Adelaide Festival kicks off with a completely free Pulp concert at Elder Park on Friday, 27 February 2026.
Jarvis Cocker and his longtime bandmates are bringing their full-scale spectacle to the riverbank for Adelaide Festival opening night, blending glam rock, disco, new wave and British indie across a setlist that’ll span longtime favourites like Common People and Disco 2000 alongside new tracks from More, their eighth studio album and first release in over 20 years.
It’s a return to the large-scale free concerts that made Adelaide Festival legendary, and with large crowds anticipated, capacity limits will apply.
Opening night sets the tone for 17 days of programming from new artistic director Matthew Lutton, who’s assembled 59 events including 10 world premieres, 22 Australian premieres and 22 exclusives.
Adelaide Festival 2026
- Friday, 27 February – Elder Park, Adelaide (free entry, rain or shine)
- Friday 27 February – Sunday 15 March
- Adelaide Writers’ Week runs from Saturday 28 February – Thursday 5 March.
- Bookings here
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around Melbourne here.
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Beyond Pulp, Adelaide Festival’s commitment to accessibility continues with $40 tickets available to anyone under 40 for most ticketed performances. It’s part of a broader push to make world-class arts programming financially reachable, alongside established initiatives like Tix for Next to Nix and Pay What You Can schemes.
Programming spans genres and continents with Australian director Simon Stone returning after his unforgettable 2025 production of Innocence, this time transplanting Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard to present-day South Korea with Cannes Best Actress winner Doyeon Jeon and Emmy-nominated Squid Game star Haesoo Park leading an all-Korean ensemble.
French icon Isabelle Huppert takes on Mary Queen of Scots in Mary Said What She Said, while Grammy-winning soprano Julia Bullock pays tribute to 1920s singer and activist Joséphine Baker in Perle Noire: Meditations for Joséphine.
American theatre company Elevator Repair Service brings their acclaimed eight-hour production of The Great Gatsby, reimagined in a modern office where twelve actors gradually transform from work colleagues into Fitzgerald’s iconic characters.
Adelaide’s own Windmill Production Company premieres Mama Does Derby, featuring real-life local roller derby members and a live band for a story about a mother and daughter making their own fun in a new regional town.
New for Adelaide Festival 2026 is Tryp, a three-event celebration of progressive contemporary music on opening weekend featuring daring electronica and sound artists from Japan, the USA, Ireland, Finland and Australia. Between shows, CODA becomes the new festival bar on Festival Plaza, open from 5pm with free entry.
Beloved staples WOMADelaide and Adelaide Writers’ Week return to Botanic Park and Pioneer Women’s Memorial Gardens respectively, with Writers’ Week running Saturday, 28 February through Thursday, 5 March and featuring authors including Percival Everett, Trent Dalton, former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Tina Brown and Christiane Amanpour.
Adelaide Festival runs Friday, 27 February through Sunday, 15 March 2026. Bookings open Monday, 27 October at 10.30am ACST.
For more information, head here.
