The 41st Adelaide Festival, the first shaped by Artistic Director Matthew Lutton OAM, puts groundbreaking dance and theatre centre-stage across 17 exhilarating days in 2026, with tickets now on sale.
Two unmissable contemporary dance premieres lead the charge. Award-winning Australian choreographer Stephanie Lake returns with The Chronicles, uniting twelve of the country’s finest dancers, the tender voices of Young Adelaide Voices, and a pulsing electro-acoustic score. In another world premiere, Re-shaping Identity brings five extraordinary dancers of Tibetan, Yao, Uyghur and Han heritage who fuse ancient regional Chinese forms with fierce contemporary expression, redefining cultural liberation through movement.
International dance powerhouses include the UK’s Hofesh Shechter Company plunging into the subconscious with the electrifying Theatre of Dreams, and Adelaide’s own Australian Dance Theatre presenting Faraway, a haunting reverie on the shadows we spend our lives trying to outrun.
Theatre lovers will be spoiled with daring reimaginings and bold new works. Acclaimed Australian director Simon Stone transposes Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard to present-day South Korea, starring Cannes Best Actress Doyeon Jeon and Squid Game’s Haesoo Park in a breathtaking multi-level production about tradition, upheaval and unstoppable change. Iconic French actress Isabelle Huppert commands the stage in the searing monologue Mary Said What She Said, embodying Mary Queen of Scots in a tour de force of history and defiance.
Elevator Repair Service’s globally celebrated eight-hour epic Gatz transforms F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby into a mesmerising office-set marathon (with breaks), while Belgium’s FC Bergman returns after their 2023 triumph with the wordless, physically explosive Works and Days – eight performers and live music tracing humanity’s rituals from ancient ploughs to artificial intelligence.
Closer to home, Slingsby completes its acclaimed fairytale trilogy with A Concise Compendium of Wonder, and Windmill Theatre Company rolls out the world premiere of Mama Does Derby – a hilarious, heart-racing roller derby musical co-created by Virginia Gay, featuring real-life skaters and a live onstage band.
Opening the Festival with a free explosion of movement, Jarvis Cocker and Pulp will turn Elder Park into one giant dance floor on opening night. Under-40s can access most ticketed shows for just $40, ensuring the next generation joins the party.
From boundary-breaking contemporary dance to radical reinterpretations of classics, Matthew Lutton’s 2026 Adelaide Festival promises 17 days where bodies and stories collide in unforgettable ways – all part of a broader program that also brings free concerts by global icons Pulp, cutting-edge music events, major visual art exhibitions, WOMADelaide, Adelaide Writers’ Week with Jacinda Ardern and Christiane Amanpour, and a host of opera, cabaret and classical music highlights that together reaffirm Adelaide’s place as Australia’s true international arts capital.
The 2026 edition of Adelaide Festival takes place 27 February – 15 March. Visit https://www.adelaidefestival.com.au/ to learn more.
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