Sydney Festival First Night

There are few better annual parties than the Sydney Festival First Night, a celebration that brings our city together in a spirit of fun and comradeship.
Rich Fogarty
January 03, 2012

Overview

Sydney Festival is synonymous with the crackle of summer – a new year, an expanse of possibility, and a rediscovery of this here great city, drink in hand and easy grins all round. The Festival has again delivered with the ultimate soundtrack to those sweltering nights, with musical must-sees, artistic experiences and theatrical wonders all on the cards for Sydney Festival 2012. And there are few better annual parties than the Sydney Festival First Night, a celebration that brings our city together in a spirit of fun and comradeship.

Roads will be closed and made available to pedestrian traffic, parks will be occupied and stocked with food and drinks, and various musical acts will seek out ears to enter. The artistic side of the Festival is in the mix from the beginning, with the Art Gallery of NSW staying open late to play with the Festival First Night crowd offering Picasso-friendly Spanish goodness in the form of film, performance and live music. Brook Andrew also brings his black and white aesthetic to Macquarie Street, peppering us with full-size caravans containing stories within for attendees to investigate in Travelling Colony.

On the main stage in The Domain, world music's main man, Manu Chao, will headline at 9.30pm, supported by Washington, Gurrumul and a special Welcome To The Country. Elsewhere in the city, you can catch a reprise of last year's wildly popular Trocadero Dance Palace, performances from The Jolly BoysHolly Throsby and Norman Jay MBE.

Download the schedule and a map

Information

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