There’s no denying that the “festival state” goes all out for festival season. But something people don’t tell you is that “Mad March” can leave you feeling a little bit crazy. There’s pressure to go out and experience the city at its peak, but with thousands of Fringe events and overlapping festivals, it’s hard to know where to start.

That’s where we come in. Here – in alphabetical order – are our 20 picks of the must-see events of festival season.

Got a specific festival in mind? Jump to:

• Fringe

• Womad

• Adelaide Festival

Adelaide Fringe Festival 2026

Cathedral Chiaroscuro

Adelaide is the City of Churches, so it makes sense that religious buildings are getting on board for Fringe. This CBD landmark’s grand architecture will be spectacularly transformed through sound and illumination.

Where: St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral

When: Until March 22

Duration: Approx 20 minutes

Cost: $10 to $15, tickets available

Chris Parker – Take a Good Hard Look at Me

Kiwi comedian Chris Parker wants your attention. Like, he really, really wants it. The comedian is reflecting on the vanity and motivations behind his decades-long career in comedy.

Where: Drama Llama at Rhino Room

When: March 10 to 14

Duration: One hour

Cost: $25 to $30, tickets available

Jenny Tian – When Life Gives You Oranges

Taskmaster Australia star Jenny Tian dishes all the dirt on one of her most “character-building” romantic relationships. It might not have worked out – but it’s led to some good laughs.

Where: Spiegel Zelt at The Garden of Unearthly Delights

When: March 10 to 22

Duration: One hour

Cost: $32 to $42, tickets available

La Ronde

It’s not a trip to Fringe without a bit of sexy circus. This acrobatic romp from the teams behind Blanc de Blanc and Limbo is one of the Fringe’s best-reviewed shows.

Where: The Spiegeltent, The Garden of Unearthly Delights

When: Until March 22

Duration: 70 minutes

Cost: $59 to $159, tickets available

Merrick Watts – An Idiot’s Guide to Wine: Volume 3

Merrick Watts is back to talking about wine. The comedian has been busy researching new drops, and as part of the show, guests will sip six of Watts’s favourite wines, while he shares food pairing suggestions and a couple of jokes about the French (naturellement).

Where: The Spiegeltent, The Garden of Unearthly Delights

When: Until March 14

Duration: 75 minutes

Cost: $70, tickets available

Stephen K Amos: Now We’re Talking

Fresh from surviving the jungle on I’m A Celebrity Australia, UK comedian Stephen K Amos is on the circuit with a brand new show. He’s talking about getting the ick, and everything that gets on his nerves.

Where: Various locations

When: March 6 to 15

Duration: One hour

Cost: $40 to $58.90, tickets available

Tom Gleeson – Out of Touch

Hard Quiz host Tom Gleeson has lost touch with the common man. He’s inviting you to the Garden to take him down a peg.

Where: The Vagabond at The Garden of Unearthly Delights

When: Until March 22

Duration: One hour

Cost: $39 to $64.90, tickets available

Tonight’s Guest: Rove McManus (Tales From the Talk Show Trenches)

If you ever watched free-to-air TV in the early 2000s, then Rove McManus needs no introduction. The professional chatter is taking to the stage – but this time, the audience gets to ask the questions. Ever wanted to know which celebrity was the hardest to interview? Now is your chance to ask. (Our money is on Elmo.)

Where: Le Cascadeur at The Garden of Unearthly Delights

When:  March 9 to 15

Duration: One hour

Cost: $32 to $48, tickets available

Don’t go hungry at Fringe. Check out our wrap of all the Gluttony food vendors – and take a look inside the Andre’s Cucina revival.

Womadelaide

Saturday

Grace Jones (Jamaica)

Gay icon. Superstar singer. Bond villain. Grace Jones’s CV is impeccable. The generational talent is bringing her disco energy and her attitude to the Womad stage in a performance which will draw from a catalogue that spans five decades.

Where: Foundation Stage

When: March 7, 10pm

Sama’ Abdulhadi (Palestine)

The Palestinian DJ and activist has brought her high-octane techno tunes to festival stages across the world, including Coachella and Glastonbury. Her Ramallah boiler room set went viral – and is a great example of the energy Abdulhadi will bring to Adelaide.

