Things to do in Sydney today
We've found the day's best events and they're ready for your perusal, all in one place – it's your social emergency saviour
Need a quick fun fix? Take inspiration from our guide to what's on right now and never have a dull day. For an extra kick, sweat it out along these wild walks around Sydney, kick back and bliss out at our favourite Sydney spas, or hit the road toward these top day trips out of the city. Hungry? Find the very best slices of piping-hot pizza in Sydney.
RECOMMENDED: Indigenous-led walks and tours.
Free things to do in Sydney today
Plants With Bite
Budding horticulturalists who like plants with attitude should head to the Royal Botanical Gardens for a free exhibition of carnivorous greenery. The Calyx is filled with 25,000 of the world’s hungriest, most clever plants. Watch as the venus fly trap lures unsuspecting insects with nectar and snaps them up in its jaws, where they’ll spend their final days being slowly digested. Or meet the drosera, who use their sticky tentacles to attract and snatch their prey before devouring them. Then marvel at the simplicity of the pitcher plant’s hunting technique, which is to lure hapless bugs with honey and let them fall into the pool of digestive enzymes in their pitfall trap. The Plants with Bite display does sound a little like a horror film, but it’s really all bark and no bite (for humans, anyway) and families can expect a very kid-friendly experience. Plus, there is a range of themed education programs, workshops and a regular feeding display that will intrigue little greenthumbs and their grown-ups.
Paper Daisy Display at Australian Botanic Garden
Native to Western Australia, paper daisies are rarely seen outside the state but every year the Australian Botanic Garden has a sprawling display of white, pink and yellow paper daisies that draws hundreds of people to the site. The flowerbeds are situated at the base of the Connections Garden and it covers a total area of more than 1,700 square metres (just over the size of an Olympic swimming pool). Over one million seeds have been planted to create the vibrant flowerbed. The Botanic Garden also features 20km of walking tracks, lakes, gardens, parks and a Stonehenge-type sundial, outdoor sculptures and a mountain bike track. Paper daisies can usually be seen at the Garden from early September through to the end October and they're totally free to check out.
Manly Markets
Off the main drag, but still central enough to attract the tourists, Manly’s weekend markets brings together organic food stalls with souvenir sellers that makes for an easy one-stop-shop for a bite to eat and a quick browse before you hit the beach. Sydney Road has market stalls on either side, which can get stiflingly busy in summer sunshine. On a Sunday morning you’ll find Patrick’s Farm and Rita’s Farm proudly selling certified organic produce from the Hawkesbury and Wallacia. You can pick up Hass avocados for $3, lush green veggies like broccoli, leeks, fennel and spinach, plus earthy Dutch cream potatoes and butternut, and boxes of free range eggs. Alongside the two main produce stalls at the church end of the street, there are fresh-cut flowers such as flowering gum for $25 and eucalyptus for $12, but also more weathered bunches of roses and dahlias. Chippendale café Brickfields also has a stall selling sourdough loaves, almond croissants and generously sized white Chocolate passionfruit lamingtons. There’s also Brooklyn Boy Bagels and Paddy’s Irish Soda Breads, as well as coffee and Golden Gaytime brookies at Milklab Coffee. When we visit there’s only one ready-to-go food stall selling handmade gnocchi with napolitana sauce and parmesan. Though the food stalls pack up around 2pm, the bulk of the market’s clothing and gift stalls are there till 5pm. The range is hit-and-miss, from backpacker chic yak wool cardigans, natural skincare products and silver jewellery to the
Marrickville Organic Markets
These dog-friendly markets aren’t just a ritual for locals – loyal visitors from all over Sydney trek to Addison Road Community Centre for organic groceries and a wander around Reverse Garbage. You can find pretty much anything here; vintage clothes, books, rugs, eco food wraps to healing crystals, rice bread and tarot reading. There are plenty of stalls selling seasonal fruit and veg, plus Asian greens, honey and fresh seafood. Pick up a paper lunch bag filled with sweet, mini plums and stop by Brooklyn Boy Bagels for a poppy seed dough with cream cheese, lox, dill and caper schmear. If you visit on the first or fourth Sunday of the month, the longest lines will be found at La Casa Latina – a pop-up diner where you can eat authentic Mexican food. It’s a major drawcard for tamales, chilaquiles, tacos al pastor and pazole. Wash it all down with a Michelada – a popular Mexican drink that combines beer, lime, tomato juice, Worcestershire and hot sauce. If the picnic tables are full, there’s plenty of grass behind the community hall to throw down a rug – just watch out for the pony rides passing through. Find the best markets in Sydney.
