A Big List of Must-See Shows, Festivals and Exhibitions to Add to Your Calendar This Year
Dazzling displays of light, hit Broadway musicals, beloved music fests — they're all popping up throughout the rest of 2021.
In 2020, we all spent too much time in our homes, became far too comfortable on our couches and got way too excited about literally venturing beyond our own backyards. In 2021, a treasure trove of significantly more exciting adventures await, especially if you're a fan of big stage productions, vibrant festivals and blockbuster art exhibitions. Dazzling displays of light, hit Broadway musicals, beloved music fests — they're all popping up throughout the rest of the year, across both new and returning events. Some are happening in your own city. Others will give you the perfect excuse for an interstate trip, or several. Either way, your calendar is about to be mighty full.
Image: Northern Forest Lights, Moment Factory.
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NewsA Huge Exhibition of European Masterpieces from New York's The Met Is Coming to GOMA in 2021
It’ll be a Brisbane exclusive featuring everyone from Monet, van Gogh and Vermeer to Renoir, Rembrandt and Degas.
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NewsVivid Will Bring Its Luminous Installations and Live Performances Back to Sydney in August 2021
After cancelling its 2020 event due to COVID-19, the annual festival will return next year — in a later time slot.
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News'The Wedding Singer' Musical Is Bringing Its Big 80s Hair and Toe-Tapping Tunes to Australia in 2021
A singing, dancing stage adaptation of Adam Sandler’s classic flick is heading Down Under.
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News'Friends! The Musical Parody' Will Now Be There for Australian Theatre Fans in 2021
The comedic stage production turns the beloved 90s sitcom into a song-filled satire — and it’s touring the country.
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NewsHit Tony Award-Winning Musical 'Come From Away' Is Touring Australia in 2021
A smash on Broadway since 2017, it’s based on the true story of 7000 air passengers who became grounded in Canada after September 11.
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NewsA Matisse Exhibition with Over 100 of the Artist's Works Is Coming to the Art Gallery of NSW
As part of the gallery’s 2021 program, the Sydney exclusive will also be accompanied by a lineup of works celebrating Matisse today.
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NewsMelbourne's Multi-Sensory Digital Art Gallery The Lume Is Finally Set to Open in Autumn 2021
The permanent gallery will launch with an immersive Van Gogh exhibition using moving images, music and smells.
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NewsSculpture by the Sea Has Been Pushed Back Again and Will Now Go Ahead in October
‘Sculpture Rocks’, a smaller scale exhibition in The Rocks set to take place this January, has also been postponed till mid-2021.
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NewsA Huge Exhibition of Korean Buddhist Statues Is Coming to Sydney's Powerhouse Museum
They’re part of the site’s hefty 2021 lineup, alongside exhibitions dedicated to tiny automobiles, gum trees, Australian ceramics, and Persian arts and crafts.
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News'Moulin Rouge! The Musical' Will Sing and Dance Its Way Down Under From August
The Broadway hit will take over the stage at Melbourne’s newly renovated Regent Theatre.
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NewsMore Than 100 French Impressionist Masterworks by Monet, Renoir and Degas Are Coming to the NGV
The Victorian gallery has announced a jam-packed lineup of exhibitions and programs for 2021.
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NewsTyler, The Creator, The Strokes and Gorillaz Will Headline Splendour in the Grass This November
After skipping 2020, the Byron Bay festival was due to take place this July, but has postponed again.
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NewsAndrew Lloyd Webber's Tony-Winning Musical 'The Phantom of the Opera' Is Coming to Sydney
The music of the night will croon its way into the Sydney Opera House from September.
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NewsThe 'Magic Mike Live' Stage Show Is Coming to Brisbane This Year So You Can Relive the Movie IRL
Following seasons in Sydney and Melbourne, the stage version of the Channing Tatum-starring movie is bringing its sultry escapades north
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NewsSydney Solstice Is the New Winter Arts and Food Festival Popping Into Vivid's Usual Mid-Year Slot
Set to run across 13 days in June, it’ll focus on dining, drinking, entertainment, arts and culture.
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NewsRodgers and Hammerstein's Tony-Winning 'Cinderella' Musical Is Coming to Sydney
It’s the first time the Broadway production will hit the stage in Australia.
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NewsMelbourne's New Winter Arts and Culture Festival Rising Has Announced Its Huge 2021 Program
Across 12 nights, more than 750 Victorian artists will help reawaken the city in a big way.
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NewsA Huge Exhibition Dedicated to Disney Animation Is Coming to Melbourne's Newly Revamped ACMI
‘Disney: The Magic of Animation’ will feature more than 500 original artworks covering the Mouse House’s animated delights across the past century.
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NewsUK Stage Hit 'Ghost Stories' Is Bringing Its Spooky Chills and Thrills to Melbourne This Year
The popular West End show being brought to Australia for the first time by the team behind unsettling shipping container installations ‘Seance’ and ‘Flight’.
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NewsIlluminate Adelaide Is the Latest Huge New Winter Arts Festival Making Its Debut This Year
The South Australian event will deliver 17 jam-packed days of music, art, light projections and performance, including everything from The Avalanches to Van Gogh.
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NewsHuge Multi-Sensory Exhibition 'Van Gogh Alive' Is Touring Australia This Year
The immersive exhibition allows you to step into artworks such as ‘The Starry Night’ and ‘Sunflowers’ — and it’s now coming to Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, Canberra and Newcastle.
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NewsWhite Rabbit Gallery's 'Lumen' Exhibition Takes a Dazzling Journey Through Light-Based Artworks
The Chippendale gallery is exhibiting more than 30 luminous works until August.
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NewsBroadway's 'Jagged Little Pill' Musical Is Bringing Its Alanis Morissette Soundtrack to Australia
The 15-time Tony Award-nominee will reopen the Theatre Royal Sydney in September.
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NewsWhite Night's New All-Regional Iteration Will Take Over Bendigo and Geelong This Spring
Across two nights, the two cities will come alive with an after-dark program of illuminations, projections, music and more.
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NewsTasmanian Arts Festival Dark Mofo Is Returning This Winter and Has Announced Its 2021 Dates
It’ll be shorter, but “a typically grim and gloomy affair”.
