Coming for the title of resident Sydney CBD party hosts, the crew at YCK Laneways are taking on their next big venture: bringing Sydney to life on a weeknight. A whole heap of bars, restaurants and clubs dotted along the sidewalks of York, Clarence and Kent Streets (thus the awesome acronym, YCK) have teamed up with the City of Sydney to create the ultimate draw card for us cityslickers to stay in the city long after you’ve clocked off for the day.
For the following month, Wednesday and Thursday nights are all about live music, good food and free entertainment, kicking off at 8.30pm (Oct 25-Nov 16). There is an absurd number of happy hour specials – so it's time to ball on a budget. (Disclaimer: you just might need to wear sunglasses in the office the next day. Sorry, not sorry.)
If the allure of cheap alcohol isn’t enough to tickle your fancy (it is the middle of the week, after all) there's also arts, music, entertainment and cultural events for every flavour. Get your tarot read by a queer mystic from San Francisco at Esteban, be wowed by Sydney’s queen of burlesque Porcelain Alice at Stitch Bar, take a nightcap at the Swinging Cat with the Conservatorium of Sydney jazz musicians, and hit up Tiva for a boogie to a different decade’s jam each week (we’ll see you for some '90s R'n'B). Meanwhile, over at Since I Left You, local artists Lotte Smith and Styna will each bring a mural to life over the course of four weeks. And all of the above? It's just the tip of the iceberg.
Totalling up at over 50 events, you can check out what’s hot with this handy dandy interactive map. If you don’t know where to start, sign up to the Laneway Loyalty program over here – you can accrue points by scanning QR codes every time you visit a YCK venue (one point per venue), and score a point for every drink you buy there. Five points gets you a cocktail on the house. Cheers to that!
YCK Laneways: The Night is Young is coming to life from Wednesday, October 25, across venues on York, Clarence and Kent Streets, and is happening until Thursday, November 16. Need any more convincing? The YCK precinct is a certified Purple Flag District, which means it fosters safe, inclusive and accessible nightlife.
