Festival Director: Stephen Hall

After the success of their inaugural year, the Festival of Sydney returned, kicking off on New Year's Eve, with almost 200,000 people attending the Sydney Opera House celebrations. 1978 saw the beginning of Festival Dance Week, which featured local and international dance companies. Australian cinema was given a moment in the spotlight with a retrospective season of historic classics. Nimrod Theatre (which later became Belvoir) took audiences on a journey (literally) as they boarded ferries to Clark Island to see Treasure Island – a performance so successful they were invited back the following year to do it all over again.

The Festival of Sport brought horse racing, yacht racing, cricket and cars into the Festival of Sydney fold.

There was street theatre, music and free outdoor entertainment aplenty in Hyde Park, and by the end of the Festival approximately one million people had visited the Hyde Park Village.

THEATRE

A Midsummer Night's Dream
The Rocks Players

After Liverpool
Q Theatre Company

Alison Mary Fagan
Ensemble Theatre

Bugs Bunny Follies

Cinderella
Peter Williams Productions

Death Cell at Darlinghurst

Godspell
Hilton Bonner Productions

Heidi

Mad Jean - They Reckon She's Crazy Like A Snake
State Youth Theatre

Martello Towers
Ensemble Theatre

Marionette Theatre of Australia

Night of Vaudeville

PACT's Do It Yourself Pantomime
PACT Theatre

Pentad

Rocjola
Nimrod Theatre

Satyricon
Sydney International Theatre Arts Forum

The Collector
Ensemble Theatre

The Grand Adventure

The Prisoner of Second Avenue
Ensemble Theatre

The Tempest
The Old Tote Theatre Company

Treasure Island
Nimrod Theatre

OPERA

The Merry Widow
The Australian Opera
Conductor: Richard Bonynge

Macbeth

Flying Dutchman

MUSIC

Chamber Music and Poetry

Festival music for organ and brass

Handel's Oratorio (Jeptha)

Opera House Lunchtime Rock

Orchestral concerts

Sydney Symphony

Sydney Symphony Family Pops Concerts

Sound Travel 3

Variety of jazz, folk, bluegrass music

CELEBRATIONS

Australia Day Official Ceremony

Fancy Dress Mardi Gras

Festival of Rock, Surf and Spirit

Grand Festival Parade

New Year's Eve Party

Kings Cross Carnival

Paddington Festival

Rocks Celebrations

Sydney Festival Of Folklife

Sydney Jazz Festival

ART

Antique Doll Collection and Fashion Plates over the Centuries

Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Exhibitions

Art in the Gardens

East, West, Books Make A Bridge

Festival of Sydney Photographic competition

Historic Stamp Display

Historical Exhibition of City Churches

History of Photography

John Kaldor Art Project No. 6 - Richard Long

Lilium Show

Luna Park and Fairground Arts

Photography in the Park

Photography - Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

Prints of Old Sydney

Private Collectors' Exhibition

Project Polaroid

Renewing the Dreaming
Aboriginal Homelands Movement

Shapes of '78 Ceramics Exhibition

Stock Exchange Exhibition

Sydney County Council's Art Collection

Sydney Harbour Exhibition

Sydney Morning Herald Art Award and Scholarship Exhibition

The Australian Image

Theatre Costume and Set Designs

The Postal History of Sydney

The Work of the Uniting Churches of Australia

DANCE

Dance Company of NSW

Dance Exchange

Kinetic Energy Dance Company

CIRCUS

Sole Bros Circus

SPORT

AJC Meetings

Ampol Master of Champions Bowls Singles

Balmain and District 12th Flying Squadron Races

Caltex Golf Open

Drummoyne Junior Sailing Club Festival Races

Festival of Sydney Basketball Jamboree

Manly 16ft Skiff Sailing Club Festival Races

NSW Trotting Club's Summer Carnival

Parramatta River Yacht Club Festival Regatta

Royal Sydney Anniversary Regatta

Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron Festival Regatta Day

Sydney Amateur Sailing Club Festival Trophy Day

Sydney Flying Squadron Festival Club Race

Sydney Turf Club Race Meetings

The Sun-Tooheys Festival of Sport

The Sun Surf Carnival

Tug-of-War Competition

Vintage Car and Motor Cycle Racing Festival Trophy

Vintage Car Rally

WORKSHOP

Kite-Making

FILM

Australian Cinema Retrospective 1911-77

Films: Lost In The Bush and They Found A Cave

Paramount Classics of the '30s

Recent Australian Films

POETRY

All Poets Welcome Day

Children's Poetry

Poetry Week