Max your summer in Sydney

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards and exhibition showcase not only the best of the natural world, but the patience, ingenuity and talent of the photographers who spend their time embedded within wildlife so that they can get that incredible, revealing shot. Judged by a panel of industry-recognised professionals, this year's 100 finalists were taken by some of the world’s best nature photographers and selected for their creativity, artistry and technical complexity.

It’s imperative that you do not eat before you visit the Carriageworks Farmers Markets. You’ll want to save maximum belly space for your personal version of The Bachelorette where you decide who gets your dollars and what delicious produce gets to come home with you. Maybe you like something soupy and savoury first thing? In that case go for the pho stand for a traditional Vietnamese start to the day. There’s a bibimbap stall that will even replace the rice with shredded cauliflower if you don’t believe in cheat days, and a French crêpe stall and a classic bacon and egg roll for creatures of habit. The big hitter is always Billy Kwong, where a perfect fried egg is swaddled in a Chinese pancake, packed with salad and dressed in a luxe ginger tamari sauce. And for breakfast dessert, no visit is complete without a baked treat from Flour and Stone – they soak their lamingtons in a panna cotta mix to make sure they’re extra soft and rich.Once the hounds of your hunger have been quieted it’s time to prepare for your next meal, or seven. Maybe you need the sweet bite of Pickle Hill’s Worcester sauce for the pantry? Or some fresh goat’s curd from Willowbrae? While you’re there you may as well get some smoked salmon, fresh ravioli from Pasta Emilia, free range eggs, a load of beer and barley bread form the Bread and Butter Project, and some jersey milk butter to go on it. If you forgot your sweet French basket the 2 Duck Trading Co stall sells them, so you can pack them full of fresh

Research institutions, cultural centres, museums and universities, will present more than 200 events exploring the areas of science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics for the Sydney Science Festival (Aug 7-19). The 13-day program will play out across 90 venues, featuring talks delivered by leading researchers, hands-on activities for families, opportunities to speak with industry experts and performances and film screenings tackling important scientific questions. Produced by the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences and Australian Museum, there’ll be a multidisciplinary line-up of presenters sharing insights and innovations. This will include Sydney Science Festival Ambassador Lisa Harvey-Smith, Indigenous astronomer Kirsten Banks, artificial intelligence expert Ellen Broad and Triple J’s approachable science guy doctor Karl Kruszelnicki.   Launching the festival is the free evening at the Powerhouse Museum, MAASLive Lates: Science (Thu Aug 9). This after-hours event gives you the chance to chat with scientists and museum curators, see the new exhibition Human non Human and get involved in stargazing, virtual reality experiences and other workshops and experiments.   For Super Science Saturday (Sat Aug 11) at the Australian Museum families can explore the natural world and uncover the facts like the country’s top science journalists.Then there’s more kid-friendly adventures at the Powerhouse for Big Science Day (Sun Aug 12), with coding classes and engineering ch

Enjoy historical walking tours with a side of terror? Then this is the guided haunting for you. Capitalising on the inherent creepiness of the industrial hallows of Cockatoo Island, these tours allow you to learn more about the convict, ship-building and orphanage (all excellent launch points for horror movies) past with stories about mysterious deaths, solitary confinement cells, shipwrecks and George the military ghost who floats around the upper island. The 90-minute tour is suitable for families or brave individuals, just make sure you're scare-ready, the spooky atmosphere isn't for the faint hearted.

You’ll find massive variety among the 200 stalls that take over Glebe Public School each Saturday morning, but it’s the fashion ones that attracts most visitors. There are rows upon rows of eccentric and colourful vintage clothes, alongside hand-crafted jewellery, accessories and new clothing designed by locals. There are vintage stalls scattered all around the market, but the smaller section just off Derby Lane at the back of the school is a goldmine and a slightly quieter place to scour through racks and try things on. Here you’ll find Muns Vintage, a treasure trove of recycled fabrics turned into new garments. Even if you’re not searching for a new wardrobe, Glebe Markets is a great place to grab some lunch and relax on the school lawns where live musicians serenade the crowd from noon. The lane of food stalls – just opposite the lawn – has old market favourites and more high-end offerings: gözleme, kebabs, dumplings, fancy doughnuts, gluten-free baked goods and tandoori chicken wraps from the Madras Cuisine stall, which has been part of the markets for more than two decades. Best of all, you can get a freshly squeezed, made-to-order lemonade from the Citrus Factory. It’s mixed together in a cocktail shaker and you’re able to request a little more lemon or sugar, depending how sweet your tooth is. Find more Sydney markets. 

