OzAsia Festival returns with extended programme across Adelaide

Hong Kong Dragon Lantern (Photo credit: Xplorer Media)

OzAsia Festival, Australia’s leading contemporary arts festival engaging with Asia, returns with its longest programme yet – spanning four weekends this Spring. From 17 Oct – 9 Nov, OzAsia Festival will expand across the city, with events at Adelaide Town Hall, Her Majesty’s Theatre, Odeon Theatre, Adelaide Botanic Gardens, and more.  

Showcasing the best of Asian and Asian Australian art and culture and featuring more than 200 local, national and international artists from 14 countries, OzAsia Festival is curated by Festival Director Joon-Yee Kwok. 

At Adelaide Town Hall, GRAMMY award-winning pianist Hiromi will join forces with multi-GRAMMY-nominated string quartet PUBLIQuartet to present a breathtaking blend of jazz and classical composition in The Piano Quintet for one night only on 28 Oct. 

Celebrating his 80th birthday, pioneering artist William Yang will reflect on his extraordinary life in Milestone at Adelaide Town Hall on 31 Oct exploring themes of family, sexuality, and culture with his signature humour and candour.  

At Her Majesty’s Theatre, The Special Comedy Comedy Special: Greatest Debate will be a hilarious night featuring Michael Hing, AJ Lamarque, Alex Lee, Lawrence Leung, Sashi Perera and Kushi Venkatesh debating that “the new Australian dream is never moving out.”  

At The Odeon Theatre Monica Lim and Mindy Meng Wang reimagine the connection between life and death in immersive, multi-artform performance, Opera for the Dead 祭歌, a contemporary Chinese cyber-opera for those who find beauty in darkness and humour in the macabre.  

At Festival Plaza, Singapore’s The Human (T.H.E) Dance Company return to OzAsia Festival with Searching Blue, an outdoor performance tracing shifting relationships between people, places and passers-by, guided by Malaysian sound artist Kent Lee’s live music. 

At The Lab at ILA, Elsewhere in India: Return to Technopia is an immersive nightclub experience featuring electro-classical Indian music and surreal visuals, by transmedia artists Murthovic and Thiruda, featuring collaborations with some of Adelaide’s most exciting South Asian artists. 

At Nexus Arts Venue, Spanish-Iranian duo Mohammad Miraghazadeh and Michel Gasco breathe new life into the ancient music of a vast cultural region in Badieh: Music from Greater Khorasan; and live cello, electronics and sounds of the Bornean Forest meet storytelling and hip hop in seafaring epic The Offering (A Plastic Ocean Oratorio) by Omar Musa and Mariel Roberts Musa. In a poignant yet playful cabaret brimming with song and laughter, Rick Lau and Anna Lo celebrate their ancestral roots and honour the many lives and memories that make up Hong Kong in LauZone. 

After a sold-out season at OzAsia Festival 2024, South Australian hip-hop artist Kultar Ahluwalia’s The Mixed-Race Tape is back at Nexus by popular demand. This autobiographical, multidisciplinary performance blends hip-hop with old recordings, family interviews, and spoken word. Another show at Nexus Arts turning family history into an immersive solo performance is Embarking on a Drift to the Unknown. In 1957, a woman crossed the sea and vanished into an arranged marriage. Decades later, her story is told in an audio-immersive work delivered to audiences via wireless headphones.  

Lucky Dumpling Market (Photo credit: Xplorer Media)

OzAsia Festival favourite, Lucky Dumpling Market, returns to Elder Park from 17 Oct, serving up a delicious range of cuisine from the best local vendors accompanied by free live entertainment on the OzAsia Festival stage. Follow the spectacular 40-metre-long Hong Kong Dragon lantern across the Riverbank Footbridge and see more than a dozen giant lanterns light up Tarntanya Wama/Pinky Flat for the beloved Moon Lantern Trail, a free, family friendly event featuring roving performances, giant puppets and delectable food from 23 – 26 Oct. 

