WOMADelaide reveals The Planet Talks program

The Planet Talks, WOMADelaide’s flagship three-day forum, returns to the festival’s Frome Park Pavilion in 2026, bringing together leading international and local voices for urgent and inspiring conversations on sustainability and the environment. The program will feature 18 speakers, including multi-Walkley-winning journalist and author Marian Wilkinson; environmental scientist and advocate, and 2024 SA Australian of the Year, Tim Jarvis AM; leading Maori earth systems scientist Dan Hikuroa; and UNICEF Pacific Ambassador Moemoana Schwenke.

For over a decade, The Planet Talks program has offered in-depth discussions and debates that dissect, challenge, and seek to explain the issues surrounding the world’s relationship with the planet, and what we can do to sustain it.

The Planet Talks 2026 lineup includes speakers ranging from award-winning investigative journalists and renowned professors to First Nations leaders, top scientists, marine biologists and more. These open, thought-provoking discussions, moderated by a diverse range of experts and thought leaders on stage across Saturday, Sunday and Monday, are accessible to all WOMADelaide ticketholders.

Step into a world of discovery with The Planet Talks as audiences are invited to question, challenge, and rethink the ideas and perspectives that shape our world.

The Planet Talks 2026 program includes: 

• RIVER LISTENING​
  An exploration of how listening to rivers can transform our relationship with water, panellists share stories and strategies for protecting waterways through more-than-human perspectives and First Nations leadership.
  Panellists: Dan Hikuroa, Grant Rigney and Leah Barclay 
  Moderator: Jo Schulman 

• OCEAN'S CALLING
  From historical narratives to devastating modern algal blooms, and from polar expeditions to the futures of our coasts, an invitation   to reckon with and act to protect our deep blue seas. 
  Panellists: ​Joy McCann, Tim Jarvis and Dominic Mcafee
  Facilitator: Andy Lowe

• INFORMATION WARS
  How disinformation, fossil fuel influence, and deepening polarisation are undermining democracy and delaying climate action.
  Panellists: ​Marian Wilkinson​, Christian Downie and Don Watson ​
  Moderator: Sarah Martin
  

• BRAVE NEW FUTURES
  From radical storytelling to ecological activism and speculative design, how do we reconnect with the natural world while navigating the digital one.
  Panellists: Grace Vegesana, Richard King and Clare Marshall
  Moderator: Lee Constable
• WAYFINDING CLIMATE JUSTICE
  Pacific communities have long led the global climate fight. Hear how through the myriad of ways Pacific peoples have continued to shape the global response to climate change.
  Panellists: Fenton Lutunatabua, Moemoana Schwenke and ‘Alopi Latukefu 
  Moderator: Tukini Tavui
  
• NO ONE LEFT BEHIND
  What does a just climate transition looks like? Where workers, communities, and everyday lives are supported through change, not sacrificed to it.
  Panellists: Sharan Burrow, Karrina Nolan and Rebecca Huntley
  Moderator: Tory Shepherd

 

Listen to some of the world’s greatest minds live from previous WOMADelaide Planet Talks sessions. Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, PodBean, Pocket Casts and more.