This weekly Friday-night stand-up smackdown features a headliner and emcee with six shorter support slots from local talent. Even better: Staves brews its own ales, and there's plenty of choice on tap.

Sydney's comedians are pretty fond of this cosy comedy club; more importantly – so are you, voting it Best Comedy Club for the last two Time Out Sydney Comedy Awards. With an intimate vibe and weekly shows featuring at least two names you know and guests you may not, Happy Endings also has the benefit of being beneath El Rocco Room, for pre-show noms or post-show beers.

Promoter Donte Winbush is behind this weekly comedy club. BonkerZ features pros, semi-pros and emerging comics, and is a co-op comedy club where a percentage of each ticket is donated to the performing comics and to the Fred Hollows Foundation.

Save your airfares and set your GPS to Messina in Rosebery because they are getting ready to host a new edition of their car park snack festival that brings some of Melbourne's best hand-held food purveyors to the sunny climes of our fair city. Mr Miyagi is the guest star this time around, serving wasabi fries, spider crab tacos, and his range of Japanese hot dogs featuring truffle wagyu beef, pork belly tonkatsu and tempura tofu.  Messina Eats runs from Friday lunchtime until Saturday dinner (or until everything is sold out) and you'll be able to cap off your savouries with a gelato from Messina, specifically a sweet baked cheese tart with a strawberry yuzu gelato on top. Too cold for ice cream? There's also a lychee or raspberry soda on offer. 

First Nation, immigrant and settler descent dancers from Australia and New Caledonia come together in a new work by Indigenous dance company Marrugeku that explores the impact and aftermath of decolonisation across the Asia Pacific. Designed to coincide with New Caledonia’s referendum for independence from France in November, it asks what should remain and what should be discarded when countries unshackle themselves from their colonial pasts. Directed by Burkina Faso-born dancer and choreographer and Marrugeku associate artist Serge Aimè Coulibaly, it will tour to New Caledonia after its season at Carriageworks.

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards and exhibition showcase not only the best of the natural world, but the patience, ingenuity and talent of the photographers who spend their time embedded within wildlife so that they can get that incredible, revealing shot. Judged by a panel of industry-recognised professionals, this year's 100 finalists were taken by some of the world’s best nature photographers and selected for their creativity, artistry and technical complexity.

It’s imperative that you do not eat before you visit the Carriageworks Farmers Markets. You’ll want to save maximum belly space for your personal version of The Bachelorette where you decide who gets your dollars and what delicious produce gets to come home with you. Maybe you like something soupy and savoury first thing? In that case go for the pho stand for a traditional Vietnamese start to the day. There’s a bibimbap stall that will even replace the rice with shredded cauliflower if you don’t believe in cheat days, and a French crêpe stall and a classic bacon and egg roll for creatures of habit. The big hitter is always Billy Kwong, where a perfect fried egg is swaddled in a Chinese pancake, packed with salad and dressed in a luxe ginger tamari sauce. And for breakfast dessert, no visit is complete without a baked treat from Flour and Stone – they soak their lamingtons in a panna cotta mix to make sure they’re extra soft and rich.Once the hounds of your hunger have been quieted it’s time to prepare for your next meal, or seven. Maybe you need the sweet bite of Pickle Hill’s Worcester sauce for the pantry? Or some fresh goat’s curd from Willowbrae? While you’re there you may as well get some smoked salmon, fresh ravioli from Pasta Emilia, free range eggs, a load of beer and barley bread form the Bread and Butter Project, and some jersey milk butter to go on it. If you forgot your sweet French basket the 2 Duck Trading Co stall sells them, so you can pack them full of fresh

Research institutions, cultural centres, museums and universities, will present more than 200 events exploring the areas of science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics for the Sydney Science Festival (Aug 7-19). The 13-day program will play out across 90 venues, featuring talks delivered by leading researchers, hands-on activities for families, opportunities to speak with industry experts and performances and film screenings tackling important scientific questions. Produced by the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences and Australian Museum, there’ll be a multidisciplinary line-up of presenters sharing insights and innovations. This will include Sydney Science Festival Ambassador Lisa Harvey-Smith, Indigenous astronomer Kirsten Banks, artificial intelligence expert Ellen Broad and Triple J’s approachable science guy doctor Karl Kruszelnicki.   Launching the festival is the free evening at the Powerhouse Museum, MAASLive Lates: Science (Thu Aug 9). This after-hours event gives you the chance to chat with scientists and museum curators, see the new exhibition Human non Human and get involved in stargazing, virtual reality experiences and other workshops and experiments.   For Super Science Saturday (Sat Aug 11) at the Australian Museum families can explore the natural world and uncover the facts like the country’s top science journalists.Then there’s more kid-friendly adventures at the Powerhouse for Big Science Day (Sun Aug 12), with coding classes and engineering ch

