It’s warm(er)! The evenings are light(er)! Put on your sandals and embrace spring’s arrival with this essential Sydney arts guide for the balmy months ahead. There’s a bonanza of art, culture, theatre, music, comedy, sport and community events – from free shows to wallet-friendly entertainment, neighbourhood festivals and splash-out concerts.
Josh Pyke is headling the Power Up festival at White Bay Power Station.Credit: Steven Siewert
POWER UP (FREE)
A new three-day festival (September 20-22) filling the vast halls and spaces of the White Bay Power Station, Power Up includes live music, cabaret, DJs, orchestras, physical theatre, magic shows, family events and visual art works from more than 100 Australian artists. Singer Josh Pyke, who grew up around the corner, is on the bill, as is site-specific aerial performance group Legs on the Wall.
DIWALI FESTIVALS (FREE)
Marking the ancient five-day Hindu festival of Diwali, a celebration of the victory of light over darkness, Blacktown City Council’s annual Diwali Lights Competition, in which homes decorated with lights compete for best street and best rangoli, returns for seven free nights (October 25-31).
The annual Little India Fair in Harris Park, with traditional and contemporary food, dance, and music, is on October 13.
MUSIC FESTIVALS (FREE)
Scat effusively at Manly Jazz Festival (September 20-22, the Corso), the longest-running jazz festival in Australia. Three free days of music includes the Flashy Dashbacks Organ Trio, the Dan Barnett Big Band, brass collective Hot Potato Band and gypsy jazz ensemble Spyglass Gypsies.
Three weeks later, Marrickville Music Festival (October 13) closes a section of Marrickville Road for a free day of rap, rock, indie-pop, classical, blues and soul music. There will be artist markets, food stalls, roving acts and school bands, choirs and orchestras.
Book-chart-topping UK author Dolly Alderton is visiting Australia for the first time. Credit: Alexandra Cameron
TALKS (SPLASH OUT)
Spring in Sydney is thick with writers and thinkers unfurling their minds in conversation. US author Mark Manson expands on his bestselling self-help book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F--- (Sydney Opera House, November 4); former cabinet minister and co-host of podcast The Rest is Politics Rory Stewart weighs up the world at Politics on the Edge (Sydney Opera House, October 29); Jon Ronson’s Psychopath Night 2024 (November 21, Sydney Town Hall) allows the UK author to update stories and reflect on his biggest-selling book, The Psychopath Test; An Evening with Dolly Alderton (Sydney Opera House, November 5-7) is the book-chart-topping UK author’s first visit to Australia; Jamie Oliver returns (where will he eat this time?) to talk about life, work and his 27th book, Simply Jamie (Sydney Coliseum, November 9); and An Evening With Stephen Fry (State Theatre, November 8) allows the beloved polymath to emit top-notch mind-juice and answer questions.
There’s also the first live Australian tour for Ab Fab star and TV presenter Joanna Lumley with Me & My Travels (Darling Harbour Theatre, ICC, October 21, 23) and treasured Australian musician and mind Tim Minchin, discussing the themes of his first non-fiction book, You Don’t Have to Have a Dream (State Theatre, October 6).
Justine Clarke plays former prime minister Julia Gillard in Julia.Credit: Prudence Upton
THEATRE (FREE, AFFORDABLE & SPLASH OUT)
Belvoir St Theatre’s Unwaged Performance program, which has run for more than 20 years, offers free tickets to Upstairs matinees. Shows include The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (August 29, 1pm); Well-Behaved Women (October 10, 1pm) and August: Osage County (December 5, 1pm). Contact the theatre for eligibility. The 2024 Sydney Fringe Festival (September 1-30), which features more than 400 free and wallet-friendly events, is showcasing 1800 performers at four distinct city precincts traversing central, eastern, inner west and greater Sydney suburbs.
The festival also opens its first Queer Hub at Qtopia Sydney in Darlinghurst. Hot picks include Egyptian-Australian writer Daniel Mehareb’s Big Nose, Big Dreams (Riverside Theatres, September 22); performance artist Emma Sandall’s An Ambivalent Woman of 37 (Flight Path Theatre, September 10-14); Hope by Soweto Gospel Choir (Speigeltent Festival Garden, Entertainment Quarter, September 3-25); and Crones in Cabaret: Not Dead Yet (107 Projects Redfern, September 11-21) created by the Older Women’s Network Theatre Group.
