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Sydney Festival 2012

What's on at the Sydney Festival

What is the Sydney Festival?

You might think that after all the Sydney New Years celebrations and world famous fireworks, things might calm down a little bit in Sydney. Well, you'd be right, they do, but not for long. The Sydney Festival takes a hold of Sydney on 7th January and doesn't let go until Australia Day. The Sydney Festival draws in around a million people from far and wide making it the most popular cultural festival in Australia. Around 500 top Australian and International artists will attempt to dazzle and mesmerize you with an array of high quality offerings of dance, theatre, music and visual art.

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Sydney Festival Highlights

With so much on offer it is going to be difficult to pick any particular show you should see or not miss. 'What's Hot', at least according to the Sydney Festival Organisers, includes Beautiful Burnout "Sweat, punches, blood and banter. They all fly in this gritty and explosive piece of physical theatre about the most controversial sport of our time", I am Eora a World Premiere of 50 "Aboriginal musicians, performers, creative artists and technicians from across the country come together for one of the most thrilling collaborations ever commissioned by Sydney Festival and Tis Pity She's a Whore "Currently playing a sold-out season to rave reviews in Paris, Le Figaro have described 'Tis Pity She's a Whore' as a masterpiece. Not to be missed."

Festival First Night (Freebee) - Saturday, January 7th 2012

Arguable, the best is most certainly not kept till last when it comes to the Sydney Festival. The heart of the city comes alive with a huge first night of performances filling Sydney's parks and streets with movement, drama, music and pure entertainment. Amazingly the first night is free as is the three massive outdoor concerts in Sydney's Domain that follow it.

Sydney Festival For Kids

For the kids there's "Holly Throsby performing her children’s album "See! from top to toe", plus Caspar Babypants with his very cool rockin’ sing-a-long. Share the shade with Erth’s puppets (if you dare) or get all tangled up in Polyglot’s bouncy sculpture. Hosted by Melbourne’s madcap Listies."

D J Norman

Listen out for D J Norman, although thinking about it, he will be hard to miss with his double-decker bus in Hyde Park. Mr Norman's epic eight hours of "summer tunes" will have toes tapping if not hips, and other body parts, gyrating. It's all good fun. Then there's Brook Andrew, one of Australia’s leading contemporary artists, with his "massive projections and street performances amid a bevy of handpainted caravans."

Eco-Crisis

As the sun calls it a day, head off to College Street to witness a powerful story "of eco-crisis. Combining dramatic film and visuals with stunning aerial agility, the stage literally tips skywards as performers cling on for dear life."

The Art Gallery of NSW

The Art Gallery of NSW likes to play it's part in the festival with "music, film and performances for the whole family. Inspired by Picasso’s native Spain and his adopted home of Paris, My Sauce Good, Monsieur Camembert and more perform inside the Gallery until 11pm."

Trocadero Dance Palace

Down in uptown Elizabeth Street, you'll find the Jolly Boys from Jamaica doing their dance hall swing thing before The Sirens Big Band open an explosive outdoor Trocadero Dance Palace. "The 40s and 50s jive and hop into life as Sydney’s swingsters and rockabillies fill the streets in all their fabulous finery."

Sydney Festival Opening Night

Sydney Festival Free Stuff

The free stuff doesn't stop after opening night. There is a whole program of freebees to look forward to.

Sydney Festival Free Stuff

Sydney Festival's Second Night and beyond

After the excitement of opening night you can look forward to some spectacular performances from the likes of Sufjan Stevens, Grizzly Bear, Emmylou Harris, Camera Obscura and this year's big name, PJ Harvey. The best way to approach this is to flick through the program (link below). If you intend to see a few different things make use of the planner on the Sydney Festival website.

Sydney Festival Program

I Love the Nightlife

As you might have guessed, Sydney will be alive and buzzing during the festival and it doesn't stop till..well I'm not sure it does stop actually. Anyway, the Sydney Festival has it's own bar in Hyde Park Barracks complete with live bands and DJs:

Keystone Festival Bar

Sydney (Honda) Festival Garden in Hyde Park

Hyde Park doesn't have all the action to itself, Hyde Park muscles in with the Festival Garden incorporating the "Famous Spiegeltent".

Spiegeltent

During the day, "The Famous Spiegeltent" is a family friendly affair with magic shows for the kids. At lunchtime, the Sydney Festival artists share their inspiration in the free Microscope talks.

As the sun sets the Spiegeltent goes all musical from Iceland to Jamaica and then it reaches purfection with the sizzling "Meow Meow."

Wednesday night is smart comedy night with the brainy wits of Bright Club. From Thursday through to Sunday, stay up late and groove-up in style with the welcome return of the free "Late at the Garden".

Jägermeister Hunting Lodge

The Jägermeister Hunting Lodge is a newbie, with a cosy lounge for cosying over a few drinks, more DJing and live musicing.

Sydney Festival Garden

Parramatta Festival - 13th to 22nd January

The geographical heart of Sydney, Parramatta, officially takes over the festival from 13th to 22nd but the show will go on in Sydney as well.

Parramatta Festival

Black Capital - Redfern

Head to Redfern, unofficially known as the "Black Capital of Australia", for a series of special performances, seminars and exhibitions reflecting the diversity of contemporary Aboriginal practice as performed and portrayed by Carriageworks and the local community.

Black Capital - Redfern

Top 100 Plus Sydney things to do

Don't forget there are still a myriad of things to do in and around Sydney which are not officially part of the Sydney Festival. Once you have planned your Sydney Festival outings, fill in the gaps with some top Sydney things to do:

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Happy Sydney Festivities!