One Past Liverpool
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre and to celebrate, they’re launching four new shows alongside a special anniversary exhibition, One Past Liverpool. As part of the exhibition, a group of local emerging artists under the age of 25 were commissioned to create a new work inspired by the centre’s past and its milestone exhibitions. These new works will be displayed alongside the older pieces that inspired them, in a visual passing of the baton to a new artistic generation. Alongside One Past Liverpool will run a suite of other exhibitions. Body Remembers is a photographic series by Indigenous artist Tracy Moffatt that was first shown two years ago at the 57th Venice Biennale. Pure Joy is Western Sydney artist Svetlana Panov’s collection of intricate ceramics inspired by local flora, while the Song Tree Exhibition explores the similarities and differences in childhood songs across the globe. Finally, Fractadella is a series of psychedelic digital animations by artist Len Hurley that was inspired by CPAC’s long industrial history.
Rozelle Collectors Market
A new wardrobe doesn’t have to mean popping tags on hundreds of dollars worth of swag, especially when you’re shopping at this long-standing secondhand market in Rozelle. The schoolyard of the Rozelle Public School has been a hive of weekend crate digging for more than 20 years, and while some stalls have almost earned long service leave, there are always newcomers keen to swap their good and chattel for some cold hard cash.The market runs across the weekend, although Saturday is the best day if it’s pre-loved clothing you’re after. You can find bargains for less than you’d spend on a coffee – it’s all about the chase. Don’t be afraid to dig down into the tables of tops and skirts, T-shirt piles and racks of leather jackets. And if you don’t need vintage boots, a floral dress or a designer bargain, stroll through stalls selling antiques, cut glass crystal, old suitcases, DVDs, furniture and bric-a-brac. There’s a stall out the front that sells crafting supplies and manuals, another that trades in new socks, and enough Glo-Mesh purses to clothe an entire Mad Men ball.When you’re completely overstimulated head to the top right corner of the market where a handful of food stalls sell Himalayan fare, fresh juices squeezed on demand, gozleme, and dim sum. Because it’s a school there are no soft drinks sold on site, but a watermelon and rockmelon juice should sort out any dusty heads, and if nothing in the second-hand market grabs your attention, you can always grab a plant from th
Dead Central
Long before Central Station opened in 1906 and became an essential hub for Sydney life, it was an essential hub for Sydney death. Thousands of commuters make their way through the station every day now, but in the decades following 1820 the site was one of the city's biggest burial grounds. When the cemetery closed in 1901, it was overgrown and there were more than 30,000 bodies buried there. This exhibition at the State Library of NSW is a haunting look back in time to 19th century Sydney. It's experienced with a fascinating 35-minute audio track, telling the story of the site. You can listen on your own device, and it's recommended you bring your own headphones to get the best sound experience.
Guan Wei
Beijing-born Guan Wei is one of the most provocative and distinctive artists making work in Australia today, about both China and his adopted homeland, and the connection between the two nations. He first left China for Australia in 1989, following the protests in Tiananmen Square, and has divided his time between Sydney and Beijing since then. Galleries all around Australia have avidly collected Wei's work, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, which has some of his most memorable pieces. They're putting them on display in a new exhibition in their first floor northern gallery for summer. Included is the landmark painting 'Feng Shui' (2004), which is painted onto 120 square panels, and stands five metres tall, wrapping its 18-metre length around a corner of the gallery. There's also an early work from 1992 called 'Two-finger exercise', about the political protest movement in China at the time, made up of 48 different works on paper.
Making Art Public: 50 Years of Kaldor Public Art Projects
Fifty years ago, a young John Kaldor changed Australian art history when he invited international artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude to Sydney to wrap two and a half kilometres of coastline with vast swathes of white fabric. The artwork made international headlines and was at that time the biggest single work ever seen in the world. Fast forward half a century, and Kaldor has now staged 34 awe-inspiring public art projects from artists including Jeff Koons, Marina Abramovic, Gilbert & George, Jonathan Jones and Sol LeWitt. To mark this anniversary, he's inviting British artist Michael Landy to create a retrospective exhibition that uses archival material to bring the projects back to life. Each of the projects will have its own individual four-metre square archive box, most dreamed up by Landy with the original artists. Read about Kaldor's public art journey and five of his most influential projects.