Must-see mainstage shows include the return of Justine Clarke’s acclaimed rendering of Joanna Murray-Smith’s Julia (September 5 to October 12, Sydney Opera House) actor and writer Merlynn Tong’s coming-of-age drama Golden Blood (September 13 to October 13, Wharf 1 Theatre), and the Melbourne Theatre Company production Sunday (Sydney Opera House, October 28-December 7), an acclaimed theatre portrait of uninhibited Australian visual artist Sunday Reed, directed by Sarah Goodes. Circa’s Carnival of the Animals (Carriageworks, October 1-5) is a must-see, as is STC’s departing artistic director and Dracula creator Kip Williams’ collaboration with Opera Australia, Gilgamesh (Carriageworks, September 26 to October 5), an expected epic.
Charles Wu and Merlynn Tong star in Golden Blood at Sydney Theatre Company.Credit: Rene Vaile
MUSEUMS (FREE & AFFORDABLE)
Sydney Design Week (September 13-19) at Powerhouse features designers, architects and artists at events in Parramatta, Castle Hill and the CBD. The museum also has a behind-the-scenes food-makers series, including Fruit, Juice and Cider at Cedar Creek Orchard (Picton, September 14), Growing Organic Produce at Rita Kelman’s Wallacia farm (October 20) and Insect Tasting Menu, a multi-course alternate-protein dinner at Misc in Parramatta (November 20). Visit Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay artist Dennis Golding’s works Cast in Cast Out (Museum of Sydney, until November 17) inspired by growing up in the Redfern Aboriginal community the Block and featuring sculptural panels and fragments cast by the artist.
Under the theme Marking Time, History Week (October 7-15) events span the city. Master clockmaker Andrew Markerink discusses notable Sydney clocks (Customs House, September 11) including Sydney’s GPO JB Joyce timepiece, Australia’s largest mechanical clock, and the country’s oldest functioning public clock, at Hyde Park Barracks.
US pop sensation Olivia Rodrigo plays four shows at Qudos Bank Arena. Credit: Getty Images for Live Nation
MUSIC (SPLASH OUT)
Lose your Alex the Seal (Our Lips Are Sealed), Go-Go’s mind with Belinda Carlisle (Enmore Theatre, October 1); Olivia Rodrigo traversing Sour and Guts live (October 17-18, 21-22, Qudos Bank Arena); Iron Maiden flinging their heavy metal locks (Qudos Bank Arena, September 12-13); rap pioneers Public Enemy rebelling without a pause (Hordern Pavilion, October 9); and 1980s pop queen and dedicated horticulturalist Kim Wilde championing the kids in America (Enmore Theatre, October 19). Quip musically at Rockwiz Live! (Enmore, November 24) and prepare for colossally distinct UK acts Buzzcocks (Metro Theatre, November 1), Take That (Qudos Bank Arena, November 7); Coldplay (Accor Stadium, November 6,-7 and 9-10); and Thom Yorke (Sydney Opera House, November 1-2).
The popular Sydney Ceramics Market returns with a two-day event.
ART MARKETS (FREE & AFFORDABLE)
Spring is chock-full of events devoted to tactile and visual art creation. Sydney Contemporary 2024 (Carriageworks, September 5-8) offers more than 400 artists, from new and established galleries, presenting painting, drawing, photographic, sculptural and digital work; The Big Design Market showcases fashion, homewares, jewellery and tech accessories from more than 200 independent designers (Carriageworks, September 20-22); the Sydney Ceramics Market (Carriageworks, October 19-20), now two days long, features more than 130 NSW and ACT ceramics artists and a vast range of styles and techniques; and Sydney Craft Week (October 11-20), led by the Australian Design Centre, offers exhibitions, talks, workshops and 60 open studios. The Southeast Aboriginal Arts Market (Carriageworks, November 23-24) also returns.
It’s not too late to catch the Archibald Prize, featuring Angus McDonald’s portrait of Professor Marcia Langton.Credit: Wolter Peeters
VISUAL ARTS EXHIBITIONS (FREE & AFFORDABLE)
There’s still time to catch the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes (until September 8), Alphonse Mucha – Spirit of Art Nouveau (until September 22), and the occult-inspired marionettes of Emily Hunt – Art is an Act of Magic (until October 7).
