Flash forward: Summer, 2027. There are a million things on, Sydney Festival is kicking off, all the $49 tickets are gone, and you don’t know what to do – even the group chat is silent. You, my friend, are in serious danger of Missing Out.

The good news is, it’s not too late to alter your future. If you’ve ever been hit by a case of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out, for the acronym un-savvy), we can help. We’ve taken our plentiful program down into a secret basement and distilled it (using frankly questionable methods) into a top-ten list of shows that you need on your radar to avoid the plaguesome Fear. 

Waynapuni Pools

You’ll be hard pressed to find a more unique experience anywhere. Part art park, part immersive experience, this is an extraordinary installation and communal ritual. Palawa youth along with participatory artist Benjamin Paul and local First Nations teenagers have taken up welding tools and turned old cars into relaxing hot baths, cold plunges and saunas. Enjoy it as a visual exhibition or as a ceremonial healing ritual led by young mob.

More info

Deaf Republic

The theatrical event of the year: this acclaimed production from Dead Centre and Zoe McWhinney turn Ilya Kaminsky’s astonishing poetry into an innovative lyric fable and intense drama. This is the story of a town under military occupation and how they choose to resist. Or, no: this is the story of a Deaf boy enraptured by a puppet show, a small window of joy in a landscape of war. Or, no: this is the soldiers who give incomprehensible orders, and the boy who is killed because of them. Or, no: this is the love story of two puppeteers who witness the spectacle of their art become the staging ground for horror. It is all of these things and more.

More info

THE LINE

The theatrical event of the year – yes, that's right, there are two of them. This is a major new work by Palawa playwright Nathan Maynard set in the 1830s at the onset of the largest domestic military operation in Australian history. ‘The Black Line’, as it became known, involved over 2000 settlers forming a human chain across Tasmania to rake across the island and forcefully displace Palawa people. This devastating story leaps across time and genre to showcase the impact of genocide and skewer the colonial horrors that are still playing out today.

More info

Outsider

The Cutaway transforms for Rachid Ouramdane’s stunner, Outsider, in a spectacle as gorgeous as it is audacious. On a cat’s cradle of tightropes, twenty dancers and four extreme sports athletes push at the boundaries of dance and acrobatics. Driven by the propulsive music of the late great Julius Eastman, this is contemporary choreography that rises to the moment, exploring alienation and the dynamics of crowds where risk and trust are in constant flux.

More info

He's So Unusual

Two gay ghosts—stop, we’re sold—in 1920s New York City—period realness, glamour and fashion to boot—trying to solve a murder case—she’s dark and twisted, too—all while set to the music of Cindy Lauper. Do we really need to say more? Alright we will. Salty Brine is a cabaret phenomenon and his latest fusion of music, comedy and theatre is peak entertainment.

More info

Hannah Gadsby

The icon who rewrote the rules of comedy is back and this time their sight is set on, well, looking back. Because you don’t know your foundation myth is happening when it’s happening. When it’s happening, it’s just happening. It takes a great deal of hindsight to look back on it and go: what happened?! That’s what’s happening here.

More info

Ali Sethi

Ali Sethi is far from your usual pop star. The queer Pakistani singer-songwriter started out as a novelist with his debut, The Wish Maker (2009), and has since become ‘a global sensation’ (TIME) blending Western pop with ghazals, Sufi poetry and silky smooth melodies. His live shows are an immersive blend of musical performance and cultural storytelling – what he calls a “variety show for the end times”. Tender, fierce and ahead of the curve, Sethi moves to his own beat and he’ll have you moving, too.

More info

Haribo Kimchi

Korean theatremaker Jaha Koo just won the 2026 International Ibsen Award, widely regarded as theatre’s equivalent to the Nobel Prize – he’s the first Asian artist as well as the youngest to ever win. This is your chance to see him up close and personal at Powerhouse Parramatta cooking up classic Korean dishes while telling unforgettable stories. Memoir and history meld in this multimedia, multi-sensory experience that serves up tasty snacks and poignant reflections on migration, identity, racism and the meaning of home.

More info

CROSSOVER

Global phenomenon (LA)HORDE is one of the most buzzed about art collectives in the world. Fresh from collaborations with Rosalía, Madonna and Spike Jonze, the French trio arrives in Sydney for the first time with a brand-new show. In CROSSOVER, they challenge themselves and five leading choreographers to each braid elements of existing work into one stunning whole. Ambitious, playful and full of surprise, expect a showcase of contemporary dance at its best.

More info

Blak & Blues

Sydney’s hottest new blues club is where you’ll want to be come January. Your favourite and soon-to-be-favourite First Nations artists are taking over the Metro in a series of Blak on Black sessions, melding musical legacies with fire and tenderness. Think loss, yes, but think love first. The incomparable MO’JU sings Bill Withers, the gentlemen Budjerah takes on Donny Hathaway, and SOLCHLD honours the great Etta James in a series of nights set to become the soundtrack to some of your favourite memories.

Flash forward: Summer, 2027. You’ve picked great shows to see, you’ve got tickets along with your mates, the group chat is buzzing and you’re all set to enjoy a brilliant start to the year.