La Nuit de l'Advertising brings 170-plus ads to Sydney

Sydney audiences are being invited to spend three hours doing what streaming platforms have trained them to avoid: watching ads.

La Nuit de l'Advertising, the French cult event also known as The Night of the Ad Eaters, will take over the Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace in Cremorne on Thursday, 22 October.

The program will feature more than 170 commercials spanning more than 70 years and 45-plus countries, presented across two fully subtitled screening sessions. Organisers say the selection ranges from recent Cannes Lions winners to classic campaigns, with the full line-up remaining under wraps until the screening.

READ MORE: Australia wins first Cannes Lions Grand Prix

READ MORE: 'Bringing back jingles wouldn’t hurt': Which classic Aussie ads would be cancelled in 2026?

Ads become the main attraction

The original Night of the Ad Eaters was created in France by Jean-Marie Boursicot in 1981 as a way to share his collection of advertising films and help fund the preservation of the archive.

The concept has since travelled internationally, turning commercials into the feature presentation rather than the interruption. Boursicot's advertising cinémathèque now holds more than one million films, according to the event's official international website.

The Sydney edition is designed to be considerably noisier than the average cinema session. Audiences are encouraged to cheer, boo and debate the commercials, while a live stage intermission will break up the two screenings.

Alliance Française de Sydney board member Amaury Treguer said the format was built around both advertising creativity and audience reaction.

“Australia has always punched above its weight creatively, so it felt like the perfect fit to bring this iconic event here. Sydney audiences are going to love it. It's not a polite screening; it's a cinema full of people cheering, booing and debating what makes a great ad,” he said.

Alliance Française builds on film festival audience

Alliance Française de Sydney also organises the annual Alliance Française French Film Festival, which recorded more than 213,000 attendees nationally in 2026 across 21 cities and 41 venues.

For La Nuit de l'Advertising, doors at the Hayden Orpheum open at 5.30pm, with the first screening beginning at 6.30pm and the event scheduled to finish at 10.30pm. Tickets range from $33 for students to $50 for general admission, with member and group rates also available.

Organisers are also seeking brand partners for the Sydney event, with opportunities including big-screen advertising, product gifting and activations.