Australia Day Live Concert

Australia Day Live is a concert which is hosted each year on Australia Day, on 26 January at the forecourt of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour. The concert features music from Australian artists and musicians.

History

The "Australia Day Live" concert was first launched in 2004, on Federation Mall, the lawns of Parliament House in Canberra, Australia and originally hosted each year on 25 January, on the eve of Australia Day. Australia Day Live was preceded by the Australian of the Year Awards. The name of the concert was changed in 2012 to "Australia Celebrates Live".

''Australia Celebrates Live Concert''

"Australia Celebrates Live" was a free concert which included tributes to the outgoing Australians of the Year, with songs chosen by the previous Australians of the Year. This was followed by the Australian of the Year Awards ceremony. Once the Awards ceremony was complete, the concert continued with each artist performing a full set of music. In August 2016, the National Australia Day Council announced that the Australia Celebrates Live concert had been cancelled and from 2017, the Australian of the Year Awards would be held indoors at Parliament House.

''Australia Day Concert''

From 2014, the Australia Day Concert was staged on the forecourt of the Sydney Opera House from 7.30pm – 9.30pm with Sydney Harbour as a backdrop. In 2014 and 2015, the evening concert followed a morning concert on the Forecourt featuring the Wiggles. From 2015–2018 the Australia Day Concert was broadcast live nationally on Channel Ten. From 2019 the concert has been broadcast nationally on ABC TV. From 2018, the whole of Circular Quay was activated, effectively moving and enhancing the Darling Harbour Australia Day Spectacular on 26 January.
From 2017, when the Australian of the Year Awards were held in Canberra on 25 January, the Australia Day Concert continued as a separate event in Sydney on 26 January.