The best events in May
There's a glowing line-up of festivals and events to explore this month
Put on your thinking caps and practice your belly laughs for this huge month of intrigue and chilly adventures. While April saw the opening nights of the Sydney Writers’ Festival and Sydney Comedy Festival, there’s more on the way in May, plus the glittering beginning of Vivid Sydney.
When you’re not all cosy inside well-heated theatres, hit the unpaved roads on some of the best walks in Sydney. Don’t forget to bring your binoculars, as it’s also the start of whale-watching season. And double don't forget it's Mother's Day this month, too.
RECOMMENDED: Food and drink festivals in Sydney.
The best things to do in May
Puffs, or: Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic
The universe of Harry Potter truly is a magical place. Unless you spend a few seconds really thinking about it. The kids are armed at 11, there’s mass slavery, rampant racism and a huge class divide. Puffs takes every plot hole to task with a hilariously enchanting mix of parody and homage.
The Archibald Prize
The Archibald Prize is the exhibition that stops a nation – well, a city anyway. Everyone has an opinion about who and what is most deserving of the $100,000 top gong – and the annual exhibition of finalists offers plenty to argue over, featuring faces familiar and not, by big name, mid-career and emerging painters.
IN-Formalism
Bringing together works by abstract and conceptual artists Wendy Paramor, Ian Burn, Richard Dunn and Virginia Coventry among others, CPAC’s latest exhibition traces the evolution of Australian abstract non-objective art from 1968 onwards, alongside a range of design, textiles, advertising, architecture, urban design and film works.
The National Biennial of New Australian Art
The National happens in the off-years of the Biennale of Sydney, filling that biennale-shaped hole in your heart. Its second iteration features 65 artists drawn from all across the country and all stages of their careers. See these works at the MCA, Art Gallery of NSW and Carriageworks.
The Westies Markets
The non-for-profit collective behind this quarterly market, the Westies, is all about showcasing the Penrith region while giving local growers and makers the opportunity to sell their products. They want to create a lazy Sunday atmosphere, where you get to know the community rather than fight over the bargain bin.
MCA Artbar
The MCA's party series used to be held once a month, but as of 2019 is only taking place four times a year. It's the same basic idea: a night curated by a different artist or collective each edition, featuring art, performance and design – with killer views, party tunes and hands-on activities with artists.
Prima Facie
Suzie Miller is an award-winning playwright, but she’s also a lawyer and in this play argues that our legal system is falling well short and needs a major rejig. Sheridan Harbridge stars in this one-woman show as a win-at-all-costs lawyer who finds herself questioning all she believes in when she ends up on the other side of the equation.
Donut Masterclass with Shortstop
If you’re a diehard doughnut fan and you’ve got Shortstop on your list of top dough joints, then it feels essential that you join their talented doughnut makers in this masterclass. Over two and a half hours, you’ll be rolling, proofing, frying and glazing your own batches of doughnuts, before you scoff them straight out of the fryer.
OK Democracy, We Need to Talk
With the federal election happening this month, Campbelltown Arts Centre is taking a stand, with a new exhibition encouraging open discussion about democracy and its future. Drawing inspiration from the idea of free media as a pillar of democracy, 11 artists explore themes surrounding identity politics, environmental issues, political structures, economies of labour, currency and nationalism.
'Tis the season to carb load
The best Italian restaurants in Sydney
While good pizzerias and dirt-cheap red sauces places are harder to find than the poshest stuff, there are still spades of options to choose from. We've picked our favourites from every style.