What's On In Sydney
What's On, where and when in Sydney
Sydney is filled with a wide range of events to excite and inspire. What’s on in Sydney? Well, no matter what time of year of your visit, there’s a variety of things to do in the harbour city that will attract the young and young at heart. You’ll never be bored in this fine city.
There’s plenty of fun to be had with outdoor festivals whilst special events abound. Visit Circular Quay, The Rocks and Darling Harbour any day of the week and you’ll discover themed markets, musical performances and free family events. What if the weather takes a turn for the worse? You’ll be able to peruse an abundance of fantastic seasonal and permanent exhibitions in our many museums and art galleries including the Australian Museum, Australian National Maritime Museum, Art Gallery of NSW, Museum of Contemporary Art and many more.
Lovers of great theatre are also in their element with many top stage shows featuring at our famous historical venues such as the Sydney Opera House, Capitol Theatre and Theatre Royal. With everything from musicals, comedy and drama productions to opera and ballet, Sydney has all genres covered. Sydney is also becoming one of the culinary capitals of the world. Top quality Sydney restaurants of almost every possible variation await you! Wherever or however you decide to spend your time in Sydney – enjoy! You can always find the latest listings of What’s On in Sydney right here on the Where Magazines site.
Sydney Writers’ Festival is the largest celebration of literature and ideas in Australia, and among the top five of its kind in the world.
From 14-20 May an audience of over 80,000 is expected to attend the 15th annual Sydney Writers’ Festival held in venues stretching from the Festival hub at Walsh Bay to the Blue Mountains.
The Festival will showcase a range of notable international writers Jeffrey Eugenides, the Pulitzer Prize-‐winning author of Middlesex, The Virgin Suicides, and more recently The Marriage Plot in his first-‐ever visit to Australia; Rolling Stone reporter Michael Hastings whose sensational article led to the sacking of General Stanley McChrystal, the US Army’s Commander in Afghanistan.; Jeanette Winterson talks about her confronting memoir Why be Happy When You Could Be Normal?; Jeff Kinney, creator of the phenomenally successful children’s book series Diary of a Wimpy Kid ; Stella Rimington former head of British Secret Service MI5, now bestselling thriller writer and Former CIA interrogator Glenn Carle talks about his questioning of Al-‐Qaeda suspects.
Based on the hugely successful Academy Award-winning film, this new production has been adapted for the stage by the original screen writer, Douglas Day Stewart and co-writer Sharleen Cooper Cohen, with music and lyrics by Kenny Hirsch and Robin Lerner.
The talented cast includes Ben Mingay (Jersey Boys) as Zack Mayo, the classic angry young man who grew up in a "sewer" and dreams of flying jets and parlaying this skill into a better life; Amanda Harrison (Wicked) as Paula Pokrifki, the young factory worker who dreams of becoming a nurse and finding a better life without selling out for it, like everyone around her; Kate Kendall (Next to Normal) as Lynette Pomeroy, Paula's best friend who is determined to marry a flier to escape her dead end life, no matter what it takes; and Alex Rathgeber (The Phantom of the Opera) as Sid Worley, the likeable Okie son of a Navy Admiral who is the class "superstar" at the Naval Academy.
Australian Symbolism: the art of dreams
Art Gallery of NSW,
Sydney
Event Starts: 11-May-2012 Ends: 29-Jul-2012
Australian Symbolism: the art of dreams is the first major exhibition to explore the influence of the Symbolist movement on Australian art at the turn of the 19th century. While Australian painting from this period is known for its depiction of the landscape as a national emblem, figures of fantasy and mythology also gained an increasing presence in art at this time, reflecting the impact on Australian artists of the Symbolist movement flourishing in Europe.
The exhibition features 70 paintings, sculptures, photographs and decorative art objects that display the diversity of Australian artistic responses to Symbolist themes and ideas. Works by some of the era’s most well-known artists are included, such as Charles Conder, Arthur Streeton, Tom Roberts, Rupert Bunny, Sydney Long, Bertram Mackennal and George Lambert.
Rediscover the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney as a living artwork, gallery, stage and studio through a diverse and entertaining event program during the Autumn of the Arts festival. From guided walks to live music to sketching in the garden, there’s something for everyone.
Visit the website for the full program.
Dragon - Art Gallery of NSW
Art Gallery of New South Wales,
Sydney
Event Starts: 18-Jan-2012 Ends: 06-May-2012
Evolved from a pre-historic totemic animal, the dragon has become a symbol of China to the world. Chinese people everywhere take pride in considering themselves descendants of this mythical creature.
