A free outdoor Sydney Symphony concert, one of the main attractions of the Sydney Festival for the city's west, has been moved after a local council stopped its funding.
Symphony under the Stars has been held in Parramatta Park for years but has been moved for 2026 to Tumbalong Park in Darling Harbour.
The decision to relocate Sydney Symphony Orchestra's concert follows the end of a longstanding agreement between the NSW government and Parramatta City Council for the latter contribute $400,000 annually to the Sydney Festival.
The council has copped blame for the move, according to Parramatta Lord Mayor Martin Zaiter.
"I'd like to tell the state government to put their money where their mouth is, and not blame council for a decision they've made," he said.
At the launch of the festival's 2026 program on Thursday, NSW Arts Minister John Graham said the government had to step in to ensure the concert went ahead, after the council withdrew its support.
"I think that's a pity, and I call on that council to reconsider," Mr Graham told reporters.
The $400,000 in ratepayer funding had also supported a wider program of Sydney Festival events in western Sydney.
The concert could still have been held in Parramatta despite the council reallocating its funding, insisted Mr Zaiter.
"I really don't want to be sitting here and smashing the government, but I don't think it's fair that we cop all the blame," he said.
That money will now be spent on local events including the return of Christmas carols after six years, Lunar New Year festivities in Epping, expanded New Year's Eve celebrations and a new winter event, said Zaiter.
The council decided to reallocate the Sydney Festival funds based on community feedback, Zaiter said.
"The feedback we received from our local community members is that they want to have more accessible events that provide value for money, run by their own community," he said.
The council also runs other popular events including the free street festival Parramatta Lanes, the audience for which increased by 65 per cent in 2025 to more than 330,000 people.
Parramatta Lanes is partly funded by Create NSW with multi-year funding of $537,000, and the council has also received at least two more significant four-year arts grants from Create NSW to support theatre and visual arts.
The state government in July released a three-year plan for the arts, culture and creative industries to redress what it called the "inequity that has plagued Western Sydney for years" while prioritising First Nations creativity and leveraging the "extraordinary vitality" of its local festival sector.
Long famed for Australia's best-known arts attraction, the Sydney Opera House, NSW has a growing list of arts organisations struggling with both funding and rising costs.
Its state government arts agency and institutional art gallery have both announced significant staff cuts in 2025.
The Sydney Festival's 50th anniversary program to run in 2026 will be roughly half the size of its 2025 slate.
To mark the Sydney Festival's 50th anniversary, the 2026 Symphony under the Stars concert has been programmed as a look back through the festival's history with live music matched to a show of archival footage.
The Sydney Symphony Orchestra has been contacted for comment.
Sydney Festival runs January 8-25.
