Experimental music platform Unsound Adelaide and the participatory performance The Lost Art of Listening will headline a diverse 2026 Illuminate Adelaide program that promises more than 100 events this July.

Running from July 1 to 19, the winter festival will feature 11 world premieres and 11 Adelaide exclusives, spanning large-scale interactive games, digital art, music, food experiences and free city-wide installations.

City Lights 2025: SomniUs © Frankie the Creative

Among the music offerings is The Lost Art of Listening, created and composed by Hilary Kleinig, which invites audiences to use their phones as part of a communal sonic performance. Featuring pianist Erik Griswold, the work combines prepared piano, smartphone sounds, field recordings, vintage synths and environmental audio in what organisers describe as a meditation on attentive listening in an age of constant distraction.

Music remains central to the festival through Unsound Adelaide, the experimental program that returns with an international line-up across multiple venues. Artists announced include New York rapper billy woods, Actress and Suzanne Ciani performing their collaborative project Concrète Waves, Polish composer and...