There’s a warm breeze floating in through the window and it’s carrying the sound of music, laughter and thunderous applause. It’s carrying the salty smell of the harbour, and of freshly cut, picnic-ready lawns.  

Summer’s in the air – and Sydney Festival is here to seize the moment.  

Embracing the art of summer since 1977, the Festival has a stellar legacy of drawing the finest artists in the world to Sydney, and introducing the country's finest to the world. 

Many of Australia’s most memorable productions have resulted from Sydney Festival commissions and premieres, including Cloudstreet (1998), Black Chicks Talking (2003), Three Furies (2005), uniquely Australian musical The Adventures of Snugglepot & Cuddlepie and Little Ragged Blossom (2007), the outrageous cabaret Smoke and Mirrors (2010), The Secret River (2013), Black Diggers (2014), contemporary circus ensemble Circa’s Humans (2017), multi-award-winner Counting and Cracking (2019) and BLACK TIES (2020). 

We're proud to have hosted major Australian musicians, performers and comedians including Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Archie Roach, Ruby Hunter, Gotye, Regurgitator, Emma Donovan, Tex Perkins, Megan Washington, Meow Meow, Christa Hughes, Yana Alana and Celia Pacquola. 

World-leading artists and companies that have shared work with Sydney Festival audiences in recent years include Lars Jan and Early Morning Opera’s Joan Didion’s The White Album, performance artist Bryrony Kimmings’ I’m A Phoenix, Bitch, and choral choir Tenebrae (2020); Schaubühne Berlin and Complicité’s Beware of Pity, Ethiopian legend Mulatu Astatke, Neneh Cherry, and American artist Nick Cave’s epic exhibition UNTIL (2019); Wayne McGregor, Olafur Eliasson and Jamie xx’s ballet collaboration Tree of Codes, National Theatre’s Barber Shop Chronicles, The Wooster Group’s The Town Hall Affair, Pussy Riot Theatre’s RIOT DAYS, and DryWrite and Soho Theatre’s hit Fleabag (2018); Complicité’s The Encounter, Cheek By Jowl with Pushkin Theatre’s Measure For Measure (2017); James Thierry’s Tabac Rouge (2015); Sasha Waltz’s underwater dance opera Dido and Aeneas (2014); and Ludger Engels and Vivienne Westwood’s Baroque-punk Semele Walk (2013). 

These works join a long roster and legacy of extraordinary work and artists including: Ariane Mnouchkine and Thèâtre du Soleil (Flood Drummers); Robert Wilson (The Black Rider); Robert Lepage (Far Side of the Moon, The Andersen Project, Lipsynch); Nederlands Dans Theater; Philip Glass; Ian McKellen (Dance of Death); Batsheva Dance Company; National Theatre of Scotland (Beautiful Burnout, Black Watch, Aalst); Al Green; Chaka Khan; Andrew Weatherall; AR Rahman; Angélique Kidjo; Kneehigh Theatre (Tristan & Yseult, The Red Shoes); and Fabulous Beast (Rian). 

For more information on Sydney Festival down the years, visit our archive.