Things to do in Sydney this weekend
Find all the best events on Friday, Saturday and Sunday this weekend
We can feel spring trying to peek its head through early, and we’re embracing it in readiness for another shining Sydney weekend. See the city in all its glory from afar at these spots for gazing at Sydney’s skyline, and get a dose of vitamin D as you stroll along these stunning Sydney walking routes.
If you’re planning a picnic, make these 11 incredible delis your first port of call. These community hubs preserve age-old food traditions, and can furnish your feast with pickled, fermented, cured, brined and dried snacks from around the world.
RECOMMENDED: The best waterfalls in NSW.
Find the best things to do this weekend
Chicago
Chicago was only a minor splash when it premiered on stage in 1975, but when it was given a stripped back and sexed up new production in 1996, it became an immediate sensation and eventually the longest running Broadway revival of all time. That's the production Sydney audiences will see.
A Club Called Rhonda
To celebrate their extended licence (you can party till 5am now), the Lansdowne and party starters Picnic and Terzini are bringing out LA party hosts Gregory Alexander and Loren Granich to create A Club Called Rhonda – an open-minded, inclusive, and extravagant dance party.
Caroline, or Change
This highly regarded musical is based in Louisiana in 1963 and concerns an eight-year-old boy and his family’s maid, a single mother of four. It raises pertinent questions about economic inequality and white privilege, all set to a score combining blues, spiritual music, soul, motown and Jewish Klezmer.
CPAC Live
CPAC Live is a series of free live concerts highlighting up-and-coming local artists. In August they’re mixing it up with a special tournament of hip-hop music, breakdancing and beatboxing. It’ll be a competition-style event, which they’re calling ‘culture: knockout’.
Double Bay Dog Day
Kick back in the dog-friendly beer garden while learning about rescue dogs and puppy adoption. There'll be live entertainment, dog comps with great prizes, a pet market with everything from treat tastings to puppy crystal healing, as well as an adoption parade.
Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year
The Powerhouse Museum has become a biodiverse forest of flora and fauna with the arrival of the Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year. See stunning portrayals of the biogregions of Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand and Antarctica, including up-close investigations of animals and sprawling landscape scenes.
Sydney Tower Stair Challenge
You might groan when the lift is out of order and you’re faced with a few flights of stairs, but when challenged with more than 1,500 steps and a 300 metre vertical climb, Sydney steps up. The Sydney Tower Stair Challenge asks competitors to complete this feat, scaling the Sydney Tower Eye.
Opera High Tea: Opera Goes to the Movies
Opera Bites – a company specialising in costumed miniature operas – is making the style more accessible with a movie-themed performance over high tea. They'll perform operatic hits like ‘Brindisi’ from Pretty Woman (when Vivian tearily watches the aria on stage) and ‘Nessun Dorma’ from Mission Impossible.
Here We Are
The Art Gallery of NSW has collected plenty of beautiful and provocative contemporary art in recent years, and is showing some of its latest acquisitions by leading women artists in this free exhibition exploring the intricacies of human relationships.
David Stratton Presents Martin Scorsese's Scariest Films Ever Festival
This weekend is your last chance to get chills at the Hayden Orpheum's classic horror screenings. The selection is based on the scariest films chosen by US director Martin Scorsese, and the final picks are The Exorcist (think levitating, babbling terror) and 1945 vampire flick, Isle of the Dead.
Rainbow Chan
[Sponsored] Art-pop vocalist and producer Rainbow Chan is playing a string of shows in support of her recently released album Pillar. The record follows 2016’s Spacings and 2017 single ‘Let Me’, which earned a SMAC trophy for Best Song of the Year.
Sydney Cherry Blossom Festival
To celebrate the start of cherry blossom season, Auburn Botanic Gardens runs a nine-day festival of ticketed Hanami (‘flower viewing’) sessions and midweek tours so you can wander under the canopy of pink flowers in the Japanese-style gardens. This is the final weekend of floral activities.
Ghostly Garden
Ready your torches and your nerves for this nighttime garden ghost tour. Your guide will share spine-tingling stories about the area, introducing you to long-dead historical figures who’ve visited the Botanic Gardens and the secretive nocturnal creatures who now inhabit it.
West Side Story
For those who've somehow never seen West Side Story, it's a 1950s musical take on Romeo and Juliet, but instead of warring families, it features warring New York City gangs. The Joey McKneely directed production is a fairly faithful take on the show, using all of Jerome Robbins' original Broadway choreography.
Luminous
Longstanding folk-indie darling Lior is joining forces with world-famous photographer Bill Henson and the Australian Chamber Orchestra for a show that promises to be both a visual and aural feast. The music covers genres from Britten and Janáček to R.E.M.
Te Molimau
Set sometime in the future, the story follows Vitolina, the last person left on Tokelau after all the other inhabitants have fled the island for resettlement in Australia. She is left to reflect upon what makes us who we are, and what remains when returning home is no longer a possibility.
Tjungu Palya: As We Come Together We Stand Strong For Our Story
Tjungu Palya is an Aboriginal-owned and run art centre in South Australia, around 450km south-west of Alice Springs at the base of the Mann Ranges. This exhibition from the centre is two years in the making and is taking place across both Artbank in Sydney and Melbourne.
Bar'd Work: Twelfth Night
Given the rarified air Shakespeare occupies in our culture, it can be easy to forget that his plays were the popular entertainment of his day. They were typically rowdy affairs, and the team at Bar'd Work is trying to recapture that spirit with their comedies performed around patrons at a pub.
Wink
About the only thing married couple Sofie and Gregor share is their cat Wink – who has mysteriously gone missing – and their psychiatrist. Wink suddenly turns up on the psychiatrist’s couch and the line between civilisation and savagery begins to look even more tenuous.
Songs of Home
The Museum of Sydney’s new exhibition provides insight into the music that was created and enjoyed by early colonists and the Indigenous people of NSW. It considers how these groups interacted and shared music, our limited knowledge of the musical world at this time, and the place of music in our society today.
Cherry Blossom Festival World Square
At this CBD flower festival you can play with the cherry blossoms via an immersive augmented reality experience, as well as gazing at blooms IRL. There'll be other activities including traditional Japanese drumming, origami and bonsai workshops, calligraphy performance and Yosakoi Soran dancing.
Seek out the best salty slices in Sydney
The best pizza in Sydney
Throwing all carb-caution to the wind, Time Out Sydney has gone on an eating rampage through Sydney's pizza restaurants to track down the city's best. You're welcome. Now get thee to a pizzeria!