Earlier this week, Time Out released their list of the best cities in the world for culture, and Sydney ranked in fifth place. According to 18,500 survey respondents (locals living in cities around the world, including here in city) and Time Out's global team of arts and culture editors, Sydney has more to offer on the culture front than London, New York, Barcelona and, yep, Melbourne. Following the announcement, NSW Minister for the Arts, Music and the Night-Time Economy John Graham, MLC released a statement shedding a little more light on how Sydney’s cultural landscape has been blossoming to lead to this result.
In his statement reflecting on Sydney’s super-high ranking on the global leaderboard, Minister Graham noted how Sydney’s nightlife has bounced back since the lockout laws were lifted back in 2021. But the removal of the lockout laws isn’t the only regulation change that’s been implemented to boost Sydney’s cultural landscape – with recent vibrancy reforms (largely driven forward by Sydney’s 24-hour economy commissioner, Mike Rodrigues) having helped the city make big strides.
"Since coming to government two years ago we’ve been fighting to bring Sydney back to life, which has involved cutting lots of red tape that was holding back small venues through to large cultural events," says Minister Graham. The Minister notes some of the initiatives:
- The introduction of Special Entertainment Precincts across the city and beyond;
- New rules introduced for tenants moving into special entertainment precincts (making late-night fun a lot more achievable);
- Increased incentives for venues to host live music;
- The extension of trading hours;
- The removal of the outdated standing while drinking rule;
- The removal of the 5km radius sign-up rule at clubs and RSLs;
- New rules introduced for tenants moving into special entertainment precincts (making late-night fun a lot more achievable); and
- The lift of the concert cap on stadiums.
On the events front, Sydney is home to a strong line-up of annual cultural events supported by the NSW government, including Australian Fashion Week, Sydney Fringe, Sydney Film Festival, Sydney Writers’ Festival, Vivid Sydney, SXSW Sydney, Sydney Comedy Festival (to name a few).
Then there are our cultural institutions; with the Sydney Opera House consistently recognised as one of the most iconic venues in the world, the Art Gallery of NSW home to one of the world’s most spectacular new museum spaces, and other incredible spaces including Walsh Bay Power Station, City Recital Hall and Machine Hall serving up wildly creative, boundary-pushing programs. And things aren’t stopping there – Parramatta’s Riverside Theatre is getting a major glow-up, as is Ultimo’s beloved Powerhouse Museum.
Minister Graham admits that it’s "not mission accomplished" here in Sydney. "The hard work continues, so stay tuned as we rebuild our night-time economy block-by-block neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood.
“People often talk down Sydney’s cultural life, and sometimes they’ve had reason to, but that’s changing. I think it’s time to be proud of our city and our state again,” he added. Hear hear.
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