On the final weekend, audiences can enjoy thought-provoking panels and inspiring conversations at OzAsia Festival’s Weekend of Words, Australia’s largest gathering of Asian and Asian Australian writers and thinkers, curated by multi-award-winning writer and comedian Sami Shah. 

With plenty of free workshops, masterclasses, and talks also on offer, stay up to date on program details at ozasiafestival.com.au 

Celebrate Bold Voices and Big Ideas at OzAsia Festival’s Weekend of Words 

OzAsia Festival’s Weekend of Words returns for another year of thought-provoking conversations and lively discussions at the largest gathering of Asian and Asian Australian writers and thinkers in the country, from 7 – 9 Nov, presented by Adelaide Festival Centre.  

WOW – Book Signings – DPH Foyer (Photo credit: Xplorer Media)

Curated by award-winning writer and comedian Sami Shah, OzAsia Festival’s Weekend of Words features 24 free events from 56 Asian and Asian Australian creatives, including international guests Prasanthi Ram (Singapore Writers Festival), Ratih Kumala (Ubud Writers & Readers Festival), Malachi Edwin Vethamani (George Town Literary Festival), Singapore’s Kirsten Han, South Korea’s Joo Dong-geun, and from India – Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar and Beni Sumer Yantha. 

OzAsia Festival’s Weekend of Words curator Sami Shah: “At Weekend of Words we believe stories aren’t just what we write – they’re how we live, remember, resist and begin again. From memoirs and poems to fantasy, journalism, and comics, our writers are reshaping what story means – and who gets to tell it.” 

On 7 Nov, the Opening Night Gala will bring together some of the sharpest creative voices to complete the sentence “…then the world got loud.” A night of noise, joy, truth and release hosted by Sami Shah, featuring Cheng Lei, Sashi Perera and more. 

The debate returns in 2025 as The Special Comedy Comedy Special: Greatest Debate at Her Majesty’s Theatre. Moderated by Jason Chong, comedians including Michael Hing, Lawrence Leung, Alex Lee and more will debate whether “the new Australian dream is never moving out.” 

Aspiring writers can take their craft to the next level in one of OzAsia Festival’s Weekend of Words’ free workshops; Memoir Writing: Discovering the Best Way to Tell Your Story with Walkley Award-winning Australian journalist and writer Sarah Malik, Drawn to Life: A Live Drawing Workshop with manga artist Queenie Chan and webtoon creator Joo Dong-geun and The Poetic Line: A Poetry Workshop with acclaimed poet and editor Malachi Edwin Vethamani.  

On Saturday and Sunday, Regattas will host Zines and Reads – a space to dive into books purchased from the Book Shop, hear live readings from Weekend of Words writers, and create your own story with local zine maker Jessica Zeng (Ban-She).   

OzAsia Festival Director Joon-Yee Kwok: “Indulge your love of books and big ideas at OzAsia Festival’s Weekend of Words. Whether you’re a reader or a writer, come curious and discover something (or someone) to inspire your imagination.” 

Delve into writing in all its forms, hear journalists share tools, tactics, and moments of triumph in Fake News/Real Journalism, explore the politics of food writing in Whose Recipe Is It Anyway?, and join top Asian Australian comedians as they discuss what it means to be funny without playing the stereotype in Do the Voice.  

Adelaide Festival Centre CEO Kate Gould: “OzAsia Festival’s Weekend of Words presents a program of sharp, funny and reflective panels that explore the power of language and the richness of contemporary Asian and Asian Australian voices.”  

Those attending OzAsia Festival’s Weekend of Words can also immerse themselves in free exhibitions including Victoria Garcia’s UNITY, Touching the Divine and About Face. Enjoy food, drinks and free performances on the OzAsia Festival stage at Lucky Dumpling Market, by YURA, Keenan Te and Wild Gloriosa.  

WOW – Book Shop – DPH Foyer (Photo credit: Xplorer Media)

Programme details and tickets available at ozasiafestival.com.au