Series
Sydney Festival 2026
Sydney Festival is upon us for another year. Here is everything you need to know - reviews, previews and interviews - to plan your festival experience.
- ★
Could this be the worst Sydney Festival show I’ve ever seen?
Our reviewers give their verdict on the latest Sydney Festival offerings.
- Katie Lawrence, Chantal Nguyen, Peter McCallum, John Shand, Kate Prendergast and Cassie Tongue
‘I was told not to drool’: For Dan Daw, just being himself is a radical act
The Australian dance-maker’s latest work asks what it would mean to ignore those urging him to “fit in”.
- Matthew Westwood
Your ultimate guide to the 2026 Sydney Festival
It’s festival time again! Let us help take the hard work out of deciding what to see with our comprehensive guide to what’s on offer this year.
- Nick Galvin
A stranger attacked Travis. She didn’t get mad - she got herself a hit show
The British artist’s award-winning show will make you question everything you thought you knew about transgender people.
- Nick Galvin
- ★★★★
Khalid Abdalla holds the room even when the show wanders
Our reviewers are busy attending as many festival shows as possible. Here’s what they found.
- Chantal Nguyen, Harriet Cunningham, Joyce Morgan and Kate Prendergast
One of 27 children and traded for a bottle of whiskey at four: Lonnie Holley has some stories
The artist doesn’t improvise just his music; he improvises his lyrics – and interviews.
- John Shand
Four generations on one stage give Dharug language back its voice
Peta Strachan started the all-female Jannawi Dance Clan in 2008 to learn more about her ancestors’ language.
- Helen Pitt
- Exclusive
Sydney Festival cancels show, makes changes following Bondi attack
The program for this year’s event has been modified in the wake of the shooting attack last month.
- Nick Galvin
Other series
Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2026
This year’s laugh fest has kicked off, with more than 2000 performers stepping up to the mic. Here, our writers take a closer look
- 9 stories
Hate of origin: Inside football’s most intense rivalry
Essendon and Hawthorn have hated each other for more than 40 years, from some old-fashioned thuggery and a fake drug scandal in the mid-80s to last year’s failed bid by the Hawks to poach the Bombers’ captain.
- 5 stories