Celebrating 2012 as the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac, this exhibition showcases artworks that carry the dragon motif, either from the Gallery’s collection or on loan.
Encompassing bronzes, porcelains, textiles, paintings and calligraphy, it examines the creature’s diverse meanings and manifestations in Chinese art, ritual and politics, while pieces from Japan and Chinese exportware demonstrate how the dragon has been adopted by cultures outside China.
Eugenia Raskopoulos: Footnotes
Art Gallery of New South Wales,
Sydney
Event Starts: 23-Feb-2012 Ends: 13-May-2012
Eugenia Raskopoulos’ practice is concerned with language, the body and processes of translation.
The artist has in the past used steam, salt, oil and chalk as a means to smear, score and drip words into temporary formations that emphasise the fluidity of language. In her new video installation footnotes, she turns to materials that relate more directly to ideas of sexuality and gender from lipstick to liquids of more ambiguous origins.
Using her own limbs as instruments or surfaces for inscription, Raskopoulos performs a series of actions that accumulate letters into words, written in English and Greek. Through these gestures, she draws attention to translation as an awkward exchange that is shaped by the potential for loss or contamination of meaning.
Making sense: contemporary LA photo artists
Art Gallery of New South Wales,
Sydney
Event Starts: 11-Feb-2012 Ends: 13-May-2012
Making sense builds on existing works in the Gallery’s permanent collection by American artists Allan Sekula, Ed Ruscha, Bill Viola and Paul McCarthy, while taking into consideration the rich collection of 1970s and ’80s Californian photography (the New Topographics) at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. Looking at mostly younger practitioners, the 13 acquisitions consist of works by Sekula, Uta Barth, Miles Coolidge, Shannon Ebner, Christina Fernandez, Ken Gonzales-Day, Anthony Hernandez, Sharon Lockhart, Catherine Opie and Mark Wyse.
The contemporary art scene in Los Angeles is very rich, in part due to the large number of excellent universities in the area which have strong teaching programs in photomedia. Many of the artists who have been selected are already involved in these educational programs, mentoring and influencing the next wave of American and international talent. Varied and diverse in their concerns and aims, they have engaged with the legacy of American conceptual, minimalist and documentary photography, developing it in interesting and unexpected ways.
Mother India: video plays by Nalini Malani
Art Gallery of New South Wales,
Sydney
Event Starts: 11-Feb-2012 Ends: 20-May-2012
Nalini Malani is an influential Indian artist whose multi-media works focus on issues including identity, gender, migration and political violence. A major work of hers, Mother India: transactions in the construction of pain (2005), together with other earlier videos, recently acquired by the Gallery, are now presented for the first time in Sydney as an introduction to Malani’s work and concerns. These works complement two suites of drawings by Malani in the Gallery’s collection: The Degas Suite 1992 and Lohar Chawl 1991 both acquired after being exhibited in the exhibition India Songs in 1993.
New Contemporary Galleries: the John Kaldor Family Collection
Art Gallery of NSW,
Sydney
Event Starts: 21-May-2011 Ends: 02-May-2012
The Art Gallery of NSW now holds Australia’s most comprehensive representation of contemporary art from the 1960s to now. In May, they will unveil their new contemporary galleries, featuring the John Kaldor Family Gallery.
For the last 50 years John Kaldor has been Australia’s most passionate collector of international contemporary art. The John Kaldor Family Collection has only been exhibited twice before. From May 2011, a selection of works from the collection will always be on public display at the Art Gallery of NSW.
The first display from the Kaldor Collection features works by Robert Rauschenberg, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Donald Judd, Carl Andre, Frank Stella, Jeff Koons, Nam June Paik, Bill Viola, Andreas Gursky and Thomas Struth, among others.
Alongside will be a number of commissioned and newly installed site-specific artworks, including five vast wall drawings by Sol LeWitt, a major wall work by Richard Long, and a new installation by Ugo Rondinone.
Major works from the Gallery’s collection will also be on show from artists such as Jannis Kounellis, Mike Parr, Anselm Kiefer, Doris Salcedo, Rosemary Laing, Janet Laurence, Patricia Piccinini, Del Kathryn Barton and Ricky Swallow.
Observances - Sydney Jewish Museum
Sydney Jewish Museum,
Event Starts: 14-Mar-2012 Ends: 15-Jul-2012
Observances at the Sydney Jewish Museum is an exhibition of photographs by internationally acclaimed photographer and author, Emmanuel Santos, born in the Philippines and residing in Melbourne. Emmanuel has a degree is Science and Industrial Engineering and specialises in ethnological photography and creating social documentary photo essays. He was the official photographer for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and has had photographic exhibitions in Israel, Italy, the Czech Republic, China, Switzerland, Brazil, France, Ukraine and the United States. His works are in permanent collections in museums and galleries all around the world.
