Things to do in Sydney today

’Tis (almost) the season: Christmas may still be six months away, but you won’t have to wait that long for a festive-style fix. A new winter festival is landing at Hay St, bringing an ice-skating rink, winter cocktails and immersive events, from July 1 to August 2. The month-long celebration will see Hay St embrace the season with a special Winterfest menu as the market is decked out with twinkling lights, falling snow in a dedicated laneway, and a pop-up photo booth, where you can snap a souvenir pic to take home. Whether you’re a newbie or a pro, lace up for a 45-minute skate sesh on the synthetic ice rink. Tickets are $10 and include skates as well as a 25 per cent off voucher for food from any stall of your choice.  If you’re less of a skater and more of a spectator – especially when it comes to the hockey-player romance craze currently taking over our screens – Hay St is hosting a one-off American-themed Off Campus Party on Thursday, July 9. Take a study break and step into a real-life campus movie, with cheerleaders, hockey players and campus officers roaming the halls. Entry is $5, with a DJ spinning party tracks all night for anyone keen to hit the dance floor. As if you needed another reason to visit, the market is also hosting the most wholesome date-night activity, with two cosy nights of candlelit jazz performances on July 25 and August 1 from 6-9pm. Winterfest at Hay St runs every Wednesday to Sunday from July 1 to August 2, with free entry. Find out more here.

Few things in life manage to bridge generational divides, and one of them is Animal Crossing. Whether you’re looking for activities these school holidays or feeling nostalgic for the hours spent catching fish on your Nintendo Switch, head to Darling Harbour from July 1 to August 23 to experience a dreamlike underwater world where your favourite virtual characters and the real marine world collide. Back by popular demand, the Animal Crossing: New Horizons experience returns with a fresh and even more immersive take, giving returning fans the perfect excuse to come back. Snap a pic with Isabelle, everyone's favourite secretary, or check out panels from Blathers about the aquarium’s real-world marine life. In between lessons, see if you can spot a washed-up Gulliver alongside giant cutouts of other island residents hiding around. You can also take part in a stamp rally inspired by the game. If you collect all the character stamps, you'll take home a postcard as a reward that’s worthy of a spot on the fridge.  Tickets start from $99 per family, with 30 per cent off until July 19. Plus, students save more than 50 per cent, with $24 tickets available weekdays anytime (outside school holidays) or every day after 3pm. The Animal Crossing: New Horizons experience at Sea Life runs for a limited time from July 1 to August 23, 2026. To learn more and get tickets, visit the Sea Life Sydney Aquarium website.

Back in May, sommelier Nick Hildebrandt and chef Brent Savage announced they would be closing their fine diner Bentley Restaurant and Bar this winter after more than 20 years at the top of its game (and five-star reviews from Time Out). The award-winning restaurant, which originally opened in Surry Hills in 2006 before moving to its current home in Sydney’s CBD on O’Connell Street in 2013, is housed within a heritage sandstone building dating back to the 1850s, now part of The Paradox Hotel Sydney. It will have its final service at the end of August. But because this is the Bentley Group we’re talking about – talent who are always one step ahead of the curve and not afraid to change things up, close the curtains when the time is right, or start fresh when opportunity arises (see: Monopole, Cirrus, Yellow, King Clarence, Watermans, and the soon-to-open Ashe and Bar Vespertine, for example) – this isn’t goodbye for good. Instead, Hildebrandt and Savage are on the lookout for the next perfect home for Bentley’s third act. “This feels less like an ending and more like a natural moment to pause and reset,” says Hildebrandt. “The move from Crown Street to the CBD was a defining evolution for Bentley, and now it feels like the right time for that next transformation.” For the final few months of service, Bentley Restaurant and Bar has rolled out the culinary red carpet with a greatest hits menu for both the tasting menu and bar menu – featuring the restaurant’s best dishes over...

Sydney’s Darling Harbour is turning to ice once again. No, the harbour itself hasn’t frozen over (though the winter chill might have you fooled), but the much-loved ice skating rink has officially glided back into town for the 2026 season – and it’s bigger, busier and more entertaining than ever. If you’ve always dreamed of landing a triple axel – or simply recreating your own Home Alone 2 moment under twinkling city lights – consider this your cue. Whether you’re planning a wholesome date night or looking for a foolproof way to tire out the kids these school holidays, this icy pop-up delivers. From Friday, June 27 until Sunday, July 19, you can head down to the Palm Grove Forecourt (just outside IMAX Sydney) to lace up your skates and take to the rink. Sessions run daily from 10am to 9pm, giving you plenty of time to channel your inner figure skater – or wobble your way around like Bambi on ice. (Pro tip: thick pants are still your best friend.) The rink welcomes skaters of all levels, with handy skating aids available for little ones still finding their footing. But the big new addition for 2026? Friday night performances. Each week at 5.45pm and 6.45pm, six professional skaters will take to the ice for a dazzling 12-minute show, bringing a touch of winter magic to the waterfront with elegant choreography and serious skill. Once you’ve had your fill of spins (intentional or otherwise), Darling Harbour’s surrounding precinct is packed with dining options – from quick...

Institution versus intuition. Power versus prejudice. Bias versus belief. It’s all laid bare in the stage production of Doubt: A Parable, coming to the Sydney Theatre Company from June 30 onwards. Sam Reid (The Newsreader, Interview with the Vampire) stars opposite Pamela Rabe (Wentworth) in John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play that’s directed by Australian theatre great, Marion Potts. The production also features Zindzi Okenyo (director of Purpose) and Shannen Alyce Quan (The Dictionary of Lost Words), bringing together a stellar cast for this engrossing 90-minute drama. Set in a Catholic school in the Bronx, New York in 1964, Doubt centres on a shocking accusation that blurs the lines between suspicion and truth. Sister Aloysius (Rabe), the rigid headmistress of St. Nicholas Church School suspects the charismatic Father Flynn (Reid) of inappropriate sexual behaviour towards the school’s sole black student, Donald Muller. If the plot sounds familiar, it’s perhaps because you’ve watched the 2008 film adaptation, starring Meryl Streep and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman.  Provocative and deeply unsettling, the play asks audiences to question everything – and is as relevant now as when it made its Broadway debut about 20 years ago. As the evidence remains frustratingly inconclusive, audiences are left to wrestle with their own assumptions long after the final curtain falls. Doubt: A Parable is at the Sydney Theatre Company’s Roslyn Packer Theatre...