A Guide to Australia’s Annual Theatre Festivals

Australia is an extremely rich country in terms of festivals. According to official Creative Australia data, more than 500 events are held each year in the music festival category alone, with theatre festivals coming in second. You can find a theatre festival to attend in almost any month of the year, and some are world-renowned.

To make things easier for you, we have compiled a list of the most well-known festivals. This way, you can see the dates and locations of the events at a glance.

Adelaide Fringe Festival

Date	February 28, 2025 – March 16, 2025
Location	Adelaide Festival Centre, Kaurna Yarta

This event, which started in 1960, is considered the largest arts festival in the Southern Hemisphere and, in addition to theatre, also features opera, dance, cabaret and visual art.

While it is based at the Adelaide Festival Centre in Kaurna Yarta, each event can be held at a different location: we recommend checking the official website for the most up-to-date addresses before attending.

You can watch over 1,300 shows from 7,000 independent artists during the festival. Up-and-coming artists are often discovered at this event, so it’s likely that this is where you’ll see the theatre people you’ll be hearing more about in 2025.

Sydney Festival

Date	January 4 – January 26 every year
Location	Level 5, 10 Hickson Road, The Rocks, Sydney

The Sydney festival, which began in 1977, continues for three weeks every January. It is a major cultural event and brings together artists from different disciplines. So, like Adelaide, it does not focus solely on theatre: it also features classical music, dance, drama and artist talks. For the same reason, not all events are held in one location. Once again, it would be best to check the current address of the event you want to attend on the official website.

The Sydney festival attracts around 500,000 people each year. Most of the events are held outdoors, and some are completely free to attend. The festival’s director since 2021 is Olivia Ansell: she previously held the role of “Head of Contemporary Performance” at the Sydney Opera House.

Perth Festival

Date	February 7 – March 2 every year
Location	All over Perth

The reason we can’t give a definitive location for this festival is because it’s really held in different places each year. It’s best to check the official website for up-to-date location information. Perth is Australia’s longest-running cultural festival. While theatre is the most important of its events, it also offers a film program. Created by the University of Western Australia, the event has been around since the 1950s.

The festival’s current artistic director is Anna Reece: she previously served as director of the Fremantle Arts Centre but has been taking on different roles at the event since 2014 and was appointed to her current role in 2024.

Brisbane Festival

Date	September 5 – September 27 every year
Location	Level 2, 381 Brunswick Street, Fortitude Valley

The Brisbane Festival is held every September, and since 2019, it has been the largest international arts festival in Australia. This is because it offers the most work. As you can imagine from this description, theatre is just one of the events you can attend.

The festival has a different theme each year, and you can see shows that fit this theme almost everywhere in Brisbane. For example, in 2021, the theme was light, and several visual shows were organised with LED lights placed all over the city.

Midsumma Festival

Date	January 19 – February 9 every year
Location	Theatre Works, 14 Acland St. St Kilda

The address we shared above is for the theatre events of this festival. Midsumma includes more than theatre and is considered one of the largest queer arts and cultural organisations in Australia. We can say that it brings together all LGBTQIA+ artists in the country, and there are theatre people among them.

Approximately 200 events are organised during the festival, and these mainly consist of cabaret, live music, visual arts, public forums and parties. The festival, which has been organised since 1988, lasts for 20-25 days every year.

Australian Theatre Festival NYC

Date	November 15 – November 19 every year
Location	570 10th Ave, New York (The Green Room)

Did you know that one of the most important theatre festivals in Australia is held in New York? It’s a pretty big event and you have to wear cocktail attire to attend. Organised by the Australian Consulate NYC, the festival has featured names like Josh Pugh, Eddie Perfect, Zjantelle Cammisa Markel and Brenton Cosier. The event also gives out “New Play” awards.

There are many more theatre festivals that we can’t list here: some are held locally and don’t get much attention. For more options, visit the official Creative Australia website: here, you’ll find detailed information on all the arts & cultural events in the country, including theatre.

For those interested in games between events, platforms like Roulettedoc for Australians offer useful resources, for gaming.