For over three decades Emmanuel Santos has been travelling the world, gathering photographs of human existence. Observances is a collection from the Jewish diaspora, reflecting communal life, celebrations, cultural rituals and practices. The exhibition is about the human condition, about freedom and dignity.
Admission free with Museum entry.
The audience favourite Onegin makes a triumphant return to the stage in 2012, interpreted by a new generation of stars. Since its 1976 debut, this tragic love story has been one of The Australian Ballet’s most popular ballets. This quintessentially Russian tale of thwarted passion and its dire consequences is set to captivate audiences all over again. Created by John Cranko for Stuttgart Ballet in 1965, Onegin is based upon Russian literary giant Alexander Pushkin’s 1837 verse novel Eugene Onegin. This cautionary tale of the folly of young hearts still resonates with audiences 170 years after its publication.
Spirit Faces - Australian Museum
Australian Museum,
Sydney
Event Starts: 11-Feb-2012 Ends: 31-Dec-2012
From ancient to modern times, people of all cultures have worn masks to perform, to protect and disguise themselves as different identities and to act as a ‘spiritual conduit’ within ceremonial life. Spirit Faces at the Australian Museum, features an outstanding selection of 19 masks from the Australian Museum’s extensive Melanesian collection. The display showcases an array of materialised spirit forms from Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia and Vanuatu, revealing the different functions and styles of each mask and the range of materials used for their construction; from human hair, pig tusks, shells, feathers, turtle shell and natural fibres to ceramics.
Sydney Writers' Festival
Sydney Writers' Festival,
Sydney
Event Starts: 14-May-2012 Ends: 20-May-2012
Sydney Writers’ Festival is the largest celebration of literature and ideas in Australia, and among the top five of its kind in the world.
From 14-20 May an audience of over 80,000 is expected to attend the 15th annual Sydney Writers’ Festival held in venues stretching from the Festival hub at Walsh Bay to the Blue Mountains.
The Festival will showcase a range of notable international writers Jeffrey Eugenides, the Pulitzer Prize-‐winning author of Middlesex, The Virgin Suicides, and more recently The Marriage Plot in his first-‐ever visit to Australia; Rolling Stone reporter Michael Hastings whose sensational article led to the sacking of General Stanley McChrystal, the US Army’s Commander in Afghanistan.; Jeanette Winterson talks about her confronting memoir Why be Happy When You Could Be Normal?; Jeff Kinney, creator of the phenomenally successful children’s book series Diary of a Wimpy Kid ; Stella Rimington former head of British Secret Service MI5, now bestselling thriller writer and Former CIA interrogator Glenn Carle talks about his questioning of Al-‐Qaeda suspects.
The Archibald Prize - Art Gallery of NSW
Art Gallery of New South Wales,
Sydney
Event Starts: 31-Mar-2012 Ends: 03-Jun-2012
The top entries, including the winners, from Australia’s most prestigious and controversial art award, the Archibald Prize, are now on display at the Art Gallery of NSW. Since its inception in 1921 the prize has been awarded to some of Australia’s most important artists, including George Lambert,William Dobell and Brett Whiteley.Artist Raelene Sharp won this year’s Packing Room Prize for her portrait of actor John Wood (pictured), whilst Tim Storrier took out The Archibald prize for his self-portrait 'The histrionic wayfarer (after Bosch)'.
Credit: A strength of character (John Wood) by Raelene Sharp.
Vivid LIVE at Sydney Opera House features a line-up of local and international artists hand selected by Festival Director, Fergus Linehan. Cutting edge, German projection artists, URBANSCREEN, have been invited to weave their creative magic across Sydney Opera Housein the festival favourite, ‘Lighting the Sails’.The astounding line-up of local and international artists, includes opening night act - the criticallyacclaimed English artist Florence + The Machine who will perform with the Ceremonial Orchestrataking over the Concert Hall.
The YEAH YEAH YEAHs frontwoman Karen O (pictured) will present her ‘Psycho Opera’ STOP THE VIRGENS; R&B superstar Janelle Monáe will make her long awaited Australian debut with ‘TheArchAndroid Orchestra’; and New York’s finest creative minds Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly and Sufjian Stevens will collaborate on a special commission for Vivid LIVE.
Other acts on the line up include My Brightest Diamond, The Temper Trap, Zola Jesus, PVT and Seekae.
Vivid Sydney, the festival of light, music and ideas returns for its third year, with the popular event now established as Sydney’s major winter festival.
