Adelaide Festival unveils massive 2027 program with 54 events and seven world premieres

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Photo credit: Holly Ward

Adelaide is preparing for another spectacular celebration of arts and culture, with the 2027 Adelaide Festival officially unveiling a massive program featuring 54 events, seven world premieres, 12 Australian premieres and 10 exclusives.

Running from Friday 26 February to Sunday 14 March, the 17-day festival will bring more than 700 artists together for a huge celebration of theatre, music, dance, film and visual art, with tickets officially on sale today.

Now in its 42nd year, Adelaide Festival is returning under Artistic Director Matthew Lutton OAM for his second program, promising everything from boundary-pushing international theatre and breathtaking dance performances to free literary events and world-class classical music.

And there’s plenty for Adelaide audiences to get excited about!

Among the major international productions making their Australian debuts is The Brotherhood: CADELA FORÇA TRILOGY Chapter II, from Brazilian artist Carolina Bianchi. The provocative theatre production combines monologue, dance and song to explore power, abuse and the complicated dynamics of the creative world.

French-Vietnamese writer and director Caroline Guiela Nguyen will also bring Valentina to Australian audiences for the first time. The moving production follows a young girl who finds herself translating between her mother and her mother’s doctor as they await a heart transplant, exploring the lengths we go to protect the people we love.

The program also includes three previously announced major productions, Romeo Castellucci’s Bluebeard’s Castle, Barrie Kosky’s K. and Robert Icke’s Oedipus, starring Richard Roxburgh and Heather Mitchell.

Music lovers are in for a treat, with acclaimed Icelandic composer and musician Ólafur Arnalds making his Adelaide Festival debut with Falling Apart Together at Thebarton Theatre.

The performance will combine a string quartet, percussion and Arnalds’ distinctive fusion of classical music, ambient sounds and contemporary electronics.

European baroque ensemble il Pomo d’Oro will make its Australian debut with concerts at Adelaide Town Hall, while internationally acclaimed vocal ensemble Latvian Voices will deliver three performances, including a special collaboration with Adelaide Chamber Singers at St Peter’s Cathedral.

There’s also a strong local flavour to the program, with Adelaide dancer and choreographer Larissa McGowan presenting the world premiere of ShadowSide.

Featuring Australian dancers Ben Hancock and Connor MacDonald, the production explores the different versions of ourselves we create to navigate everyday life.

For those who love something a little darker, Belgian dance company Peeping Tom will bring DIPTYCH: The Missing Door and The Lost Room to Adelaide, combining two highly physical dance-theatre works filled with suspense and horror-inspired imagery.

One of the most exciting returns for 2027 is Artists’ Week, which will take place for the first time since 2014.

Running from 26 February to 5 March, the program will bring artists, writers, curators and creative thinkers together for a series of free talks, exhibitions, openings and conversations across the city.

Of course, no Adelaide Festival would be complete without the much-loved Adelaide Writers’ Week.

Returning to the Pioneer Women’s Memorial Garden, the free literary event will feature sessions with some of Australia’s biggest literary names, including Trent Dalton, Pip Williams, Li Cunxin, Behrouz Boochani, Meg Mason, Kate Holden and David Leser.

The full Writers’ Week program of free and ticketed events will be released in early 2027.

WOMADelaide will also return to Botanic Park from 5 to 8 March, celebrating its 35th anniversary with four days of music, dance, workshops, talks and more.

And to close out the festivities, Adelaide-born actress Tilda Cobham-Hervey will premiere her directorial debut It’s All Going Very Well… at the Capri Theatre.

The film stars Cobham-Hervey as Audrey, an art teacher working in an aged care home who develops an unlikely friendship with resident Harold, played by The Crown actor Jonathon Pryce.

Adelaide Festival Artistic Director Matthew Lutton OAM said the 2027 program would take audiences on an extraordinary journey.

“The 2027 Adelaide Festival promises an adrenaline-fuelled 17 days, bringing exclusively to Adelaide visionary theatre-makers from Brazil, France, Greece, and Albania who are defining the new wave of theatre.”

Beyond the ticketed performances, audiences can also enjoy the free-entry CODA bar at Festival Plaza, complete with DJs, food and drinks.

Making the Festival more accessible, audiences under 40 can purchase $40 tickets to the majority of ticketed performances, while initiatives including Pay What You Can and Tix for Next to Nix will also return.

With an enormous lineup of international talent, homegrown creatives, world premieres and free experiences, Adelaide Festival 2027 is shaping up to be another unforgettable chapter in the city’s cultural calendar.