Powerhouse Parramatta will mark its long-awaited opening with a 23-day festival featuring 179 events, bringing together leading figures in science, technology, design, culture, music and performance alongside artists and communities from Western Sydney.
Running from 7 to 29 November 2026, the Powerhouse Parramatta Opening Festival will stretch across three weeks and four weekends, with events spanning First Nations culture, space and science, technology and transport, architecture, design, food, music and film.
Around 65 per cent of festival events will be free, while visitors aged 16 and under will receive free entry to all exhibitions.
During the festival, the museum will open seven days a week and stay open until 9pm from Thursday to Sunday. From Monday to Wednesday, opening hours will be 10am to 5pm.
Powerhouse says the program has been developed in collaboration with Western Sydney communities and will feature Australian and international innovators, artists, designers and thinkers. More than half of the festival’s collaborators — 51 per cent — are from Western Sydney.
Space, Science and Technology
The opening program will include several major international and Australian speakers.
Veteran astronaut and former NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden Jr. will reflect on his career in space exploration, while Off Earth will bring together space architect Melodie Yashar, artist and engineer Xin Liu, spacesuit developer Kiriti Rambhatla and artist Tavares Strachan for a discussion about what it could mean to live beyond Earth.
Internationally acclaimed science-fiction author Ted Chiang will also appear in a discussion exploring immortality and the ideas behind the museum’s Task Eternal exhibition.
A separate program focused on new technology entrepreneurs will examine emerging areas including bio-manufacturing, space technology and artificial intelligence in medical diagnostics.
Transport history will also be part of the opening weekend, with visitors able to travel on historic steam trains and vintage buses on 7 and 8 November.
A restored 124-year-old Locomotive 3265 will operate between Parramatta and Riverstone, while vintage buses will connect Parramatta Station with the museum. The NSW Railway Band will also perform at Parramatta Station.
Western Sydney Communities at the Centre
Local cultural organisations and communities will play a major role in the festival.
Chinese lion and dragon dance organisation Jin Wu Koon will present The Pride, a major new commission featuring custom-made lion and dragon costumes created for the opening.
The commissioned collection includes three traditional Fut San lions, two modern lions, a large dragon and another lion, with the costumes set to enter the Powerhouse Collection following the performances.
Matavai Pacific Cultural Arts will present a large-scale performance bringing together Pacific community groups and cultural practitioners.
The event will also reveal Te Waka Whakakotahi — the Waka of Unity, alongside weaving created by Western Sydney communities.
The broader festival will also include the Pasifika Film Festival, showcasing scripted and documentary films, animation, music videos and digital works by Pasifika creatives.
Design, Music and Performance
Internationally recognised Australian industrial designer Marc Newson will reflect on four decades of work and his influence on contemporary design.
British artist Es Devlin will bring her large-scale installation Come Home Again to Australia for the first time.
Presented across 11 nights, the work features 244 hand-drawn depictions of vulnerable, endangered and critically endangered NSW species, combining drawing, sculpture, light and live choral performances.
Performers will include Sydney Chamber Opera, Western Sydney choir River City Voices, intercultural collective Barayagal and Noqu Vanua Choir.
The opening festival will also include a Diwali Day Party, celebrating the music, dance and traditions connecting South Asian communities across Western Sydney.
First Nations Culture
First Nations culture will also feature prominently throughout the program.
Jannawi Dance Clan and collaborators will officially welcome visitors to Country through dance, song and storytelling.
Another major program, Eseli’s Story, will bring 44 male dancers and eight singers and musicians from Badu Island to perform a story dance inspired by childhood memories of World War II aircraft operating from Ngurapai, or Horn Island.
Gamilaroi Elder and food educator Aunty Beryl Van-Oploo OAM and Ngemba Weilwan woman Sharon Winsor, founder of Indigiearth, will also take part in a conversation exploring cultural knowledge, food and continuity.
Family and Youth Program
Families and young people will have access to a dedicated series of events throughout the festival, including family-oriented weekend programs and a school summit involving primary and secondary students from Parramatta.
The museum itself will open with five major exhibitions:
- Task Eternal
- Overflow
- The Mall
- Es Devlin: The Turning
- The Dark
The opening weekend on 7–8 November will offer free general museum admission, although visitors will need to book an arrival time.
The full Opening Festival runs from 7 to 29 November 2026 at Powerhouse Parramatta, located at 34 Phillip Street, Parramatta.
More than 1,200 collaborators are contributing to the 23-day program, which Powerhouse describes as a celebration of Western Sydney communities, science, creativity, industry and culture.
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