Sydney Festival announces Canadian Kris Nelson as 2026-2029 Festival Director

Nelson, previously the AD/CEO of London International Festival of Theatre and Dublin Fringe's Festival Director, will start his tenure with Sydney Festival’s 50th edition.

24 Sep 2024 11:00

Richard Watts

Sydney Festival's incoming Festival Director Kris Nelson. Kris sits on a stairwell smiling; he has short-cropped brown hair and a moustache, and wears an olive-coloured shirt.

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Sydney Festival’s incoming Festival Director Kris Nelson. Photo: Tyler Kelly.

A Canadian-born artistic director and CEO who has worked extensively on festivals in Ireland and the UK has been announced as the next Festival Director of Sydney Festival.

Kris Nelson was today (24 September) announced as the incoming Festival Director of Sydney Festival. His inaugural program will be the Festival’s 50th edition in January 2026.

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Richard Watts OAM is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, a Melbourne Fringe Festival Living Legend, and was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize in 2020. In 2021 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association. Most recently, Richard received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts