Sydney’s Carriageworks has revealed its summer program, running from November 2026 through to January 2027. The season spans art, live music, theatre, dance, design and markets, combining Australian premieres and international artists with a number of the venue’s regular annual events.
The first major event arrives a little ahead of the season proper. From 22 October, Carriageworks will host the Australian premiere of David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away), an immersive 360-degree experience created by Hockney with Lightroom London. The production covers six decades of the artist’s work through visuals, sound and storytelling, with narration from Hockney himself and an original score by Nico Muhly. It is presented by Carriageworks and Andrew Kay & Associates, with Lexus as Presenting Partner.
For collectors, the season opens on 1 November with The Hobby Hangout XL Sydney. The one-day event is aimed at trading card collectors and players, with more than 500 vendors selling trading cards and entertainment collectibles. Live card breaks, dedicated trading zones, expert talks and international guests are also part of the day.
Two returning art events follow later in November. Affordable Art Fair runs from 5 to 8 November, with thousands of original works from emerging and established artists at a range of price points. The SOUTHEAST Aboriginal Arts Market, curated by Wiradyuri and Kamilaroi artist Jonathan Jones, takes place from 28 to 29 November and focuses on Aboriginal art from south-east Australia.
Design also features across the season. The Finders Keepers Sydney Design Market brings independent Australian designers and makers to the precinct from 13 to 15 November, while The University of Sydney School of Architecture, Design and Planning returns with its Graduate Show from 3 to 5 December.
The live music program leans towards rock and club culture. American rock supergroup A Perfect Circle will perform on 10 December, marking the band’s first Australian visit since 2013. Electronic music makes up much of the remaining line-up. THE WORKS, presented by Finely Tuned, returns across December and January with six warehouse events. For the first time at Carriageworks, the series includes a late-night New Year’s Eve edition, led by house music act Armand Van Helden on 31 December. The other dates feature Pegassi (5 December), Rossi., Dean Turnley & Jamback (6 January), Sam Alfred b2b Job Jobse (7 January), Overmono (8 January) and KI/KI (9 January).
UK electronic music brand Teletech also returns on 19 December, joined by Australian artist blk. and a line-up of local acts. On 23 January, The Presets curate Foreverafter, a celebration of Australian club culture featuring Cut Copy, Ladyhawke, Bag Raiders, Bang Gang DJs and FUKHED, among others. Melbourne-based electronic producer SWIM then closes out the music program on 30 January with an immersive concert performed alongside a full orchestra.
On stage, Bay 20 hosts the season’s theatre and cabaret. Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett, a mix of circus, cabaret and live music, continues its limited run until 8 November. From 2 to 19 December, Griffin Theatre Company presents Wake in Fright, its adaptation of Kenneth Cook’s Australian novel, featuring Zahra Newman in a solo performance directed by Declan Greene.
Dance takes on a significant role across November and January, beginning with NAISDA’s 50th anniversary as a First Nations performing arts training organisation. To mark the occasion, the organisation will present Goeyga Buya. Banal. Djarrawawuy: Sun Cycle from 26 to 28 November. The new work is directed by NAISDA alumni Thomas E.S. Kelly and Taree Sansbury of Karul Projects, and combines contemporary Indigenous dance by NAISDA’s Developing and Practising artists with cultural song and dance from Moa Island in the Torres Strait and the Dätiwuy Clan of North East Arnhem Land. Ahead of the performances, NAISDA and BlakDance present Practice. Process. Protocol. on 21 November, a Symposium-in-Action looking at the future of First Nations contemporary dance.
In January, Sydney Festival brings three contemporary dance works to Carriageworks as part of Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels. Two are Australian exclusives. Cassiel Gaube’s Soirée D’études (9 to 10 January) takes apart and reworks house dance, while Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker and Radouan Mriziga’s Il Cimento dell’Armonia e dell’Inventione (9 to 11 January) reinterprets Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons through the lens of climate change and humanity’s relationship with nature. Marrugeku follows with the world premiere of Ngurragabu from 21 to 23 January. Choreographed by Dalisa Pigram and directed by Rachael Swain, the work brings together Indigenous and settler-diasporic performers from Australia, South-East Asia and Melanesia to explore survival, climate and the future.
The precinct’s weekly Carriageworks Farmers Market continues every Saturday until 19 December, with Dural Christmas Trees available across three consecutive weekends from 28 November. It then becomes the Carriageworks Twilight Christmas Market on 22 December, an evening market focused on seasonal produce and food gifts in the days before Christmas. After a break over summer, the regular market returns on 16 January 2027.
Program and ticket information for Carriageworks Summer is available via the official Carriageworks website.