Marrickville Festival
One of the largerst suburbs in Sydney’s colourful Inner West, Marrickville boasts a mighty reputation for creativity, culinary prowess and diverse cultural experiences. The Marrickville Festival is a free day of entertainment across the suburb that brings together local creatives with shoppers, dancers and diners. This year, they’ve kicked it up a gear with more hands-on workshops, tastings and demonstrations alongside the beloved markets and entertainment hubs. The Local Market will set up stalls on Alex Trevillion Plaza, where shoppers can peruse locally crafted gifts and sustainable homewares, as well as some of Sydney’s finest gourmet fridge fodder. The local pickling and fermenting masters from the Cornersmith have curated the market this year, and they’ve organised a series of fun workshops to run throughout the day. You can start with their signature pickling class in the morning, followed by a sausage masterclass from Feather and Bone, and then stretch out beautiful blobs of buratta with Vannella Cheese in the afternoon and learn how to wrap it all up in beeswax wraps from Prava. Then whack all your workshop winnings in a tote bag and head to the new Art and Design Alley for more creative action organised by local art, fashion and gift shop Hypmotive. Here you’ll find local makers throwing clay, screen printing, creating mosaics, and running wild virtual reality experiences. You can watch demos, get your hands messy, or just keep an eye on the kids as they get col
Critics' picks
Holey Moley Boozey Brunchey
With so many Sydney establishments now offering bottomless brunch, sipping on limitless mimosas while you enjoy your avo on toast has fast become the most in vogue foodie phenomenon of the moment. Adding their offering to the ever-growing list of Sydney’s bottomless brunch options, the mini-golf gurus at Holey Moley’s Newtown location have put their spin on the dining trend to celebrate the recent refurbishment of half of its pun-tastic course. Drawing on the themes of their latest holes – inspired by pop culture faves including Forrest Gump, Lego, The Flintstones, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Jaws – you can tuck into a limited-edition menu, paired with unlimited beer, cider or wine (including sparkling), bottomless waffle fries, a specially themed cocktail on arrival, plus two-hours of unlimited mini-golf, all for $50. The eats are more diner fare than brunch classics; if you're in search of pillowy scrambled or buttered toast, jog on. Instead, you can tuck into a krabby patty that would make old mate SpongeBob drool, or gnaw on some chicken ribs like a cave-dwelling Flintstone. Fill up on Forrest Gump’s favourite popcorn shrimp, or swap out the meat for veggie and vegan alternatives, all while getting your putt-putt on. And if, after a few of those bottomless drinks, you want to keep the party going, Holey Moley Newtown is now home to two karaoke rooms, complete with a fun array of props to help unleash your inner pop star. Holey Moley’s bottomless brunch is available eve
Natives Go Wild
If you've seen The Greatest Showman (and there's a good chance you have, given it's the fifth most successful movie musical ever) you probably remember the scene where a bearded lady played by Keala Settle sings 'This is Me'. It's an uplifting number where a group of misfits plucked from obscurity by circus leader PT Barnum declare their self determination. But it's also total nonsense. See, the real PT Barnum was no champion for people of colour or people with disability. In fact, he's pretty well known for exploiting them in nasty ways with his "freak shows" and displays of Indigenous people. Now a group of First Nations artists are telling the real story of Barnum's circuses and freak shows as part of a new cabaret created for the Sydney Opera House. Created by the Opera House's head of First Nations programming Rhoda Roberts, the show follows several performers who ended up in Barnum's circuses and shows like them. It's difficult territory, but given the backdrop of circuses and travelling shows, you can expect plenty of razzle dazzle in this vibrant fusion of vaudeville, burlesque, cabaret and circus performance. One of the stories in the show is of Tambo, one of 17 Aboriginal people who were taken from Hinchinbrook and Palm Islands in 1883 to be part of a Barnum show. They were considered "human oddities" and were eventually cast as "the Aboriginal Cannibal Boomerang Throwers". That's just the tip of the iceberg, and this show doesn't shy away from taking us all t
Antenna Documentary Film Festival
The annual Antenna Documentary Film Festival highlights the most creative, insightful documentaries that have been produced in the last year. For its 9th year, Sydneysiders can get stuck into the festival’s largest ever program, with 80 films screening over 11 days of investigative cinema this October. The program includes a series of Q&A’s, talks by local and international filmmakers and the full-day industry forum that’ll help aspiring filmmakers perfect their lingering docco projects, DocTalk. You’ll need to submit your film plan before September 13 to be considered for the day of networking and practical advice about storytelling, editing, marketing and sales strategies. If you’re more about watching than doing, keep an eye on the growing program. There are some intriguing real life stories, like the opening night production Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin by veteran director Werner Herzog. The story investigates nomadic life, belonging and connection, with Herzog retracing the adventures and inspirations of prolific travel writer Bruce Chatwin – Herzog’s now deceased friend and collaborator – from Patagonia to Wales and the Australian outback. In The Disappearance of My Mother, Italian director Beniamino Barrese seeks to understand and stay connected to his mother, Benedetta Barzini. She was a supermodel and muse to Dali and Warhol in the 1960s, a radical feminist in the ’70s and now, at the age of 75, simply wants to retreat from life and the expectations im
