Sydney Festival in hot water over pro-Palestine monologue at family circus

Audience members have been left shocked after a family circus — a part of the Sydney Festival — opened with a political monologue.

Audience members have walked out of a parkour and BMX circus pitched at families after the act opened with a pro-Palestine monologue.

Locals who attended the Air Time show at the Seymour Centre in Chippendale told the Sunday Telegraph they were shocked by political statements made at the family-friend event for Sydney Festival.

Photo of the Air Time Show which is part of the Sydney Festival 2025. Pic: sydneyfestival.org.au

Marilyn Walker attended the show with her daughter and grandchildren on January 9 and said she was “appalled” and walked out along with another audience member.

“They finished their narration with ‘From the river to sea’,” she said.

“There was a lady sitting in front of me with her two children, one of them wearing a kippah … after about twenty minutes they got up and left and I followed.”

The Sydney Festival is funded by the NSW government.

Photo of the Air Time Show which is part of the Sydney Festival 2025. Pic: sydneyfestival.org.au

“The government should not be letting it run. I don’t understand how anybody could let it run,” Ms Walker said.

The Minns government yesterday extended $340,000 in funding to the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies to provide security to synagogues after a spate of antisemitic incidents.

Arts Minister John Graham said he rejected the use of the phrase “From the river to the sea” – a phrase the Jewish community views as an antisemitic statement – but the government did not decide programming at the festival.

“The Government sponsors the Sydney Festival but does not decide programming,” he said.

“While artistic freedom of expression is important that cannot be at the cost of social cohesion or making some people in our community feel singled out, unsafe or threatened.”

The show opened with the phrases “Israel is committing genocide” and “From the river to the sea always was and always will be” - a slogan Hamas, whose gunmen killed 1400 people on 7 October, claim in their rejection of Israel.

John Graham said the NSW government did not decide the programming. Picture: Gaye Gerard

Sydney Jewish resident Daphna, who attended the event with her two teenagers aged 16 and 18, on Thursday, said she was so “shocked” and “devastated” she was unable to sit through the performance.

“We were being held hostage and none of us saw these political comments coming, the stage was being used to make political statements.

“I have family in Israel and saying things like this is perpetuating the anti-Semitism going on in Australia.

“I was shocked, I came to get away from my reality and was upset the audience was held hostage by having to hear this one sided opinion.

“This was not the place for a divisive statement, a Sydney family festival,” said Daphna, who works in the disability sector to promote inclusion.

“My family live there and I’m shocked, angry and sad at what happened and the opportunity of not sharing more bridge-building in Australia.”

A Sydney Festival spokesman said the political messaging in the show was not disclosed by organisers and the festival added a content warning about the Gaza statements to their website.

“Sydney Festival acknowledges the distress or frustration experienced by audience members,” he said.

“Sydney Festival expressed its concerns to the producer and requested that the messaging be withdrawn or modified to address audience unease...the producer chose to proceed with the content.”

Originally published as Sydney Festival in hot water over pro-Palestine monologue at family circus