As the Festival swings into its second week, we have so many hot tips on how to spend your days and evenings.
Here’s a day-to-day breakdown of what to see and do at Sydney Festival this week, to get maximum inspiration and impact from your summer.
Of course, these cherry-picked selections aren’t all that’s happening – visit the Explore Events page to see everything that’s going down.
Go forth and conquer your January!
Friday 10 January
Detroit's Music Institute: Chez Damier & Alton Miller
Shake off the cobwebs with an evening of house and techno deep cuts with Chez Damier and Alton Miller from pioneering 80s club Detroit Music Institute, in the exceptional acoustics of City Recital Hall.
When: Friday 10 January, 9pm
Where: City Recital Hall
Cost: $59 + BF
BOOK NOW
GANNA with Tal Arditi
If experimental jazz fused with Ukrainian folk is more your speed, then don’t miss the acclaimed singer-composer GANNA, with support from guitar prodigy Tal Arditi.
When: Friday 10 January, 7.30pm
Where: ACO On The Pier, Pier 2/3, (The Thirsty Mile), Walsh Bay Arts Precinct
Cost: From $49 + BF
BOOK NOW
William Yang: Milestone
For fans of photography and the rich history of Sydney’s queer scene, the indomitable William Yang celebrates his 80th birthday with slides and stories from his deep body of work, set to a haunting chamber ensemble score by Elena Kats-Chernin.
When: Opening night Friday 10 January, at 7.30pm. Also Saturday 11 January
Where: Roslyn Packer Theatre (The Thirsty Mile), Walsh Bay Arts Precinct
Cost: From $59 + BF
BOOK NOW
Air Time
And for the families, Air Time brings skaters, BMXers and parkourists onto the stage for an athletic epic of jumps, spins, tricks and hang time.
When: Friday 10 January 8pm
Where: Seymour Centre
Cost: $59
BOOK NOW
Saturday 11 January
Siegfried & Roy: The Unauthorised Opera
Spend your Saturday night with this year’s centrepiece, Siegfried & Roy: The Unauthorised Opera, a blockbuster work of soaring vocals, wondrous illusions and cheeky laughs, telling a spectacular story inspired by the famed (and fated) magicians.
When: Saturday 11 January 5pm and 8.30pm
Where: Sydney Theatre Company, Wharf 1 Theatre (The Thirsty Mile), Walsh Bay Arts Precinct
Cost: $89 + BF
BOOK NOW
Cash Savage and The Last Drinks & BARKAA
Melbourne’s gritty post-punk purveyors, Cash Savage and the Last Drinks, bring their raw, driving rock to City Recital Hall, with formidable First Nations rapper BARKAA in support.
When: Saturday 11 January, 8pm
Where: City Recital Hall
Cost: $69 + BF
BOOK NOW
Vigil: Gunyah
This year’s Vigil includes a gathering space at Barangaroo, running from 7 to 25 January, curated and designed by and for First Nations peoples, communities and allies. Saturday 11 January features a dance workshop with Brolga Dance Academy at 11am; a People, Protocol, and Place Talk at 3pm; and free live music from RNB and neo-soul artist Mi-kaisha at 7pm.
When: Saturday 11 January, 11am, 3pm and 7pm
Where: Barangaroo Reserve
Cost: Free
BOOK NOW
Music at Moonshine Bar
And if you’ve been to Siegfried and Roy or Vigil and fancy a nearby nightcap, head along to the Moonshine Bar at Pier 2/3, which has 12 nights of free music and DJs across January. Saturday 11 January features disco-dance four-piece Dizzy Days and DJ Jack Shit of FBi fame.
When: Saturday 11 January, from 6pm
Where: Moonshine Bar (The Thirsty Mile), Pier 2/3, 13 Hickson Road
Cost: Free
MORE INFO
Sunday 12 January
BullyBully
Don’t miss your final chance to take the minis to outrageous musical comedy BullyBully, for ages 3+, about two childish royals bickering, throwing hissy fits and singing silly songs.
When: Sunday 12 January, 11am and 3pm
Where: Riverside Theatres, Parramatta
Cost: From $35 pp (family ticket) + BF
BOOK NOW
Dark Noon
If you haven’t had a chance to catch the wild western Dark Noon, telling the story of the American frontier flipped through a decolonising lens, then get yourself to Sydney Town Hall to see this five-star-reviewed spectacle of gun-slinging, slapstick and satire.
