There's a long, hot summer on our doorstep, and it's time to start planning how you'll spend it. Get yourself to some live music, Sydney – becomes there's more than one way to stay cool.
We've rolled out the summerfeast for for the ears and dancing feet. Soul-stirring musical storytelling in close quarters? Check. Body-moving dance music from across the global diaspora? You bet. An unexpectedly beautiful new discovery? Absolutely – plenty of those too.
To help you navigate a stacked January on the town, we’ve compiled a whistle-stop tour of the many musical highlights coming to the Festival. Start rallying the group – there be gigs afoot.
Get your dance on
Hot Chip is a name synonymous with summer release, and we're stoked to have the up the top of the music bill. Across more than two decades and a deep discography, the London quintet has perfected a dancefloor-ready sound that is by turns melancholy and all-out euphoric. Their celebrated live show is going to sound oh-so-sweet in the iconic Concert Hall – you can expect to be on your feet and fist-pumping for this one.
After Hot Chip, you’ll want to keep the high going with Disco Never Dies, a world-premiere event that gives the biggest hits of the disco era the full orchestral treatment by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and a line-up of Australia’s favourite divas.
This January, ACO On The Pier is the place for genre-blurring sounds from some of the world’s foremost artists. Highlights include globe-trotting Persian-Kiwi artist CHAII and a special double-bill of Oaxacan rapper Mare Advertencia and Noongar rap and R&B sensation Inkabee.
Over in the elevated surrounds of City Recital Hall, polite applause is out and dancefloor sweat is in. UK rap chameleon Raf-Saperra (he of the legendary Boiler Room: Southall showcase celebrating Punjabi culture) commands his own night, while two bright lights of contemporary club music, Nooriyah and DJ Habibeats, share a perfectly aligned two-hander.
For a free dance, pencil in Live On Hickson Road: The Kick On, as we take over the street to party on, after the live street performance of Efectos Especiales. Meanwhile, Undercurrent presents three rowdy nights of Western Sydney sounds in Parramatta – from Pasifika soul to underground electronica and queer anthems.
Be moved
One of the most vital new feminist voices in music, Paris Paloma, brings her bold and tender songs to City Recital Hall for two enveloping nights. The acoustically unimpeachable venue also hosts one of Australia’s finest voices, proud Gumbaynggirr and Noongar woman Emma Donovan, performing Take Me to the River – a tribute to the soul classics that shaped her music and scored the memories of a generation.
ACO On The Pier is the place to be for had-to-be-there musical majesty, including shows from Mongolian jazz singer-songwriter Enji and the ‘Queen of the Bandaral Ngadu Delta’, Kankawa Nagarra. The venue also hosts three performances from creative force and master improviser Lonnie Holley, including in-the-moment collaborations with Nagarra and Yasmina Sadiki.
Over at Bankstown Arts Centre, Between Two Realms is a stunning new co-creation by acclaimed Tibetan musician Tenzin Choegyal and Western Sydney creative Jenny Trinh (Wytchings).
For the cabaret darlings
For those who love their music served with a tiny table lamp and a cocktail, our cabaret series down at the Walsh Bay wharves has some gems. Ursula Yovich delivers the best of Nina Simone, whilst Ben Graetz unleashes the bogan and rock'n'roll belters during A Night of Rock'n'Roll with Bogan Villea. Immerse yourself in a bewitching and banter-ful mixtape from the mad genius Salty Brine in BigMouth Strikes Again (The Smiths Show), or catch Australian musical favourite Natalie Abbot's Bad Hand, a glorious mix of confession, cabaret and cards.
If you're after cabaret on a grand scale, don't go post the biting and brilliant Reuben Kaye with a live orchestra in Sydney Opera House Concert Hall for enGORGEd, or the Irish music-led variety bonanza that is WAKE.
Not your average gig experience
For a deeply immersive alternative, Mindy Meng Wang and Monica Lim’s multi-sensory Opera for the Dead 祭歌 returns for four nights, following rave reviews at other festivals. For more spine-tingling artistry, don’t miss Puccini's grand opera Turandot, reimagined by international director and choreographer Ann Yee in collaboration with Opera Australia.
Composer Jack Prest and dancer Azzam Mohamed return with Echo Mapping, a new sound-movement duet exploring the cathartic power of music embodied. For a different kind of body-and-mind experience, composer Milan Ring presents the sound of rain and dust, a sonic journey designed to be enjoyed lying down (and followed by tea to decompress).
Last but not least, for free fun that gets the whole family out of the house, head to Tumbalong Park for Sydney Symphony Under the Stars, a special anniversary edition celebrating 50 years of Festival moments.
That's a whole lot of options to get 2026 started right. We'll see you front-left.
