Sydney Festival
Designed for big ideas: The new building at Barangaroo where size isn’t everything
The centrepiece of Sydney Festival’s Indigenous component is a temporary meeting place – a “soft space” – for everyone to gather.
- by Nick Galvin
Latest
Dark Noon rips apart the American Dream with savage intensity
Our reviewers give their verdict on the latest Sydney Festival shows.
- by Joyce Morgan, Chantal Nguyen, John Shand, Cassie Tongue and James Jennings
There are guns and cowboy hats, but this western goes places you’d never expect
Tue Biering has used a childhood love of westerns to explore more profound issues of colonisation and struggles for power.
- by John Shand
★★★½
Arts
Dusty ghosts haunt this retelling of a famous Sydney murder
Our reviewers give their verdict on the opening shows from Sydney Festival.
- by Peter McCallum, James Jennings, Kate Prendergast and John Shand
The A-Z of this year’s Sydney Festival
Cowbell-juggling acrobats, ghost stories and bridal laments are just some of the options in a packed program.
- by Lenny Ann Low
Tongpop is the art movement you’ve never heard of but can’t miss
The work of Tongan-Australian artist Telly Tuita is bright, fun and deeply personal.
- by Nick Galvin
The plan to help Walsh Bay party harder during this year’s Sydney Festival
Tasked with helping reboot Sydney’s nightlife, the state government has rolled back restrictions under which bar patrons were forced inside at 10pm last year.
- by Megan Gorrey
Eight of the best: an expert’s guide to the must-see Sydney Festival shows
It’s Sydney Festival time. Our arts editor Nick Galvin shares his top picks from this year’s program.
- by Nick Galvin
She shot dead her lover, a crime to be re-enacted 70 years later
The “wickedly charismatic” true crime retelling of the death of an underworld gangster in the Darlinghurst Law Courts is turning into a box office hit of the Sydney Festival.
- by Linda Morris
Murder, magic and a riot of colour: Sydney Festival 2025 unveiled
A flagship event will see the story of an infamous 1954 murder staged in the Sydney courthouse in which it was heard.
- by Nick Galvin
Exclusive
Arts
New Sydney Festival director wants us on the edge of our seats
Canadian-born Kris Nelson’s first festival will be in 2026, the 50th anniversary of the event.
- by Nick Galvin
Original URL: https://www.smh.com.au/topic/sydney-festival-62o