Marrickville Organic Markets
These dog-friendly markets aren’t just a ritual for locals – loyal visitors from all over Sydney trek to Addison Road Community Centre for organic groceries and a wander around Reverse Garbage. You can find pretty much anything here; vintage clothes, books, rugs, eco food wraps to healing crystals, rice bread and tarot reading. There are plenty of stalls selling seasonal fruit and veg, plus Asian greens, honey and fresh seafood. Pick up a paper lunch bag filled with sweet, mini plums and stop by Brooklyn Boy Bagels for a poppy seed dough with cream cheese, lox, dill and caper schmear. If you visit on the first or fourth Sunday of the month, the longest lines will be found at La Casa Latina – a pop-up diner where you can eat authentic Mexican food. It’s a major drawcard for tamales, chilaquiles, tacos al pastor and pazole. Wash it all down with a Michelada – a popular Mexican drink that combines beer, lime, tomato juice, Worcestershire and hot sauce. If the picnic tables are full, there’s plenty of grass behind the community hall to throw down a rug – just watch out for the pony rides passing through. Find the best markets in Sydney.
Fangirls review
There’s a whole lot of joyful noise at Belvoir right now. Fangirls, a new Australian musical by Yve Blake, is an ode to the agony and ecstasy of teen longing – the feeling of loving so much you might actually, literally, die. And what better lens to view this feeling than through the love for a boy band heartthrob? Edna (played by Blake) is obsessed with Harry from True Connection (Aydan, who made waves on The Voice). He takes lead vocals on all the group’s best songs and has the best hair (though they all have great hair). Edna's friendships – both IRL and online – are constructed in large part by their big, swoony, celebrity crushes. Edna is having a bit of a tough time as the scholarship kid in a school full of rich kids and a mum that just doesn’t understand, and she feels a kinship with the unreachable Harry, who surely also feels trapped in his life. She’s sure that, if you pause concert videos at the right timestamp, you can see a real sadness in his eyes. If only they could run away together – an impossible notion, perhaps, but not in fanfiction, which Edna writes and shares online. But when True Connection announces an Australian tour, everything changes. What if Edna can make her fic come true? Fangirls is operating on two main narrative threads: the first is this story of Edna, her mother (Sharon Millerchip), and her complicated friendships with Brianna (Kimberly Hodgson) and Jules (Chika Ikogwe) – plus her world of fan community (best represented by James Ma
More events on right now
Billy Elliot the Musical review
When Lee Hall wrote Billy Elliot, the surprise hit film about a young boy in a Northern UK mining village dreaming of a career as a dancer, he was largely writing his own story. Hall grew up working class, the son of a house painter, and his family didn’t really understand why he’d want to go to university and pursue a career as a writer. That tension between a young person’s burgeoning creative spirit and the realities of their family and community’s social situation is at the heart of the film, and it is just as central to the deeply moving 2005 musical version, with a book and lyrics by Hall, and music by Elton John, another son of the working class who was lifted by his own prodigious creative talent. Making a musical that runs on class tension is not the easiest thing to do (although My Fair Lady got it right), but Hall and John, along with director Stephen Daldry, have concocted a smart, surprising and exhilarating piece of theatre. The characters from the film – Billy, his tough-as-nails ballet teacher, Mrs Wilkinson, and his miner father and brother – are all blown up to theatrical proportions in a way that feels tactful and caring. This new tour, opening 12 years after the show first popped up in Sydney and won a swag of Helpmann Awards, proves the story’s endurability and ability to capture an audience’s heart. One key element of the set, designed by Ian MacNeil, has been adjusted slightly to make the show more tourable, but it's lost very little of its visual app
Rosaline review
