Every June, Adelaide does something it does better than anywhere else in the world. The Adelaide Cabaret Festival, the biggest cabaret festival on the planet, takes over the city for just under three weeks, and what follows is the kind of cultural moment that’s hard to replicate anywhere else. This year, running 4–21 June 2026, it arrives with a new artistic director, a provocative new vision and a program – 79 performances across 12 nights – that looks like one of the strongest in recent memory.
Reuben Kaye takes the reins for 2026. If you haven’t encountered him before, that’s about to change: he’s been lighting up national television and international stages for years with a combination of sharp wit, extraordinary stage presence and a particular talent for making a room feel like anything could happen. A familiar face at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Adelaide Fringe and Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Kaye has built a devoted following for his bold, subversive cabaret – and he’s no stranger to Adelaide’s festival either. His theme for 2026 is the Delicious Revolution, which tells you something about the energy he’s bringing. This isn’t a festival that intends to play it safe.
Kaye hosts the 2026 Variety Gala on opening night, 4 June – always a signature event, and under his stewardship, almost certainly unmissable. He also takes the Space Theatre stage with The Kaye Hole (20 June, 9:30pm), raw, unfiltered, adults-only cabaret followed by its official after-party, The Gutter. And he’s performing in What’s The Buzz, a one-night-only concert featuring the Australian cast of Jesus Christ Superstar, alongside Mahalia Barnes, John O’Hara and more.
The Festival Theatre lineup alone is worth clearing the diary for. World-renowned tenor Alfie Boe makes his Adelaide Cabaret Festival debut on 7 June with special guest soprano Amy Manford. Lime Cordiale teams up with Adelaide Symphony Orchestra for a symphonic reworking of their ARIA chart-topping catalogue. Casey Donovan brings a one-night-only Amy Winehouse special, This Is Me, packed with Idol classics and Winehouse anthems. And Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox closes the festival on 21 June with their Future Is Vintage Tour, reworking contemporary hits through vintage jazz, swing and soul with a full live band.
Across the smaller venues, the program runs deep. Em Rusciano presents Addicted to Love at the Dunstan Playhouse, an unfiltered take on romance and the myths we’re sold. National treasure Vince Jones celebrates five decades of Australian jazz with A Maverick’s Tale. Mahalia Barnes performs Bette Midler’s The Rose. Cabaret icon Libby O’Donovan OAM joins Michaela Burger for SHORT (Space Theatre, 12–13 June), and Adelaide Cabaret Festival Icon Award winner Paul Capsis teams with Adam Noviello for the haunting world premiere HOUSE OF ROT: Grey Gardens.
This year also marks the festival’s return to the newly refurbished Adelaide Festival Centre, with upgraded venues, a new destination restaurant – Angry Penguin – and plenty of free programming to fill the spaces between ticketed shows. Dr Trevor Jones holds court nightly at the Quartet Bar with Piano Man and Show Tunes Trevia, the LGBTIQ+ Elders Dance Club returns to the Space Theatre, and a free foyer exhibition, Rags to Riches, celebrates cabaret’s glamour and grit through iconic costumes from Rhonda Burchmore, Reg Livermore and Kitty Bang Bang.
For those who love live performance – theatre, music, spectacle, wit – June in Adelaide is the best time of year. Clear the diary, book early, and let the city do what it does best.
Adelaide Cabaret Festival runs 4–21 June 2026.
For more information, visit cabaret.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au
