Capturing the vibrance of Sydney’s summers since 1977, the Sydney Festival is Australia’s premier arts and cultural festival and a highlight of the city’s annual events calendar.

Each January, the city begins the new year with an exciting line-up of exceptional arts and culture experiences. The Festival presents a diverse program of music, theatre, dance and visual arts, introducing incredible homegrown and international talent to the world.

The Sydney Festival has built a legacy of hosting unique and accessible experiences, regularly attracting over 560,000 people from Sydney, NSW and further afield to enjoy arts and culture experiences across the city, including many free events in the program.

Create NSW is a proud supporter of the Festival and, in 2024, is supporting a number of arts and cultural organisations in the program including Australian Theatre for Young People, Bangarra, Urban Theatre Projects, Dance Makers Collective, Branch Nebula, FORM Dance, PYT Fairfield, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Bankstown Biennale, Artspace and MCA.

Create NSW is committed to growing and strengthening the arts, screen and cultural sector in NSW, to embed arts in the everyday and deliver new, innovative and exciting arts and cultural events and experiences for the people of NSW.

Create NSW provides support through a range of funding opportunities aimed at empowering artists to take the next step in developing and expanding their practice. Through major festivals, homegrown musicians, artists, and performers from NSW take centre stage, connecting with audiences in some of Sydney’s favourite spaces.

We are proud to continue to support this major NSW cultural event as Festival Partner and celebrate bold, powerful, playful stories throughout Sydney Festival 2025.