey at the beautiful City Recital Hall. Described as a sly and versatile vocalist with a smooth neo-soul meets funk sound, Bey’s lyrical themes are entirely her own, weaving political commentary, humour, grief and sex into indelible songs.
January 4, City Recital Hall, $59+bf. Find tickets & info over here.
Jalen Ngonda
Another exciting international artist making his Australian debut at Sydney Festival, Ansell also describes Jalen Ngonda as “a big deal”. This US-born, UK-based singer has been drawing weighty comparisons to soul greats like Marvin Gaye and David Ruffin. His rich, nuanced voice has earned the respect of everyone from Snoop Dogg to Elton John, and now Ngonda has levelled up with his 2023 debut album, Come Around and Love Me, and followed that up with a couple of hot singles in 2024.
January 16 & 17, City Recital Hall, $79+bf. Find tickets & info over here.
The Chronicles
This world premiere dance production from one of the most innovative Australian choreographers to emerge in the last decade is pulsing with energy and sensuality.
Stephanie Lake is currently the resident choreographer of The Australian Ballet, as well as the creator of the international hits Colossus and Manifesto (smash successes at Sydney Festival in 2020 and 2023). Now, she offers a new epic driven by transformation, and made for the times in which we live.
January 16–19, Roslyn Packer Theatre (The Thirsty Mile), $69-$109+bf. Find tickets & info over here.
Jacky
Jacky’s a smart, enterprising young blackfella who has made a life for himself in the big city. He’s got the hang of the 21st century. Negotiating the gig economy? No worries. Slipping from office internships to cultural performances? No probs. Sex work? Pays the bills. But when Jacky’s unemployable little brother Keith rolls into town, Jacky’s various lives in the white world threaten to come undone. Presented as part of Sydney Festival’s Blak Out program, this whip-smart and award-winning play starring Guy Simon arrives at Belvoir following an acclaimed premiere season in Melbourne.
January 16 – February 2, Belvoir St Theatre, $56-$97+bf. Find tickets & info over here.
Plant a Promise
Another highlight of the Blak Out program, Plant a Promise is a multi-dimensional work inspired by the devastating 2019–2020 fires and the changing climate, which weaves together Indigenous knowledge and environmental science to share the importance of caring for Country. Conceived by choreographer and playwright Henrietta Baird, this world premiere production is presented in four parts: a moving dance performance and native planting held at Bangarra’s Studio Theatre, a Baya (fire) installation by the water at The Thirsty Mile, and yarns hosted at Barangaroo Reserve as part of Vigil: Gunyah. Together, these four elements invite Indigenous and non-Indigenous audiences to explore culture and environment, and to find connection in those spaces that colonial systems have tended to separate.
January 22–25, The Studio Theatre at Bangarra (The Thirsty Mile), $49+bf. Find tickets & info over here.
Animal
Looking for a fun show to entertain some small children in your life? Well, you might want to find some kiddies to take along so that you have an excuse to check out this surreal circus experience set to an infectious live soundtrack of 'agricultural funk’. Having already wowed Sydney audiences twice before, Cirque Alfonse is an internationally-acclaimed intergenerational circus hailing from a little French-Canadian town in Québec. Expect jaw-dropping acrobatics, daring juggling (everything from eggs to giant cowbells), tap dancing, absurd humour and even a tractor doing wheelies.
January 3–12, Riverside Theatres Parramatta (tickets here) + January 16-19, Pavilion Performing Art Centre Sutherland (tickets here), $49-$89+bf.
Stories From Here
The Sydney Festival program also involves some intriguing options out west, such as Stories From Here – a series of artist-led audio walking tours that invite you to see Bankstown through young people’s eyes. Aged between 16 and 24, these young creators share their experiences in the area and the places that matter to them. The tours depart from Bankstown Arts Centre, so you might as well make a day of it and explore The Bankstown Biennale (Nov 23–Feb 1) – and artistic takeover over public space, it’s all about exploring cultural connections that resist universalism through the eyes of some serious up and coming contemporary First Nations and CaLD (Culturally and Linguistically Diverse) artists.
January 18 & 19, departing from Bankstown Arts Centre, $15+bf. Find tickets & info over here.
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