From giant light sculptures of floating jellyfish and erupting fire installations in Sydney Harbour, to exclusive international music performances and the stunning 3D illumination of the Sydney Opera House sails, Vivid Sydney will once again light up our city.
As the largest festival of light, music and ideas in the Southern Hemisphere, Vivid Sydney is a major celebration of our creative industries featuring a vibrant program of free and ticketed events around Circular Quay, The Rocks and Sydney Opera House.
Fish in Australian Art
Australian National Maritime Museum,
Event Starts: 05-Apr-2012 Ends: 01-Oct-2012
Fish have featured in art in Australia for thousands of years. Artists have put fish in the picture to document, decorate, delight and provoke. Currently on display at the Australian National Maritime Museum, this unique exhibition spans Australian art history from rock art to the contemporary and reveals how the wonder of fish are an enduring inspiration for artists. See works by First Fleet artists William Buelow Gould, Conrad Martens, and modern and contemporary artists Rupert Bunny, Margaret Olley, William Dobell, Arthur Boyd, Yvonne Koolmatrie, John Olsen, John Brack, Michael Leunig, Craig Walsh and many more. Exhibition included in museum entry fee.
Flavours of Hawaii Food Festival
The Grace Hotel,
Sydney CBD
Event Starts: 15-May-2012 Ends: 30-May-2012
The Grace Hotel Brasserie will be transformed into a culinary gateway to Hawaii with renowned Hawaiian chef Alan Tsuchiyama, and outstanding international pastry chef David Brown heading down under for the inaugural Flavours of Hawaii Food Festival. This is an exciting and exclusive opportunity to taste some of the traditional flavours of Hawaii with a feast accompanied by entertainment and Hawaiian cuisine from appetisers to soups, salads, carving stations, mains and a selection of delicious desserts. Lunch is available Tuesday to Friday, dinner on Friday and Saturday.
A country highway. A greasy takeaway joint. Two sisters. One of them left, one stayed behind. One chose chaos, the other control. One chose sex, the other, food. Enter Hakan Leventoglu, aka Hassan the Beautiful.
Kate Champion is riding the wave of a decade of brilliant work across theatre, opera and dance, notably with her celebrated company Force Majeure.Steve Rodgers is a theatrical marvel who writes and acts with equal aplomb. Their work meets here within the classic architecture of great drama: feuding sisters, a charming man and the possibility of transformation. The sisters battle it out, trying to make sense of who they were, who they are and whether they can ever allow each other to be something else.
Les Liaisons Dangereuses - Sydney Theatre Company
Sydney Theatre Company,
Walsh Bay
Event Starts: 05-Apr-2012 Ends: 09-Jun-2012
Unaware of the impending revolution that breathlessly waits to devour the French aristocracy in all its decadence, the Marquise de Merteuil and Vicomte de Valmont plot an elaborate game of revenge, seduction, humiliation and cruelty. It is a salon amusement that soon escalates into a brutal battle between former lovers. Sex and love are the weapons of choice and these combatants will stoop to the lowest levels of deviousness in order to win. Their crossfire is indiscriminate, making casualties of friends and foes alike.
Hugo Weaving and Pamela Rabe will play the charismatic duo who manipulate with the precision and discipline of master puppeteers, deriving a pleasure from their spite that can only be surpassed by the pleasure of watching the deliciously wicked pair in action.
Macbeth - brave, strong and patriotic - happens upon three witches who predict he will soon be King. It’s a prophecy he distrusts but one his wife becomes utterly seduced by. Peter Evans, Bell Shakespeare’s Associate Artistic Director, fulfills a long-held ambition to collaborate with Dan Spielman in the title role, and Kate Mulvany who plays his highly erotic wife.
This season’s Macbeth reveals what the lure of power can do to a marriage and the devastation it can wreak on a nation.
Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Australia
Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Australia,
Circular Quay
Event Starts: 30-Apr-2012 Ends: 04-May-2012
Australia's best designers will showcase their Spring/Summer 2012/13 collections at the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Australia.
The Mother’s Day Classic is a walk or run that raises money for breast cancer research. It is one of Australia’s largest charity activities with events held in all capital cities as well as across regional Australia. Since the first Mother’s Day Classic in 1998, more than half a million men, women and children have raised $10.8 million for the National Breast Cancer Foundation’s research programs. Held every Mother’s Day, participants walk, run or volunteer to remember, support and celebrate the lives of those affected by breast cancer and to help fund the research that is needed to overcome the disease.
