2025
The 40th edition of Adelaide Festival showcased an extraordinary program under Artistic Director Brett Sheehy AO. The 2025 Festival featured breathtaking performances across all genres and a global lineup of world-class artists and creators.
In addition to its artistic triumphs, AF25 achieved a remarkable financial turnaround, combining artistic excellence with a strong fiscal performance. This success is the result of the vision, dedication and hard work of a talented and dynamic team, with meticulous financial planning, innovative partnerships, strategic marketing and an unwavering commitment to excellence. The team delivered an ambitious program that resonated with audiences both locally and internationally, ensuring Adelaide Festival’s future as a cultural cornerstone while offering an unforgettable experience for all involved.
The opening weekend was headlined by the contemporary opera Innocence, written by Kaija Saariaho and directed by Simon Stone. It was staged in the Festival Theatre and performed on a two-story rotating set by an international cast with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Adelaide Chamber Singers and State Opera Chorus. MASS MOVEMENT, a 1,000 dancer strong ‘happening’ created by Stephanie Lake Company took place in Elder Park on opening weekend for an audience of 6,000.
Theatre highlights throughout the Festival included, rock ‘n roll theatre Big Name, No Blankets celebrating the iconic Warumpi Band, Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape starring Stephen Rea and Trent Dalton’s Love Stories, adapted for the stage by Tim McGarry.
Dance favourites included, Club Amour brought to Adelaide audiences by Pina Bausch’s legendary Tanztheater Wuppertal + Terrain Boris Charmatz and Rocío Molina’s Caída del Cielo (Fallen from Heaven).
The music program featured, Goran Bregovic and His Wedding & Funeral Band, Cat Power, Camille O’Sullivan, Dr Lou Bennett AM, Hania Rani, Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov and German baritone Matthias Goerne.
Visual Arts exhibitions included Radical Textiles at the Art Gallery of South Australia, After Images celebrating 60 Years of Australian Dance Theatre, Shared Skin at Adelaide Contemporary Experimental, Direct, Directed, Directly at Samstag Museum of Art and The Taken Path at Carrick Hill.
Adelaide Writers’ Week programmed by Louise Adler AM welcomed 220 Australian and international authors to The Pioneer Women’s Memorial Garden to discuss their latest books around the theme ‘Words Matter’. Favourites in the garden were Helen Garner, Sir Simon Schama, Shaun Micallef, Kara Swisher, Geraldine Brooks and Marcus Zusak. Ticketed Writers’ Week events included the Book Nerds Quiz of Quizzes hosted by Julia Zemiro and podfest, a new series of events featuring live podcasting featuring shows from Yumi Stynes, Matt Bevan and Amanda Keller.
The 2025 Adelaide Festival had a total audience of 353,556 attending all Adelaide Festival and Writers’ Week events, both ticketed and free (including WOMADelaide). The total number of tickets sold to Adelaide Festival performances and Writer’s Week sessions was 93,738. Interstate audiences continued their tradition of making Adelaide their annual festival destination with 29% of tickets sold, with some events attracting more than 50% of their audience outside of the state.