Where: Stage 7

When: March 7, 10.30pm

Sunday

Annahstasia (USA)

Annahstasia’s music sticks with you. It’s slow, deliberate and full of soul. Expect songs from her debut album Tether when she plays at Womad.

Where: Stage 7

When: March 8, 4pm

Baker Boy (Australia)

The prince of Arnhem Land is gilded with Aria Awards, National Indigenous Music Awards, and plenty of other honours. He’ll usher in the long weekend in style, playing songs from his DJANDJAY album. Head here for more.

Where: Foundation Stage

When: March 8, 7.30pm

Oumou Sangaré (Mali)

Grammy Award-winning artist Oumou Sangaré is a Womad favourite. Her signature style combines Malian folk traditions with blues, folk and African rhythms. Womad’s co-founder Ian Scobie describes her as “the kind of performer whose voice will float through the festival and draw people in”. 

Where: Foundation Stage

When: March 8, 9.30pm

Monday

Marlon Williams (New Zealand)

The acclaimed Kiwi singer-songwriter is one of a kind. His latest album, which was sung entirely in te reo Māori, was chronicled in a documentary. Williams’s work sits at the intersection of Americana and indie rock. His set is the perfect way to close out Womad.

Where: Foundation Stage

When: March 9, 7.15pm

Ongoing

Born in a Taxi – Please Wait Here (Australia)

Born in a Taxi has a series of performances running at Womad, but we’re most excited about Please Wait Here. The physical theatre troupe will be dressed as security guards, practising the art of crowd control with the festival audience.

Where: Roving

When: Sat 2.30pm, 5pm & 6.30pm

Cie Hors Surface – Les Poids des Nuages & Home, Damien Droin (France)

Since 2011, the French circus company has been taking acrobatics to new heights. Les Poids des Nuages, which translates to the weight of clouds, puts two men on the top of a very high ladder. Home is a solo piece involving a trampoline and a tightrope.

Where: Near Stage 3

When: Les Poids des Nuages (Fri 6pm, 8pm, 10pm. Sat to Mon 7pm, 10pm) & Home (Fri, 8pm, Sat to Mon 5.30pm, 8pm)

Stan’s Cafe – The Commentators (UK)

Traditionally, radio commentators bring sports and major events into living rooms around the world. Now two specific commentators from independent UK theatre company Stan’s Cafe will roam the festival site commentating on everything they see.

Where: Roving

When: Sat to Mon 4.30pm

Plus, check out co-founder Ian Scobie’s advice for festival goers.

Adelaide Festival

Mary Said What She Said

Isabelle Huppert is essentially France’s answer to Meryl Streep. She’s so lauded that her award nominations have their own Wikipedia page. For Adelaide Festival, she transports us to 1587 in a one-woman production – performed in French, with English surtitles – about the final moments in the life of Mary Queen of Scots. The show, directed and designed by the late American playwright Robert Wilson, who died last year, is an Adelaide Festival exclusive. It garnered rave reviews in London and New York for its fragmented and avant-garde style, and for composer Ludovico Einaudi’s original score. 

Where: Festival Theatre

When: March 6 to 8

Duration: 90 minutes (no interval)

Cost: $40 to $169, tickets available

The Chronicles

Choreographer Stephanie Lake is known for her distinctive and explosive ensemble dances, pulsing with vitality. In The Chronicles, 12 contemporary dancers move through the cycle of life, from an opening sequence representing birth to the closing dance of death. It’s sensual, dynamic and, at times, tender and quiet. Collaborator Robin Fox blends an electro-acoustic score with the songs of the Young Adelaide Voices youth choir and baritone Oliver Mann. 

Where: Dunstan Playhouse

When: March 12 to 15

Duration: 70 minutes (no interval)

Cost: $40 to $79, tickets available

Whitefella Yella Tree

Ty and Neddy – teenage boys from different mobs – meet for the first time under the branches of a lemon tree to talk about the recently arrived whitefellas. The adolescents slowly become friends, then lovers, and over various meetings they respond to the sudden and violent changes brought on by colonisation. This Griffin Theatre Company production features Pertame and Tiwi actor Joseph Althouse as Ty; and Barrd, Yamatji, Noongar, Bunuba and Ngadju actor Danny Howard as Neddy.  

Where: Space Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre

When: March 12 to 15

Duration: 90 minutes (no interval)

Cost: $40 to $69, tickets available

Additional reporting by Emma Joyce