If you know your Shakespeare – or your Baz Luhrmann – you know that the moment Romeo met Juliet changed everything. It was all ‘did my heart love till now?’ and making eyes through a fishtank while Des’ree sang ‘Kissing You’ in the background. It was a shock of love, a jolt of emotion. It’s iconic. But wasn’t Romeo supposed to be all hung up on Rosaline? With that first meeting, Juliet is only the only girl in Romeo’s life. The one before her, the one that had him moping and mooning, is all but forgotten. Enter Australian playwright (and head of education at Bell Shakespeare) Joanna Erskine and her play, simply and directly titled Rosaline. What happened to the girl left behind, it asks? What was she doing while those star cross’d lovers married and fought and died? Turns out, things weren’t going so well. Rosaline (Aanisa Vylet) might have been cautious about going to the next level with Romeo (Alex Beauman), but she loved the boy – much to the dismay of her loyal friend Peter (Jeremy Campese), who’s carrying the biggest metaphorical torch in the world for Rosie. But Rosaline has bigger problems. Sequestered in her room (everyone enters by window – she’s either Rapunzel or Clarissa Darling), Rosaline films herself and her guests near-constantly, because she’s been having trouble with her memory. That trouble, much like her isolation, has likely been orchestrated by her brother, Tybalt, or the good friar (David Lynch) that we know best for helping out lovestruck Romeo
The Wizard’s Cauldron
While you won’t find the most famed greasy-haired potions masters or boy wizard at this creative drinking experience, you will have a lot of fun if you’re keen on the occult. Channel the powers of your coven idol, from Sabrina to Hermione and any of the kids from Wizards of Waverly Place, and brew devilish concoctions in your cauldron. Like any brave young witch or wizard, you’ll have to master the dark arts to unlock the secrets to perfecting your brew. Wand and robe will be supplied upon entry, and your golden ticket also covers the cost of a warming glass of mead plus your boozy magical potion (so you best follow the age-old instructions in the book of the beast). The 90-minute experience will be taking over the upstairs bar at the Wanderer, bringing all the magical trimmings of Hogwarts and Cackle's Academy combind to Surry Hills until December 8.
Fangirls review
There’s a whole lot of joyful noise at Belvoir right now. Fangirls, a new Australian musical by Yve Blake, is an ode to the agony and ecstasy of teen longing – the feeling of loving so much you might actually, literally, die. And what better lens to view this feeling than through the love for a boy band heartthrob? Edna (played by Blake) is obsessed with Harry from True Connection (Aydan, who made waves on The Voice). He takes lead vocals on all the group’s best songs and has the best hair (though they all have great hair). Edna's friendships – both IRL and online – are constructed in large part by their big, swoony, celebrity crushes. Edna is having a bit of a tough time as the scholarship kid in a school full of rich kids and a mum that just doesn’t understand, and she feels a kinship with the unreachable Harry, who surely also feels trapped in his life. She’s sure that, if you pause concert videos at the right timestamp, you can see a real sadness in his eyes. If only they could run away together – an impossible notion, perhaps, but not in fanfiction, which Edna writes and shares online. But when True Connection announces an Australian tour, everything changes. What if Edna can make her fic come true? Fangirls is operating on two main narrative threads: the first is this story of Edna, her mother (Sharon Millerchip), and her complicated friendships with Brianna (Kimberly Hodgson) and Jules (Chika Ikogwe) – plus her world of fan community (best represented by James Ma
Fully Committed review
If an exclusive fine dining restaurant is booked out for the night, they might use the term “fully committed” to describe the situation to deep-pocketed callers clamouring for a reservation. Now imagine you answer those calls. It’s not your dream, obviously (that’s acting), but this pays the bills. It’s a terrible job – rich idiots and creepy men yelling at you constantly – but you’re handling it. Until one day that’s already a bad day: your girlfriend just left you, you’re anxious to hear about an acting gig, you’re missing your dad. And then your co-workers haven’t shown up, and you have to manage the switchboard alone. And when the restaurant’s tables fill up three months in advance, those callers are probably not going to be happy with you. That scenario is the premise for Becky Mode’s Fully Committed, a whirlwind of a one-hander full of chirping phones and entitled customers. Everyone is terrible: the “bad boy of the kitchen” chef, the sexist maître d', the receptionist gatekeeper at her agent’s office, the movers and shakers who simply have to have a table for that evening. And Sam has to handle it all on her own. She misses the staff meal, she can’t go to the bathroom and upstairs keep asking her to clean up a terrible mess, even though that’s clearly out of her remit, because Heston Blumenthal is in the building and they’re all in a tizz. The actor who plays Sam and the 31 other characters in the show (every voice at the end of a line) is usually a man. Here, thou
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The best yum cha in Sydney
Is there a better way to start the day than a torrent of fluffy pork buns, sea-sweet prawn har gow, chewy siu mai, slippery cheong fun, silken tofu, hearty beef tendon, braised chicken feet, mango pancakes and custard tarts? Absolutely not. Here's our definitive list of the best spots in Sydney to relish this morning ritual.