Salman Rushdie headlines Sydney’s Festival of Dangerous Ideas alongside Maria Ressa, Maria Alyokhina and Cory Doctorow
Festival of Dangerous Ideas returns to Sydney from 20th to 30th August 2026 for its 13th edition, with 105 speakers, 115 sessions and 20 international guests confronting hatred, belonging, censorship, conspiracy and the ethics of art. The main weekend runs at Carriageworks on 22nd and 23rd August.
Salman Rushdie headlines opening night with his keynote The Price of Ideas, his first Australian appearance since the 2022 attack. Joining him are Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa on disinformation, Pussy Riot’s Maria Alyokhina performing from her memoir, digital rights activist Cory Doctorow on surveillance capitalism and New York Times columnist Peter Beinart on Gaza and Jewish identity. Australian voices include Malcolm Turnbull, Stan Grant, Richard Flanagan and Benjamin Law.
Beyond the talks, Dangerous Art brings ideas to life with the world premiere of HEAP, a monumental installation at Carriageworks by eight Australian artists. Dangerous Films screens provocative cinema at Dendy Newtown, including Salò and Zero Dark Thirty. Dangerous Excursions opens rarely-seen Sydney spaces from the State Library’s hidden stacks to the Justice and Police Museum.
What You Need To Know:
Date: 20–30 August 2026 (main Festival weekend 22–23 August)
Cost: Multipack tickets from 9am 1 July (public), single tickets available July, livestream tickets on sale August
Where: Carriageworks, Sydney Town Hall and venues across Sydney