Remembering Titanic - 100 years
Australian National Maritime Museum,
Darling Harbour
Event Starts: 29-Mar-2012 Ends: 11-Nov-2012
Arguably one of the most significant events of the 20th century, the sinking of Titanic has captivated people and generated controversy for decades. Now 100 years on the Australian National Maritime Museum will mark the centenary of the disaster with an intimate memorial exhibition and events program.Titanic was to be the greatest ship afloat, shining proof of the industrial power of the modern world. But tragically, this vision was shattered on its first voyage when it struck an iceberg and sank on 15 April 1912 with the lossof over 1500 lives.The exhibition Remembering Titanic-100 years presents the history of this epic tragedy from construction to fateful sinking and rediscovery, and the controversy surrounding it.Drawing on replica objects, ship models, memorabilia, newspapers, and graphics the exhibition concentrates on the human stories behind the disaster from the ‘unsinkable’ Molly Brown to the unsung heroes like junior wireless operator Harold Sydney Bride and Arthur Henry Rostron, Captain of the Carpathia which came to Titanic’s aid.Visitors to the exhibition will see a large memorial wall at the entry to the exhibition, which lists the names of all the known survivors and victims of the sinking and provides a dramatic visual of the size of the disaster.
Credit: RMS Titanic leaving Southampton. Titanic In Photographs: Klistorner & Hall.
Strange Interlude - Belvoir
Belvoir St Theatre,
Surry Hills
Event Starts: 05-May-2012 Ends: 17-Jun-2012
Three decades before he wrote Long Day’s Journey into Night, Eugene O’Neill wrote a sprawling and adventurous masterpiece the likes of which Broadway had never seen. Almost a century later, there is still no other play like Strange Interlude.
Twenty-year-old Nina Leeds has lost the love of her life in the war. Overcome with grief, she quits university, falls out with her father and moves away from home. What follows is a breathtaking journey through 25 years in Nina’s life, as she pursues a series of sexual flings to console herself, eventually settles down in a comfortable but unexciting marriage with Sam Evans, then begins a 15-year affair with his best friend Ned Darrell. One of the few modern plays to interweave soliloquy and dialogue, Strange Interlude offers a touching insight into the minutiae of our daily worries, joys and hopes, set against the vast backdrop of life’s irreversible decisions.
Now in its 8th year, the Sydney Comedy Festival is an annual fixture of the Sydney events calendar. With its largest line up yet for 2012, the festival will be delivering comic disturbances across the city.The line-up includes fan favourite Ross Noble (UK), Henry Rollins (USA), Stephen K Amos (UK), Akmal (AUS), Jimeoin (IRE) Mark Watson (UK), Simon Amstell (UK) Steve Hughes (AUS), Deanne Smith (CAN), Jim Breuer (US), Danny Bhoy (UK), Pajama Men (US), Lawrence Leung (AUS), Felicity Ward (AUS) and the irrepressible David O’Doherty (IRE).With over 300 performances across 20 venues over three hilarious weeks, the Sydney Comedy Festival is one of Sydney’s major annual cultural events.
The first exhibition about Australia’s most loved and successful children’s entertainers, The Wiggles, has been developed by the Powerhouse Museum to mark an amazing 20-year journey. The Wiggles, recognised the world over by their boldly-coloured skivvies, are the most popular preschoolers singing group of all time and one of the most successful performing acts that Australia has produced. Their music and performances have captivated millions of children globally.
The Wiggles exhibition will immerse children in a highly entertaining, interactive and educational environment. Upon entering the exhibition, children will enjoy multi-sensory experiences in four themed spaces, colour co-ordinated and individually named after the four Wiggles, featuring fun activities that encourage kids to discover, interact and play.
Under Milk Wood - Sydney Theatre Company
Sydney Theatre Company,
Circular Quay
Event Starts: 22-May-2012 Ends: 07-Jul-2012
A chorus of voices beckons us into the small Welsh town Llareggub, through streets, houses, bedrooms and on into the townspeople’s dreams. Borne along by beautiful voices and rich musical language, we follow the residents as they wake, rise, go about their day then drink and prepare to dream again.
Through sketches and caricatures we glimpse moments in the life of the small town.
An elegy for a time past, Dylan Thomas’ exquisite play for voices was written to prove that there could still be beauty in a post-nuclear world. Like Wilder’s Our Town, Under Milk Wood is a warming celebration of humanity that also casts a cool eye on failed relationships, thwarted lives and the oppressive clutter of small town existence. With a cast of entrancing voices headed by Jack Thompson in the role Dylan Thomas imagined for himself but never got a chance to play Andrew Upton’s production of Under Milk Wood really is for lovers of language.