Pulp Headline Adelaide Festival 2026 With Free Show
This will be Pulp’s first Aussie performance in 15 years.
Image Tom Jackson
First time Adelaide Festival Artistic Director Matthew Lutton OAM has delivered a phenomenal 2026 program, headlined by Brit-pop royalty Pulp.
The ‘Common People’ hitmakers will kick off proceedings with a free show over the opening weekend at Adelaide’s Elder Park on Friday 27 February.
The concert will be Pulp’s first show in Australia since 2011, while fans can expect to hear all their favourite Pulp songs along with cuts from their most recent release, this year’s More.
Adelaide Festival runs from Friday 27 February to Sunday 15 March 15 and features 59 incredible events, including 10 world premieres, 22 Australian premieres and 22 exclusives.
Key events taking place across the festival include Adelaide Writers’ Week, featuring New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern chatting with Sarah Ferguson and Australian author Trent Dalton in conversation with Julia Baird.
Simon Stone is directing an adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard set in South Korea with a cast that includes award-winning actors Doyeon Jeon and Haesoo Park alongside an all-Korean ensemble.
There will be productions of French writer Edouard Louis’ History of Violence and Mary Said What She Said and novelist Darryl Pinckney’s Mary Said What She Said.
The full Adelaide Festival 2026 program can be viewed at adelaidefestival.com.au.
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Adelaide Festival Artistic Director Matthew Lutton OAM says: “The 2026 Festival program invites you to lower your guard and throw yourself into an ecstatic 17 days of exploration. It does not seek to narrow to a specific theme, instead, it elevates Australian and international artists who push boundaries and embody virtuosity.
“Yet, if you ask me about the preoccupations you might witness, you will find narratives focused on the need for love, belonging and a sense of self; the brutal barriers – some strong, some crumbling – the world hurls at us and the determination for hope, eccentricity, humanity and art.”
South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas MP adds: “Since coming to Government, we are proud to have invested an additional $4.3 million in the Adelaide Festival to deliver major international drawcards and events. Adelaide Festival delivers real and lasting benefits to our state. It fuels imagination, creativity, and stimulates critical thinking.
“It drives local employment and visitation to our city and regions, strengthening our economy and reinforcing our proud identity as the Festival State. In a thrilling return to the large-scale concerts that are part of Adelaide Festival’s legacy, global icons Pulp will perform live – and free – at Elder Park on opening night.”
Adelaide Festival runs from Friday 27 February to Sunday 15 March 15 2026. Program and ticketing information available at adelaidefestival.com.au.
