Britpop legends Pulp will kick off the 2026 Adelaide Festival with a free outdoor concert.
Jarvis Cocker and his band released their first album in 24 years in June and played to 100,000 fans at Glastonbury, marking 30 years since their first set at the UK festival.
The opening night concert at Elder Park promises tracks from the new album More, plus crowd-pleasers such as Common People and Disco 2000.
The return of a large-scale free event to start the festival was a major priority, says new artistic director Matthew Lutton.
"For me, it's got to be an event that is full of energy, gets everyone jumping up and down, and really announces that the festival is here," said the former director of Melbourne's Malthouse Theatre.
As well as free events, the festival is offering $40 tickets to students and people under 40.
"I really want to make sure we're opening the doors to a younger audience, and you do that in lots of ways, part of that is ticket price, and part of it is what you're programming," Lutton said.
While planning fully staged centrepiece operas for 2027 and 2028 has been one of the first priorities on taking the job, said Lutton, the 2026 program introduces an electronic music slate titled Tryp.
It features three separate events with electronic music artists from Japan, the US, Ireland, Finland and Australia.
In 2026 there's Perle Noire, a tribute to jazz singer Josephine Baker sung by American soprano Julia Bullock.
It's directed by Peter Sellars, a former Adelaide Festival artistic director who controversially quit weeks out from the 2002 event.
At the time, the US director said Adelaide was in danger of becoming a retirement village.
That year's festival saw a $2 million budget shortfall and the withdrawal of major sponsor Telstra over plans to use an image of Adolf Hitler.
The 2026 theatre program features Australian director Simon Stone's new take on Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, set in present-day South Korea.
"This is some of the best contemporary theatre in the world at the moment, fast paced and emotional and topical, and it taps into this amazing energy that's coming out of South Korea at the moment," Lutton said.
French actor Isabelle Huppert also stars as Mary Queen of Scots in the acclaimed production Mary Said What She Said.
From American theatre company Elevator Repair Service there's an epic production of The Great Gatsby, set in an office - in a show that runs for eight hours.
Local theatre company Slingsby also complete their trilogy of fairytale-inspired pieces, set in a purpose-built space in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens.
The 41st Adelaide Festival features 59 events and 10 world premieres across its 17-day program.
It runs from February 27 until March 15, 2026 with tickets going on sale on Monday.