When: Sunday 12 January, 6.30pm
Where: Sydney Town Hall
Cost: From $80 + BF
BOOK NOW
Tina – A Tropical Love Story
Ben Graetz, First Nations polymath, drag performer (as Miss Ellaneous) and a curator of Sydney World Pride 2023, tells the story of how rock queen Tina Turner spurred his journey of self-discovery and transformation in the sweltering tropics of Darwin, in Tina – A Tropical Love Story.
When: Sunday 12 January, 6pm
Where: Sydney Theatre Company, Wharf 1 Theatre (The Thirsty Mile), Wharf 4/5
Cost: From $49 + BF
BOOK NOW
Monday 13 January
Julie Mehretu: A Transcore of the Radical Imaginatory
Absorb some abstract modern art on your Monday at the first Asia-Pacific career survey of Ethiopian-American artist Julie Mehretu: A Transcore of the Radical Imaginatory. Mehretu’s large scale, multilayered, gestural paintings speak to issues such as revolution, migration, global capitalism and climate change.
When: Monday 13 January, 10am to 5pm
Where: Museum of Contemporary Art
Cost: $28
BOOK NOW
What We Leave Behind
And after you’ve seen Julie Mehretu, step out onto Tallawoladah Lawn in front of the MCA and contribute your thoughts and hopes for our environmental future to ever-growing, woven bamboo structure What We Leave Behind, created by Cave Urban.
When: Monday 13 January, 8am to 7pm
Where: Tallawoladah Lawn, Museum of Contemporary Art
Cost: Free
Tuesday 14 January
Christie Whelan Browne: Life in Plastic
For one night only, star of cabaret, stage and screen Christie Whelan Browne presents Life in Plastic, a bubblegum pop look back at her life, from blue light discos to IVF and self-acceptance.
When: Tuesday 14 January, 6pm
Where: Sydney Theatre Company, Wharf 1 Theatre (The Thirsty Mile), Wharf 4/5
Cost: From $59 + BF
BOOK NOW
Colour Maze
If you’re caring for kids these summer holidays and you haven’t taken them to technicolour playground Colour Maze at Pier 2/3 yet, today is your day to let them loose inside a kaleidoscopic art adventure and let them tire themselves out exploring, climbing, weaving and being creative.
When: Tuesday 14 January, from 9am to 5pm
Where: Pier 2/3, Walsh Bay Arts Precinct
Cost: $22.50 + BF
BOOK NOW
Wednesday 15 January
Katma
Dance fans should get themselves to the opening night of Katma, an immersive club and street dance tribute to being immersed in the dance on a sweaty d-floor, with performers drawing on a fusion of street and club dance styles including breaking, hip-hop, krump, waacking, locking, house and Afro dance.
When: Wednesday 15 January, 8.30pm
Where: Bell Shakespeare, The Neilson Nutshell (The Thirsty Mile), Walsh Bay Arts Precinct
Cost: $39 + BF
BOOK NOW
Rachael Beck: In Her Own Words
Cabaret fans should head along to STC to celebrate Australia’s brilliant women at In Her Own Words, a collection of monologues and anecdotes by extraordinary Australian women – from Kate Miller-Heidke and Kate Ceberano to Les Girls legend Carlotta, and media icon Ita Buttrose – performed by actor Rachael Beck.
When: Wednesday 15 January, 6pm
Where: Sydney Theatre Company, Wharf 1 Theatre (The Thirsty Mile), Walsh Bay Arts Precinct
Cost: From $49 + BF
BOOK NOW
Thursday 16 January
The Chronicles
Thursday is opening night of Stephanie Lake’s new dance spectacle, The Chronicles, an explosive piece of choreography pulsing with tension and sensuality, that follows on from smash hit dance works Colossus (2020) and Manifesto (2023). Lake’s work is a must-see for all dance fans.
When: Thursday 16 January, 8pm
Where: Roslyn Packer Theatre (The Thirsty Mile), Walsh Bay Arts Precinct
Cost: From $69 + BF
BOOK NOW
Lotte Betts-Dean
And for one night only, the singular and extraordinary mezzo-soprano Lotte Betts-Dean brings a genuinely eclectic selection to ACO On The Pier, foregrounding women’s voices, from classical to pop, from the very old to the very new, from Courtney Barnett to Charli xcx, Barbara Strozzi and Lili Boulanger.
When: Thursday 16 January, 6pm
Where: ACO On The Pier (The Thirsty Mile), Walsh Bay Arts Precinct
Cost: From $79 + BF
BOOK NOW
