Things to do in Sydney this week

The Blak Markets are back on Bare Island in La Perouse for a day of shopping, art, workshops, music and movement celebrating Indigenous Australian culture. There’ll be market stalls from local makers selling Aboriginal artworks, jewellery and homewares, plus food and beverages crafted by young Indigenous go-getters in the hospitality industry. You can get involved in a shellwork workshop with Auntie Esme Timbery and Marilyn Russell, see traditional dancers, or listen to smooth country sounds by Indigenous singer-songwriter Maddi Lyn. Wiradjuri man Larry Brandy will be telling interactive stories that share his culture with kids of all ages, using traditional tools and artefacts for an insightful experience.

If you’ve ever wondered which Star Wars character is your kindred spirit, you’ll want to visit Star Wars Identities: The Exhibition. This exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum matches you to your favourite characters using specialist technology, and also displays more than 200 costumes, models, props and artworks from the movies. But the best time to visit is February 24, aka Stormtrooper Sunday. You’ll find friendly volunteers in full stormtrooper armour telling you to ‘move along, move along’ and you can win a galaxy of prizes if you dress up in similarly dedicated costumes.

The quarterly retro market at Sydney Uni is a meeting place for people who love vintage fashion, vinyl records, classic cars and rock'n'roll moves. For the first 2019 edition of the markets, they’ll uphold their highly regarded selection of stallholders, featuring rock'n'roll-inspired vintage fashion, indie books, art, homewares and collectibles. Once again, the massive record fair will be incorporated into the market, so you can pick up classics after being inspired by live tunes on the day. Each market has a different music line-up, from big band jazz to honky-tonk and rockabilly tunes. This edition will see bluesy-garage rockers Rosa Maria perform beside Hank’s Jalopy Demons from Melbourne, along with traditional rockabilly sounds from Ezra Lee and a darker twist from Better Off Ted. In between performances, you can take swing dancing lessons for $11 per person which includes entry to the market (normally $6-$8). Kids under 12 can enter the market free of charge.

Bring the family out to Ashfield Park on Sunday, February 24 for a day of food, entertainment, activities and good times.  Inner West Council is holding a Carnival of Cultures to celebrate the vibrant, multicultural communities who call the Inner West home. There will be a feast of food from around the world, cultural activities and market stalls selling a range of goods.  You and your family can take part in a weaving workshop by Boomalli artist Peta-Joy Williams, learn the art of Japanese paper folding at an origami workshop, or be decorated by a henna artist. There will also be garden games and roving taiko (Japanese drum) performances. There will also be plenty of live music. Roots and reggae group the Strides are headlining, and you can also boogie on down to the Bollywood sounds of DJ Rammy, who'll be accompanied by Bollywood dancers and Lolo Lovina. Other performances include karate demonstrations, a performance from the Sahoxing Opera Troupe, flamenco dancers, bellydancers, an Arabic choir and self-defence demonstrations. The day will be family friendly, and there will be a free shuttle bus from Ashfield Civic Centre. You can also walk, cycle or take public transport to Ashfield Park. The fun kicks off at 10am and goes through till 4pm. 

While some of us are yet to master a downward dog or tree pose in a standard yoga class, more balanced yogis and fitness fans will enjoy the challenge of this high-intensity, yoga-inspired routine performed while floating on water. FloatFit has become a bit of a Sydney fitness phenomenon, with AquaPhysical – the UK founders of this unusual practice – setting up their floating gyms in ten locations around the city. Andrew (Boy) Charlton Pool has become an immediate favourite, with its conveniently central location and sparkling sea views. When you first attempt the 30-minute class, you may not be walking on water straight away. It’s a pretty tough core workout and the fast-paced moves mean you work up a sweat. But don’t be worried about wobbling and tumbling off at an inopportune moment: your floating devices are more like solid, mini-barges than inflatable swans, which means they’re much harder to flip. But, if you’re wildly uncoordinated you can still give it a go, as a failed maneuver only means you get a refreshing splash in the pool before clambering back up again.  The more intense sessions with mountain-climbers, jump-squats and sit-ups might dunk you a few more times than the new balance class, which is a slower, more focused practice with breathing and mindfulness at its core. There’s also a specialsed kids' floating class being introduced across the Sydney FloatFit locations, keeping water-savvy kids moving over the summer holidays.

