A guide to cool speed dating in Sydney

There’s no time for awkward conversation at Craft Singles — the incredibly fun night put on by Sydney creative hub Work-Shop — because there’s too much to do and not enough time to do it. Sixteen guys and sixteen girls are given eight craft challenges to complete before the buzzer goes off at the five minute mark each time. What better test of how well you and a prospective partner ‘work’ together could there be? Redfern.

For those looking for a more classic form of speed dating, Simply Speed Dating puts on regular events at affordable prices, usually at G.T.’s Hotel in Surry Hills.  Participants meet around a dozen members of the opposite sex that are within their age bracket (22-34 or 32-45) while enjoying a few drinks, with the company explaining that in general 86% of the people who turn up will match with one or more people at the end of the night. Those odds are not bad at all. Sydney.

Heaps Gay are not a dedicated speed dating service. They are, however, responsible for some of the most fun LGBTIQ+ parties in Sydney, and they’ve built a dedicated following due in no small part to the sense of community they’ve fostered. Their website heapsgay.com, for example, reports on and explores different issues around the LGBTIQ+ experience with contributions from their friends in Sydney and indeed around Australia. Last year, in collaboration with Dear Pluto, who also do speed dating,  they threw two dating nights,  ‘SPEED GAYS’. There’s been so much demand for them to do it again that they have another night planned in July or August of 2016. Keep an ear out. For those that are single and ready to mingle, and are feeling a little impatient about it, Heaps Gay is also planning a huge party as part of Vivid Festival on June 12th. 

Aussie Speed Date offers a variety of different nights for singles, including lock and key nights (where you’ll spend the night searching for the person who has the lock to your key, and meet a lot of people along the way), singles day trips, singles kayaking adventures, singles wine tasting events, and of course straight-up speed dating nights. Take a few mates and it’s a party.

CitySwoon holds the Guinness World Record for largest blind date, and as for their speed-dating services, they go above and beyond in that area too. Instead of circulating the night’s players amongst tables, people are matched live at the event via text message. In chic venues like Parson’s Bar in Pott’s Point, Papa Gede’s Bar in the CBD, The Wanderer in Surry Hills, and the Firehouse Hotel in North Sydney, the night’s participants hang out as they would in a normal bar, and can message their matches to meet up with them where they choose to. That means that instead of going from table to table, the young single professionals that come along can meet at the bar, hang out outside, or invite their matches to join them at their table.

Sydney Speed Dating is perhaps the most geographically accessible of the companies working here, running events in Newcastle, Parramatta, Penrith, Bondi, Coogee, Manly, Lane Cove, Neutral Bay, Ryde and Strathfield. Their events are generally held at pubs and pizza joints, which makes for a relaxed, easy-going environment where conversation and good times come easily. They also hold events around the country, in Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, The Gold Coast and Perth, which means you can meet new friends and potential partners when you’re on holidays in different states.