If the silly season left your wallet a little lighter than you’d like, you’ll still find plenty to fill your days at Sydney Festival. The 2025 program boasts a whole host of free events throughout January, from grown-up fun to entertainment for the whole family. Think immersive visual art, inspiring conversations with First Nations artists and thinkers, music and dancing under the summer sky, and much more. Dive in below for our selection of Festival highlights that won’t blow out your budget.
Immerse yourself
Two immersive experiences at this year’s Festival invite you to think deeply and spark new beginnings. On the Tallawoladah Lawn outside the MCA, art and architecture collective Cave Urban’s large-scale, bamboo installation What We Leave Behind invites you to write a message of hope for our collective environmental future, which then be woven into the work.
Meanwhile, over at Barangaroo Reserve, Vigil: Gunyah is a gathering space led, curated and designed by and for First Nations peoples, communities and allies. In addition to conversations, workshops and performances over three weeks, a soundscape from composer and sound designer Brendon Boney will fill the space and invite you in. Vigil: Gunyah culminates with Vigil: Truths, described by the Guardian as “a night of shared emotions” that centres First Nations voices.
Family fun
To please adrenaline-seeking family members, head down to Darling Harbour for the twice-daily performances of Swing!, featuring the aerial experts at Sydney Trapeze School at their high-flying, jaw-dropping best. Beyond their free daily performances, the Sydney Trapeze School will also be conducting outdoor circus skills workshops suitable for all skill levels (and dreams of running off to join the circus).
If you’re braving the hordes at Bondi Beach, take time out to visit The Whale at the Bondi Pavilion Courtyard, a large-scale immersive and interactive experience for families that’s brought to life by WA’s Spare Parts Puppet Theatre.
For the busy art-makers in your life, the popular Hive Festival returns to the Art Gallery of NSW and the Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre for days brimming with activities, playful performances and immersive fun.
Out-and-about
The 2025 program offers ample opportunities to step outside your day-to-day and experience the city in high summer.
If you’re heading down to our party precinct The Thirsty Mile, you won’t miss the vibrant “Tongpop” flourishes from Sydney Festival’s Visual Artist in Residence Telly Tuita, including a full makeover of the SS John Oxley in Tuita’s signature textiles and patterns.
While you’re there, be sure to check out the 12-night program of free live music and DJs at harbourside hangout Moonshine Bar. The hyper-eclectic lineup includes a First Nations takeover, queer pop, Oceanic sounds and an epic weekend of soul, funk, Afro-beats and old-school jams – in short, you can’t go wrong.
If a night of rousing classical music with picnic snacks is more your speed, lock in for Sydney Symphony Under The Stars at Parramatta Park, which features the unbeatable double-bill of show-stopping symphonies (with Joseph Tawadros and Sydney Symphony Orchestra) and a fireworks finale.
For the curious Festival flaneur, Stories From Here is an audio walking tour that invites you to see Bankstown through young people’s eyes. While you can book in for a ticketed tour, the self-guided audio tour is free for all comers – just BYO headphones, and plan to make pit-stops for banh mi and bubble tea.
Get arty
Free art abounds on the program all through January, with highlights including ground-breaking Pacific-led exhibition Re-Stor(y)ing Oceania, immersive video and sound installation showcase Enigma and the third edition of the Bankstown Biennale, titled Same Same/Different, which celebrates multiculturalism and co-existence through art.
And finally, Art Up Late will make your summer evenings sing with special programming at Art Gallery of NSW, Australian Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia and Bankstown Arts Centre and Manly Art Gallery & Museum. Whether you’re looking for some after-work entertainment or enjoying carefree holiday vibes, expect live music, hands-on workshops, free film screenings and more at these hallowed institutions.
So there you have it: seasonal over-spending doesn’t automatically equal a no-fun January. See you at the Festival.