Before Elisabeth Moss donned the red robes of the fiercely tenacious Offred in the award-winning SBS drama The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood wrote the dystopian world of Gilead into existence. Fans of this unsettling novel, the 1990 film adaptation and the 2017 television series will be well acquainted with the parable it tells of a society that has rejected human rights and is dominated by a group of classist, religious fanatics. While The Handmaid’s Tale was originally written 23 years ago, many will also be aware of how Atwood anchored this disturbing society in reality – perhaps doing a little prophesying – drawing from the problems seen in our own political and social context. In her 2019 talk at the Sydney Opera House, Atwood will discuss how fiction allows us to explore issues in our own society, merging the realms of critical debate and imagination. Her impressive body of work is a testament to the ideas she’ll present, so you’ll probably want to read-up and binge watch before the talk. When you catch up on The Handmaid’s Tale, your recommended reading/viewing list includes: historical murder mystery Alias Grace (which has become another acclaimed television series), The Edible Woman which challenges gender stereotypes and explores psychology, and the futuristic adventure romance Oryx and Crake.

Artist Bhenji Ra, photographer William Yang and comedian Steven Oliver will be speaking at this year’s Queer Thinking – a mini talks festival as part of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival taking place at Carriageworks. Focusing on social justice, the nine engaging sessions in Queer Thinking will cover issues that reach beyond the LGBTQIA community, from class and poverty to Sydney’s nightlife and racism. On Saturday February 23, you can hear from non-binary speakers Kaya Wilson, Riley J. Dennis, Māra Māyā Devi and Nevo Zisin in a talk called What It Means to Be Non-Binary. Later on the day, panelists Hannah-Joy Gillard, Nayuka Gorrie and Oscar Monaghan will tackle Queers vs Capitalism: Reform or Revolution?. Saturday is themed ‘young and fearless’ and you can buy an all-day pass for $45, or buy tickets for the individual talks, which all run for around an hour, ticketed at $15. At the end of day one, My Trans Story – the Next Generation, sees 14-year-old Evie Macdonald speak about facing off with the PM on The Project alongside young trans and gender diverse people stepping into the spotlight for the first time. On Sunday, settle in for four talks curated by Queer Thinking curator Maeve Marsden. There’s the Medical Pink Dollar at noon, which will look at the prohibitive costs of medical care for the community, from transition to forced surgeries and expensive IVF. In Death of the Gay Bar, Bhenji Ra, William Yang, Joy Ng, Jonny Seymour and Penny Clifford will

Adding an sense of urgency to the escape room experience this February, the Cipher Room is holding a night of underwear-only games during the Mardi Gras Festival this year. Tickets are $50 per person and the night will be raising money for the 78ers (the brave participants in the first Mardi Gras in 1978, many of whom were arrested). For your money, you get to take part in one of the venue's three escape puzzles – Espionage, The Cabin or The Marlowe Hotel. You'll also get a glass of Champagne on arrival, and entry to the after party at Mosh Pit Bar next door, including a complimentary beer or wine. The event is for players aged over 18, and entrants will be joined up to form teams of eight for each game session. You can choose which of the three games you'd like to play, but be warned: if you wind up in The Cabin, the underwear-only rule is going to amplify the creepy vibe of this serial killer-themed escape room. And if you get The Marlowe Hotel, expect flashbacks to that time you locked yourself out of your hotel room in the middle of the night wearing not as much clothing as you'd have liked. Yeah, we heard about that. To book, email info@cipherroom.com.au.