Things to do in Sydney today

There’s always a lot going on at Sydney’s favourite house. So much so that it can be hard to keep track – with new headliners dropping every other week, and huge events taking over the various venues seemingly out of nowhere.  Keen to go to a show under the sails over the next few months? We’ve rounded up a few top picks in the Sydney Opera House winter to spring season:  Backstage tours give you a peek behind the curtain Explore the inner workings of Australia's most famous buildings on one of these expert-led tours. Dates: DailyTickets: From $48  Table Top Shakespeare will turn pantry items into Shakespearean stars Forget actors – this delightfully bonkers production has vases, jars, Dettol bottles and salt and pepper shakers taking centre stage. Six performers from acclaimed UK theatre company Forced Entertainment will retell Shakespeare’s most iconic tales using whatever they can find in the pantry, with plenty of relish, marmalade and dish soap along the way.Dates: September 22–27Tickets: $75 Curious will bring some of the world’s biggest thinkers to the Opera House Keen to expand your mind? The Sydney Opera House’s ideas festival, Curious, will reurn with a line-up of influential thinkers, comedians, creatives and chefs exploring everything from the mysteries of consciousness to family drama, the past and what the future might hold.Dates: October 4 & November 4Tickets: From $39 A Place in the Sultan’s Kitchen will serve up a family story with a side of curry Part...

Put down your crystals and cottage cheese and head over to South Eveleigh this September – and get around the month-long program of free and affordable events designed to help you move, reset and feel your best. Now back for its third year, Live Well runs from now until September 28, with everything wellbeing – think free run clubs and pickleball, body composition scans, mindfulness experiences and creative workshops. This year, Sunrise clinical nutritionist Sarah Di Lorenzo is joining as the Live Well ambassador, hosting three free talks and Q&A sessions throughout the month covering nutrition, health and workplace wellbeing. She’ll also be signing copies of her book at one of the sessions. Elsewhere, you can get your sweat on with South Eveleigh’s weekly 5km run club, have your aura photographed (yes, really) or get a gang together for a few games of pickleball. There are also free body composition scans, and a series of Thursday night Plants & Pours workshops, including bonsai, botanical incense making, terrarium building and kokedama creation. Throughout the month, there’ll also be free pop-ups and fun including crystal finding, pet photography, archery, Aboriginal Elder Walangari Karntawarra’s sand painting session and a bike tune-up. Michael Carabetta, portfolio manager at South Eveleigh, says: “Spring is the perfect time to reset and invest in your own wellbeing. Live Well is about giving our community easy ways to move, connect and look after themselves, right in...

A celebration of all things Suntory has transformed the basement of Sakura House into Suntory House – where drinks from across Japan and the world are front and centre until October 3, 2026. Suntory is one of the biggest names in the global drinks industry, and you’ll be able to order any one of their crowd favourites alongside Japanese-style share plates at this limited-time residency in this top CBD bar. Suntory House is broadly inspired by the Japanese concept of nomikai: informal, communal after-work drinks. Expect spirits, RTDs, cocktails (especially highballs) and beer on tap alongside a food menu inspired by konbinis and izakayas – think chicken karaage, Balmain bug katsu sandwiches, aburi salmon handrolls and more. If you’re into your spirits, you’ve probably sampled Suntory-owned labels like Roku Gin, Toki Whisky, Haku Vodka, Laphroaig and Jim Beam. And if you prefer your drinks carbonated, it’s unlikely you’ve never tasted a -196 RTD or a crisp Japanese beer like Suntory The Premium Malt’s. Suntory House is open daily from 5pm, but Wednesday visitors will be treated to Hi-Kara Wednesdays presented by Suntory “Kabukin” Whisky. As part of this promotion, you can order a Suntory Kabukin Whisky Highball with chicken karaage for just $25. It’s all on offer for a limited time only – you have less than a month to visit and see it firsthand. Suntory House is taking place inside Sakura House daily from 5pm until October 3, 2026, walk-ins only. For more information, visit...

Society’s definition of success has long been measured in the currencies of wealth, status, power and prestige. The threads of capitalism are so deeply woven into the fabric of our lives that we can sometimes mistake power for responsibility, prestige for accountability and influence for merit. It is a particularly pertinent distinction at a moment when the world’s most powerful democracy is once again led by a businessman, and popularity, power and status are increasingly treated as interchangeable with competence, responsibility and merit. What is the premise of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying? It is within this uncomfortable landscape that How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, which premiered on Broadway in 1961, could find renewed relevance. The musical follows J. Pierrepont Finch (Jake Speer), an ambitious young window cleaner who uses a self-help book to manipulate his way into a job at the World Wide Wicket Company and climb the corporate ladder. As he becomes entangled with Rosemary Pilkington (Georgia Laga’aia), rival Bud Frump (Max Macdonald) and company president J. B. Biggley (Simon Burke), Finch’s increasingly audacious schemes satirise workplace politics, unchecked ambition and the uncomfortable reality of success in a world that rewards the shameless and self-interested. What are the highlights of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying? The production shows considerable promise from the outset. Director and...

If a trip to London isn’t on the cards, you can still get a taste of one of its cultural icons right here in Sydney. The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA) is joining forces with London’s Tate International for Connections: MCA x Tate, a landmark exhibition celebrating one of the most significant international partnerships in Australian contemporary art. Open until March 1, 2027, the exhibition brings together works acquired through the MCA and Tate International Joint Acquisition Program, alongside works from the MCA Collection and newly commissioned pieces. Together, they explore Australia’s ancient and recent cultural histories through a powerful First Nations lens. The joint acquisition program ran from 2015 to 2022, made possible by a $2.75 million gift from the Qantas Foundation. It enabled 35 significant works by 24 Australian artists to enter the collections of two major international institutions, helping bring Australian contemporary art to audiences around the world. The partnership first made waves at Tate Modern in 2021 with A Year in Art: Australia 1992, which attracted almost 1.5 million visitors. It also supported Richard Bell’s acclaimed Embassy, presented in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall in 2023. Curated for an Australian audience, Connections: MCA x Tate explores cultural exchange, trade, migration, travel and diaspora, while examining the long-lasting impact of British colonisation. First Nations artists are at the heart of the exhibition, with...