Enjoy historical walking tours with a side of terror? Then this is the guided haunting for you. Capitalising on the inherent creepiness of the industrial hallows of Cockatoo Island, these tours allow you to learn more about the convict, ship-building and orphanage (all excellent launch points for horror movies) past with stories about mysterious deaths, solitary confinement cells, shipwrecks and George the military ghost who floats around the upper island. The 90-minute tour is suitable for families or brave individuals, just make sure you're scare-ready, the spooky atmosphere isn't for the faint hearted.

You’ll find massive variety among the 200 stalls that take over Glebe Public School each Saturday morning, but it’s the fashion ones that attracts most visitors. There are rows upon rows of eccentric and colourful vintage clothes, alongside hand-crafted jewellery, accessories and new clothing designed by locals. There are vintage stalls scattered all around the market, but the smaller section just off Derby Lane at the back of the school is a goldmine and a slightly quieter place to scour through racks and try things on. Here you’ll find Muns Vintage, a treasure trove of recycled fabrics turned into new garments. Even if you’re not searching for a new wardrobe, Glebe Markets is a great place to grab some lunch and relax on the school lawns where live musicians serenade the crowd from noon. The lane of food stalls – just opposite the lawn – has old market favourites and more high-end offerings: gözleme, kebabs, dumplings, fancy doughnuts, gluten-free baked goods and tandoori chicken wraps from the Madras Cuisine stall, which has been part of the markets for more than two decades. Best of all, you can get a freshly squeezed, made-to-order lemonade from the Citrus Factory. It’s mixed together in a cocktail shaker and you’re able to request a little more lemon or sugar, depending how sweet your tooth is. Find more Sydney markets. 

This weekly Friday-night stand-up smackdown features a headliner and emcee with six shorter support slots from local talent. Even better: Staves brews its own ales, and there's plenty of choice on tap.

Sydney's comedians are pretty fond of this cosy comedy club; more importantly – so are you, voting it Best Comedy Club for the last two Time Out Sydney Comedy Awards. With an intimate vibe and weekly shows featuring at least two names you know and guests you may not, Happy Endings also has the benefit of being beneath El Rocco Room, for pre-show noms or post-show beers.

Ben Kochan and Jamie Kirk run this show every Sunday at Redfern's Eveleigh Hotel, with a night of stand-up featuring up and comers alongside proven giggle merchants.

Black, green, boozy or iced – there are many ways to enjoy the flavours derived from the camellia sinensis plant and Sydney’s gathering of artisan tea makers are here for all of them. On August 19, you can fill up your porcelain tasting cup with tea cocktails crafted by mixologists from Archie Rose, tea wine created by the Rabbit Hole Organic Tea Bar and loose leaf blends from tea makers Ovvio, T Totaler, Original Chai Co and the Brew Story (plus, many others). Sydney Tea Festival brings together 70 stallholders at Carriageworks for a day of markets, talks and masterclasses in tea and tisane. For $16.50, you can wander the stalls and taste rare tea varieties and exotic blends and simply chill out in the Brew Lounge. Or to truly geek out over tea leaves, you can book into a speciality workshop in blending, food pairing, chai, or tea ceremonies from an extra $15-$54.  The festival is celebrating its fifth year and they’ve added a degustation dinner with tea pairings at Automata, which is $149 and takes place on August 15. There you’ll get to enjoy a five-course degustation with matching premium teas. Hungry on festival day? There’ll be pastries, macarons, marshmallows and ice cream available to help cleanse the palate, as well as savoury snacks, from Black Pantry, Bar Pho, Agape Organic Food Truck, Brooklyn Boy Bagels and Nutie Donuts. It’s best to buy tickets in advance to secure a spot at the workshops and talks.

Promoter Donte Winbush is behind this weekly comedy club. BonkerZ features pros, semi-pros and emerging comics, and is a co-op comedy club where a percentage of each ticket is donated to the performing comics and to the Fred Hollows Foundation.