Sydney Solstice: Sydney’s winter has never been hotter
A new winter event will celebrate the dining, galleries, theatres and music venues the Harbour City has to offer. It’s called Sydney Solstice — here’s how to get involved.
There’s a reason Sydney is the envy of the world. Our lifestyle is the stuff of postcards and, more recently, Instagram posts deserving of captions like #blessed.
But there’s more to Sydney than its natural beauty. And this month, in the lead-up to the longest night of the year, a new program of events called Sydney Solstice will shine a light on the city’s evolving night-life. Which, in our opinion, is a big yet underrated part of Sydney’s beating heart.
Sydney Solstice will kick off on June 8 and run until June 20 — the event is designed to frame the longest night of the year, ensuring that both New South Welshmen and our interstate neighbours have ample time to explore the city by night.
A NSW Government initiative, the action-packed schedule will celebrate Sydney’s best food and drink, art, entertainment and culture, with more than 200 events taking place across 150 venues.
There will be performances, panel discussions, comedy, walking tours and decadent degustations. And so that planning your night (or nights) is easy, every Solstice event is being held in one of four key city precincts: Sydney CBD and surrounds; Oxford Street and surrounds; Newtown and surrounds and Darling Harbour and surrounds.
Naturally, there are highlights. And here at Travel & Luxury, we certainly have our eyes on a few key events. Country and Inner Western is one of them. A music festival featuring some of the state’s most promising young alt-country, bluegrass folk and blues musicians, it will take place across a handful of venues in Newtown, Enmore and Erskineville.
As the profile of country music in Australia continues to rise, this series, which takes place across the weekend of June 11—13, is an event we can’t fathom missing.
Having survived 2020, Sydney’s hospitality scene is also ready to turn it on for Sydney Solstice. If you’re a fan of fine dining establishment Aria, you’ll want to pin down tickets to Aria After Dark, a series of ‘snack and drink’ events hosted by NSW winemakers at the top of their games, with edible treats by Aria Executive Chef Joel Bickford designed to complement the drops.
If you’re in the mood for something a little more hands on, check out one of the cheese making events. From ricotta to mozzarella, acclaimed cheesemaker Kristen Allen will guide you through the process (and make sure you go home knowing the difference between the two).
Of course, modern-day Sydney occupies Aboriginal land, and the city’s Indigenous heritage is also a major focus of the Solstice schedule.
The world premiere of Songlines of our Universe, a piece of music by one of Australia’s pre-eminent Didgeridoo players, proud Kalkadunga man William Barton and collaborator Véronique Serret, will take place at the Sydney Observatory, after Barton was awarded the Powerhouse Indigenous Cultural Development Residency in 2020.
A guided trip to Me-Mel (Goat Island), the largest island in Sydney Harbour and a site of great cultural significance for the city’s First Nations people, is another way to enrich your understanding of and respect for the traditional owners of the land on which we walk and live.
But the most exciting thing about the Sydney Solstice is that no matter what blend of night-life you gravitate towards, there will be something on the schedule for you.
So take a look at the program and start mapping out your itinerary. Because the longest night is only a handful of days away.