The 42nd Adelaide Festival program has been announced, with 54 events running from 26 February to 14 March 2027. Under the direction of Matthew Lutton OAM, the 17-day program features seven world premieres, 12 Australian premieres and 10 exclusives, bringing visionary theatre-makers from Brazil, France, Greece and Albania to Adelaide.
Three major theatre works anchor the program. Romeo Castellucci’s Bluebeard’s Castle at the Festival Theatre explores hidden secrets and the psyche through Bartók’s opera. Barrie Kosky’s K., based on Kafka’s The Trial, brings Bach, Schumann and Yiddish vaudeville to Her Majesty’s Theatre. And Robert Icke’s contemporary adaptation Oedipus, a Sydney Theatre Company co-production, reimagines Sophocles’ tragedy as an election night drama at the Festival Theatre.
French-Vietnamese director Caroline Guiela Nguyen presents Valentina at the Dunstan Playhouse, a contemporary fairy tale about a young girl translating between her mother and doctors while protecting everyone with lies. Brazilian artist Carolina Bianchi’s The Brotherhood: CADELA FORÇA TRILOGY Chapter II at Her Majesty’s Theatre confronts abuse and power dynamics through monologue, dance and song.
Music and opera highlights
European baroque ensemble il Pomo d’Oro makes its Australian debut with two concerts at Adelaide Town Hall, featuring cellist Giovanni Sollima and Grammy-nominated organist Cameron Carpenter performing Vivaldi and Bach. Latvian Voices brings traditional folk songs and modern acapella arrangements to three venues, with Adelaide Chamber Singers joining the ensemble at St Peter’s Cathedral for a world premiere work.
Celebrating Philip Glass’s 90th birthday, The Complete Philip Glass Piano Etudes brings ten master pianists from around the world to the Festival Theatre. Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds makes his Adelaide Festival debut at Thebarton Theatre with Falling Apart Together, while Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and State Opera South Australia Chorus perform Eucalyptus, based on Murray Bail’s Miles Franklin Award-winning novel.
Dance and visual arts
Belgian company Peeping Tom presents DIPTYCH: The Missing Door and The Lost Room at the Dunstan Playhouse, combining two physical dance-theatre works with thriller and horror elements. China’s TAO Dance Theater showcases works 13 & 14 at Her Majesty’s Theatre, while Adelaide choreographer Larissa McGowan premieres ShadowSide at the Odeon Theatre.
Artists’ Week returns from 26 February to 5 March with exhibitions across the city. Samstag Museum of Art hosts the Australian premiere of Solitude by Khaled Sabsabi, Australia’s representative at the 2026 Venice Biennale. At ILA, Sam Leach’s world premiere Cockaigne: The Land of Plenty explores AI-generated landscapes and invisible systems. ACE Gallery presents the tactile exhibition Tactile World: Dark Forest, created with blind and low vision communities.
Writers’ Week and film
Adelaide Writers’ Week runs from 27 February to 4 March in the Pioneer Women’s Memorial Garden under new Director Rosemarie Milsom. Free sessions feature Li Cunxin, Trent Dalton, Pip Williams and Meg Mason. Ticketed events include evenings with Magda Szubanski, Myf Warhurst and bestselling Korean-American author Min Jin Lee.
The Festival closes with the Australian premiere of Adelaide filmmaker Tilda Cobham-Hervey’s directorial debut It’s All Going Very Well… at the Capri Theatre, starring Cobham-Hervey and Jonathan Pryce.
WOMADelaide returns to Botanic Park from 5 to 8 March for its 35th anniversary.
Tickets and accessibility
Audience members aged under 40 can purchase $40 tickets to most performances. Tix for Next to Nix offers $5 tickets for pension or health care card holders, while Pay What You Can tickets are available one hour before select performances.
The complete program is on sale now at adelaidefestival.com.au or 1300 393 404.
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