Things to do in Sydney today

It’s no secret that Vivid grows every year, gaining new hot spots around the city for glowy light installations, ridiculously yummy food and an all-round vibrant atmosphere. This year, the 25 Martin Place building and surrounds will have all three of those things going on – it’s back in the Vivid line-up for the first time since 2018.  Here’s our pick of what you have to check out if you’re in Martin Place during Vivid (which we reckon you should be):  Aalia X Moët Hennessy Check out the luxe plaza area of 25 Martin Place for a glamorous collab between Middle Eastern fine-diner Aalia and opulent booze label Moët Hennessy. They’re opening a pop-up garden bar where the cocktails and tasty bites will be plentiful. Catch them from 3pm for a warm-up tipple or ’til 10pm when the city is alight and in the full Vivid swing.  BioDream Walk the line between your subconscious and reality with this mind-bending projection of mangroves, rippling water and flying albatrosses projected onto the futuristic looking mushroom-shaped building at the entrance to 25 Martin Place. Stunning. Affordable nibbles With the packed crowds, restaurants that book out weeks in advance and so much ground to cover, sometimes a cheeky takeout from the food court is the best option on a Vivid night out. 25 Martin Place even has dessert covered with a Gelato Messina on site – so you can spend more time hopping between Sydney’s light shows with a dessert cone in hand.  Dining experiences  Alongside Aalia,...

Vivid Sydney is back in action, but it’s not just the sparkly lights and foodie offerings that have caught our attention. The Vivid Music program is back with a vengeance, and between free outdoor concerts, exclusive gigs, sweaty dance parties, iconic international acts and local legends, there’s a whole lot of noise to get around.  We've done the browse work for you and unearthed the acts, venues and big nights out you should put your coin behind (or even enjoy for nix). Take your pick, and light up your winter with one of these bespoke gigs going down between May 23 and June 14. Photograph: Anna Kucera | Ayesha Madon Tumbalong Nights will return to Darling Harbour, with free entertainment hitting the outdoor stage every night. DJs will keep the party going from Sunday to Wednesday, while live music starts at 7.30pm every Thursday to Saturday (plus Sunday 8 and Monday 9 June for the long weekend), with kids’ shows from 5–6pm on Saturdays. Rising star and Time Out Sydney cover girl Ayesha Madon will kick things off, sharing a double bill with fellow Sydney pop singer Charley (Fri, May 23). The free concert series also features local surf-rock darlings Winston Surfshirt, Sydney rockers Body Type, V-Pop sensations Mỹ Anh and Chi Xê, Grammy-winning African artist Dobet Gnahoré, Stella Jang from Korea, India’s Zaeden and former bass player for Prince, MonoNeon. (Check out all the acts and dates over here.) Photograph: SOH/Dean Tirkot | Lady Fur for House of Mince At the...

Take one glance at the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Hyde Park Barracks and it’s obvious the big brick structure is dripping with history. It started out as a place that housed male convicts in the early 1800s, but Japanese-Australian artist Hiromi Tango is shining a light (literally) on its lesser-known significance as a site of women’s history this May and June. Watch the Barracks become a canvas for larger-than-life projections showcasing the stories of the women who passed through the building that was once the Female Immigration Depot and Hyde Park Asylum from 1848 to 1887. Recorded voices offer deeply personal stories of hope, and a visual collage that appears after dark until 10pm gives passersby a peek into the Barracks’ archaeology including its rich collection of textiles and fabric fragments inside.  Being a Japanese immigrant, and now a resident of Northern NSW, Tango was inspired by the “voices of those who are often left out of history”. Watch as the site also transforms into the ‘Hope garden’ with large ‘hope flowers’ and a collaborative installation of upcycled textiles that will keep growing.  Hope is on until June 15 at the Hyde Park Barracks, projected nightly until 10pm. Visitors can check it out for free. Find out more info here. The Hyde Park Barracks museum is also open daily from 10am to 6pm with free entry and includes an immersive self-guided audio experience which takes about an hour and a half to complete.

If the leading lady of a daytime telenovela was to read too many pop-psychology books while downing a double Espresso Martini, you might get something close to Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. This musical comedy based on Pedro Almodóvar’s 1988 cinema cult classic is given a neon-lit, red-curtained makeover at Sydney’s Hayes Theatre. With precision taking a backseat to passion, director Alexander Berlage (Cry-Baby, American Psycho) delivers a stylish descent into screwball mania. The action takes place in Madrid, Spain, where Amy Hack’s (Yentl) heartbroken actress, Pepa, is having a terrible, very bad day, which we see play out from depressive start to high-flung resolution. Her lover Iván breaks up with her over answering machine, and thus, her Odyssey-styled mission to find and confront him begins. Along the journey, Pepa butts heads with Iván’s scorned ex-wife Lucia (Tisha Keleman), his son and his own frustrated fiancée, as well as her wildly unravelling best friend, Candela (Grace Driscoll).  With a book by Jeffrey Lane (known for his musical adaption of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) and music and lyrics by David Yazbek (Dead Outlaw), the original Broadway production of Women on the Verge had a relatively short lifespan – closing soon after it received poor reviews, and even poorer ticket sales. This is where Berlage’s adept hand at re-inventing cult flops takes charge – finding a space for his avant-garde style through sharp angles, frenetic choreography, and...

Just as winter begins to rear its head in the Emerald City, the annual festival of lights, music, ideas and more rolls around: lighting up the city with a multidisciplinary program that gets bigger and brighter every season. Vivid Sydney 2025 is no exception, with a glittering program of lights, music, food and ideas that’s not only sparkly, but surprisingly subversive. Inspired by the theme of Dream, Vivid Sydney 2025 will use art and experience to interrogate and expand our understanding of what it means to dream: literally and figuratively. From Friday, May 23 until Saturday, June 14 2025, expect the city to be transformed into a glittering wonderland of art, inspiration and ideas – with Vivid’s signature light displays acting as a vehicle to usher in a boundary-pushing series of events. This year’s program features thought-provoking discussions, insightful film screenings, immersive street kitchens, interactive artworks and so much more. This year, Vivid-goers can expect a redesigned festival footprint, with the (totally free) light walk being presented across five distinctive zones including eight buildings and landmarks that have never been illuminated before (as well as the return of some old favourites, like Martin Place). For Vivid Sydney 2025, there’s also an expanded Vivid Music program (with Vivid Live returning to the Opera House with big names including Sigur Ros, Marlon Williams and Ezra Collective. We can also expect an interactive Stranger Things...