My upcoming AGNSW spring pick is Angelica Mesiti: The Rites of When (September 21 to May 11), a large-scale video and sound installation, reimagining rituals around seasonal cycles. Don’t miss Museum of Contemporary Art exhibition Julie Rrap: Past Continuous (until February 16) featuring new and landmark works delving into depictions of women’s bodies in society, and renowned British artist Sir Isaac Julien’s Once Again... (Statues Never Die) (September 27 to February 16), a five-screen black-and-white installation exploring the place of African objects in Western art museums’ collections. Also diary worthy is the surreal cyber dreamscapes of multidisciplinary artist Serwah Attafuah’s Offline and Loading (Campbelltown Arts Centre, until September 29); Cement Fondu’s Better Nature: A Sudden Release (October 12 to December 8), looking at ecological crisis; and Tamara Henderson: Slug in the Mug (Artspace, October 24 to January 5) highlighting the humble earthworm via film, paintings, textiles and installations.
Marney McQueen will play pop legend Celine Dion in Titanique, a camp retelling of the 1997 blockbuster Titanic.Credit: James Morgan
MUSICALS (SPLASH OUT)
If you’re missing Celine Dion’s triumphant Paris Olympics Eiffel Tower performance, Titanique (September 12 to November 3, Grand Electric), a multi-award-winning musical described by The New York Times as “a camp reimagining of James Cameron’s maritime blockbuster”, will help. Beginning with the treasured singer (played by Marney McQueen) hijacking a Titanic museum tour, it blooms into a fantastique voyage of Dion songs, ’90’s culture nods and fourth-wall-breaking absurdity. Also in town; Hamilton (Lyric Theatre, until January 5); Sarah Brightman as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard (Sydney Opera House, until November 1); Casey Donovan in Sister Act (Capitol Theatre, until October 26); Carousel (State Theatre, September 3-4);Well-behaved Women (Belvoir St Theatre, September 28 to November 3); Dear Evan Hansen (October 12 to November 24, Roslyn Packer Theatre); and Jesus Christ Superstar (Capitol Theatre, November 6 to December 29).
Jason Arrow leads the cast of Hamilton at Sydney Lyric Theatre.Credit: Daniel Boud
FILM, TECH & DIGITAL FESTIVALS (FREE TO SPLASH OUT)
Futurist festival SXSW Sydney (October 14-20) returns with a free events hub at Tumbalong Park, plus speakers including musician and Silverchair co-founder Ben Gillies, astrophysicist Kirsten Banks, and a high school Fortnite competition with prizes awarded by Team PWR and Fortnite royalty Lachlan and Loserfruit. There’s also the Croatian film Festival (Riverside Theatres, September 4-8), and the aptly named Shortfest24 short film festival (Reservoir Theatre, September 26).
Geraldine Hickey brings her show Don’t Tease Me About My Gloves back for an encore performance.
COMEDY (AFFORDABLE & SPLASH OUT)
International jokesters include Monty Python legend Eric Idle (State Theatre, November 13-14); UK stand-ups and actors Romesh Ranganathan (State Theatre, October 16) and John Bishop (State Theatre, November 25); and master of wit and music Bill Bailey (ICC, November 16; Sydney Coliseum Nov 17). There’s also an encore of Geraldine Hickey’s Please Don’t Tease Me About My Gloves (The Concourse, October 12); a work in progress show by Danielle Walker (September 18, Factory Theatre); and Demi Lardner’s Hot Stink From Bag (Factory Theatre, September 26-29).
COMIC-CON (AFFORDABLE)
Avoid spring’s sunshine entirely at Oz Comic-Con (September 22-23, Sydney Showgrounds), an IRL fiesta of cosplay competitions and parades, lip-sync battles, tabletop gaming, console and PC gaming. Meet Breaking Bad’s Giancarlo Esposito, Doctor Who’s John Barrowman, US voice actor and YouTuber Zach Aguilar (Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba), and US voice artist Laila Berzins (Genshin Impact, Fire Emblem Heroes, HunterXHunter).
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