Adelaide Cabaret Festival ready to sparkle in its 25th year

Pop the champagne and confetti, as Adelaide Cabaret Festival gets ready to celebrate its 25th Birthday this June. 

The 25th Anniversary programme will begin with the 2025 Variety Gala at the stunning Her Majesty’s Theatre on 5 Jun. Returning as host extraordinaire, Adelaide Cabaret Festival Artistic Director Virginia Gay will present the gift that keeps on giving: world class performers and magical musical moments, all wrapped up in her trademark wit and charm.  

Virginia Gay, Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2025 Artistic Director (Photo credit: Claudio Raschella)

The ever popular and glittering red-carpet affair will be a birthday celebration like no other, with standout performances by a brilliant lineup of local and international stars. The one night only show will officially kick off Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2025 and will also feature the exciting announcement of this year’s Adelaide Cabaret Festival Icon Award Winner. Last year the award was presented to multi-award-winning Australian cabaret star Reuben Kaye. 

In an Australian exclusive, multi-Grammy Award winning singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jacob Collier will perform his solo show at Adelaide Cabaret Festival for two nights only. Kicking off the opening weekend of the festival in spectacular style, Jacob Collier is sure to bring the house down with his extravaganza of musical brilliance on 7 – 8 Jun at Her Majesty’s Theatre. 

Jacob Collier (Photo credit: Nicole Nodland)

A six-time GRAMMY Award-winning musician, composer and producer, Jacob Collier is renowned for his energetic live performances of his genre-defying music, blending jazz, pop, R&B and classical music to create a unique and captivating sound. The English performer has sung with some of the biggest acts in music including Joni Mitchell, John Legend, John Mayer and Lucius to name a few and has written songs for artists including Chris Martin and Coldplay, Lianne La Havas, Shawn Mendes and Tori Kelly. 

Jacob Collier direct from the UK said: “I cannot wait to set foot in Australia once again this year, for this special one-of-a-kind solo show in Adelaide. To improvise a show alongside the audience is one of my most favourite things to experience in the world, and to get to do so in Adelaide, one of Earth’s finest cohorts, is a joy. Australian audiences hold a mighty special place in my heart, having experienced some of the most electrifying shows of my life there over the years. My latest album Djesse Vol. 4 heavily features the audience choirs from the 2022 tour in Australia, simply because you all sound so damn glorious!!” 

Jacob Collier’s latest album, Djesse Vol. 4 (Hajanga/Interscope/Decca) was nominated for Album of the Year and Best Global Music Performance at this year’s GRAMMY Awards, and won Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella. 

In 2024, Collier completed his biggest North American tour ever, selling out Radio City Music Hall amongst other top venues. He recently performed at the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and at the Kennedy Centre with the National Symphony Orchestra. Collier has recorded two NPR Tiny Desks, has spoken at the TED conference, and has performed on TV shows including The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and more.  

Adelaide Cabaret Festival Artistic Director Virginia Gay: “When we talk about cabaret, about the way it dissolves boundaries between performer and audience, about the way it showcases a very particular kind of personal, magnetic, incandescent central performance, there’s really nobody doing this with the joy, the ease and the scale of Jacob Collier. We are SO thrilled to have this multi-award-winner, multi-instrumentalist, this big-beautiful-brain-and-heart electrifying the Her Majesty’s Theatre stage for our opening weekend. What a way to crack open the festival’s 25th birthday celebrations with style!” 

Produced and presented by Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide Cabaret Festival has grown from modest beginnings to become one of Australia’s major winter festivals and the largest cabaret festival in the world. The festival has been a platform for shows and performers who have achieved critical acclaim and featured world-renowned artists including Ms Lisa Fischer, Kristin Chenoweth, Idina Menzel, and Tim Minchin, to name a few.