From ‘Cool Japan’ to Hallyu, Asian culture is shaping global trends and your algorithm. But if you’ve only ever experienced it through streaming, scrolling or slurping ramen, OzAsia Festival is your chance to experience it IRL.
When OzAsia Festival launched in 2007, Asian pop culture – from anime and manga to K-pop and kawaii – was still niche in Australia. You had to hunt it down in DVD box sets or import it from overseas.
Now it’s in your feed, your wardrobe – even your holiday plans.
Blackpink headlines festivals. BookTok can’t stop crying over Japanese “cozy lit”. KPop Demon Hunters has become a global sensation.
You’ll find Hello Kitty at Kmart, Acubi fashion at Target – and Cate Blanchett fronting Uniqlo campaigns. Meanwhile, Japan is the new Bali – the hottest holiday destination on everyone’s feed.
OzAsia in 2025
Festival Director Joon-Yee Kwok says OzAsia has grown up alongside this shift of Asian culture from niche to the centre of the zeitgeist – and this year’s program is for the generation that grew up with it.
“I grew up with Astro Boy and Sailor Moon … Japanese pop culture has been in my life for a very long time,” she says. “Now, pop culture really does transcend boundaries and helps people connect over anime, manga, cosplay, video games and music.”
So if you’ve already got a Crunchyroll subscription, K-pop playlists, or a Kuromi lanyard on your car keys, this year’s OzAsia isn’t a beginner’s guide. It’s your invitation to go deeper, create, connect and discover more.
OzAsia isn’t just about watching – it’s about joining in
OzAsia isn’t just here to give you a window into Asian culture – it’s also here to be hands-on.
This year’s festival runs from 17 October to 9 November, with more than 200 artists from 14 countries and four packed weekends of music, theatre, comedy, food, visual art and lit. It’s the longest OzAsia ever – and the most DIY-friendly.
Run by Adelaide Festival Centre and supported by the South Australian Government, the program is designed to be accessible and collaborative. That means zine-making workshops, anime short-film comps, cosplay parades, and plenty of free gigs, all alongside headline shows and international acts.
It’s not just about watching something on a stage. It’s about learning how to fold a lotus lantern, brushing your name in calligraphy, or sharing your story through a memoir writing workshop.
The one-day festival of your pop culture dreams
If you only know OzAsia for dumplings and lanterns, you might not have discovered the weird, wonderful and wildly fun AnimeGO! yet. But for cosplayers, gamers and anime lovers across SA, it’s the heart of the festival.
Run by the Japan Australia Friendship Association (JAFA), AnimeGO! is a one-day takeover of the Dom Polski Centre with cosplay competitions, arcade games, artist alley tables, maid cafés, and enough wigs to make you feel seriously underdressed.
“The first AnimeGO! in 2016 had maybe 500 or 600 people,” says JAFA president Mike Dunphy. “Now we’re triple that.” He says the event draws a totally different crowd than the usual Festival Centre audience – and that’s the point.
AnimeGO! is open to everyone, but especially welcoming for people who haven’t always felt like they belonged elsewhere. “It’s even popular with neurodivergent audiences … I’m glad we can create an environment where people can dress up and feel comfortable in their own skin.”
Cosplay, confidence and a career in costume
That inclusive energy is what got cosplayer and costume-maker Annie Beatty-Freeman – aka Reversetibbers – hooked in the first place.
She was already into anime when her now-husband encouraged her to try cosplaying – and she’s never looked back.
“My first costume was Erza Scarlet from (the manga series) Fairy Tail … it was really nice having people come up to me and say, ‘I know your character, you look cool, let’s take selfies.’ That kind of grew into wanting to make my own,” Annie says.
Since then she’s dressed as everyone from Mulan to Vivi from One Piece, Sailor Neptune to Maomao from The Apothecary Diaries.
Her home is full of fabric scraps, foam armour, figurines and plushies – which, as she points out, is totally normal. “In Japanese and Korean culture, being an adult doesn’t mean you have to give up cute stuff. It just helps you cope with how full-on life can be.”
Cosplay and events like AnimeGO! gave Annie a place to be creative, but also a community and a new career path. She left her job in aged care to make costumes for cosplayers around the globe, and will soon graduate from TAFE SA and Flinders University’s Bachelor of Creative Arts (Costume Design).
Something for every vibe (and every budget)
Whether you’re into writing, theatre, cinema, dance or just want to experience something new with friends, OzAsia’s packed with options for every age, interest and budget. There are free family events, ticketed premieres, workshops, masterclasses and outdoor performances – spread right across the city.
If you’re a writer, artist or storyteller – or just someone with a notebook full of fanfic ideas – there’s Weekend of Words (7-9 Nov), a three-day literature and ideas festival featuring authors, screenwriters, playwrights, poets and performers. It includes a zine-making hub led by Adelaide artist Jessica Zeng, and panels that unpack everything from streaming deals to self-publishing.
“For anyone who’s got that aspiration to one day have a Netflix series, there’s something for them,” says Joon-Yee.
Prefer to make with your hands or move your body? You can fold origami, paint a silk fan, or join a traditional Korean drumming workshop – just a few of the tactile, drop-in activities woven through the program.
And if you’re ready to go even deeper – to be fully immersed in something you’ve never seen before – OzAsia has that too.
Joon-Yee points to Elsewhere in India: Return to Technopia — a genre-defying performance that blends video game aesthetics, AI art and electro-classical Indian music in The Lab.
“Imagine being surrounded by 3D visuals created with motion capture and live performance – it’ll feel like you’re in a completely different world.”
Five Joon-Yee-approved picks for OzAsia 2025
- Moon Lantern Trail (24-26 Oct)
It’s free, it’s Instagram gold, and you’ll see families turning up in traditional dress among the giant glowing lanterns.
- Lucky Dumpling Market (17 Oct – 9 Nov)
Not just delicious dumplings – expect free gigs too, including emerging Vietnamese pop stars and local artists like Sandra Gunn and Sofia Menguita.
- Opera for the Dead (5-6 Nov)
A “choose your own adventure” promenade show with singers, musicians and moving stages. For anyone who likes their theatre on the gothic side.
- The Special Comedy Comedy Special: Greatest Debate (8 Nov)
A battle of stand-up minds over whether “the new Australian dream is never moving out.” Top comedians, very relatable.
- Searching Blue (23-25 Oct)
An outdoor contemporary dance piece set in Festival Plaza. Quiet, beautiful and – in Joon’s words – “like a balm for your soul”.
Why OzAsia matters right now
As Joon-Yee says, OzAsia is a wonderful celebration of different cultures at a time where there’s increased global instability.
“OzAsia provides a safe space to engage with culture that might be different to your own … it’s about connecting with each other, with culture, with place,” says Joon-Yee.
“I’d like to think OzAsia is a place where everyone can feel at home, where we celebrate and experience joy together – and through that joy, find ways to be kind to each other.”
That idea of joy as resistance – of curiosity as a bridge between people – is what keeps the festival growing year after year.
Whether it’s your first time or your fifteenth, whether you come for the dumplings, the debates, the manga or the music, you’ll find something to entertain and expand your horizons at this year’s OzAsia Festival.
To explore the full OzAsia Festival program click here.
