Five Suburb-Wide Street Festivals Happening in Sydney This Spring
Get a dose of community spirit at these festivals brimming with top nosh, live music and local legends.
Five Suburb-Wide Street Festivals Happening in Sydney This Spring
Get a dose of community spirit at these festivals brimming with top nosh, live music and local legends.
When you've had a winter like Sydney's just had, it's easy to feel indifferent about spring's return. But the new season provides a prime opportunity to get outside for an afternoon — especially when all of Sydney's street festivals starting kicking off. Over October and November, Paddington's William Street will be flowing with festivities, Leichhardt's Norton Street will host an Italian feast and Newtown Festival will take over the suburb with gigs, food and picnics. And there's more going on, too. Now, let's just hope for a few hours of sunshine.
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Brainchild of the Newtown Neighbourhood Centre (NNC), Newtown Festival’s main aim is to raise funds and drum up support for those doing it tough in the area. It’s also a great excuse for people to get together and show some love for a unique pocket of the world.
Taking over Camperdown Memorial Park on Sunday, November 10, this year’s outing sees the return of a bunch of festival favourites, including the Heaps Gay Karaoke Closet (a tent dedicated to dress ups and lots of karaoke, of course), the Eco Village and the ever-popular Sassy Treats Dog Show, celebrating all of those four-legged festival-goers.
There’ll be a sprawling collection of over 200 stalls, selling everything from food to fashion, more than 100 live, roaming performers and a music lineup showcasing artists who’ve each got their own strong connection to the Newtown community. You’ll catch The Delta Riggs, Godtet, Lola Scott, The Buoys and the Sorcha Albuquerque Organ Trio, as well as a few more, too.
In the lead up to the festival, NNC will also host a series of gigs, live street art performances and open air movie screenings. More details on that is dropping soon — we’ll let you know when it does.
Newtown Festival’s $5 entry fee, collected at the gates, goes directly to the NNC, which provides support services for disadvantaged groups in the local community.
Image: James Simpson
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Marrickville’s annual street festival will take over the inner west suburb once again on Sunday, October 20. Over 130 stalls will flood the streets in a full-day celebration of live music, local entertainment and international cuisine that champions Marrickville’s multicultural community. A massive lineup of local bands and acts handpicked by local venues Lazybones and Gasoline Pony will perform across two stages, and there’ll be a slew of dance performances, too.
Local cafe favourite Cornersmith will be overseeing the new Local Market where you’ll be able to attend free workshops in everything from pickling, beeswax wraps and burrata making, while an art and design alley will see you trying your hand at ceramics and screen printing. Even your four-legged friends will be looked after, thanks to a mini Street Paws market with stalls offering pet treats, grooming and more.
Of course, there’ll be a tonne of different food and drink options from local vendors, too. The Calvert Street car park will be transformed into a beer lover’s paradise with pop-ups from Willie the Boatman, Batch, Sauce, Philter, The Grifter and Young Henrys. If hops aren’t your thing, there’ll also be a spritz bar. To eat, you’ll be able to choose from arepas, gozleme, bagels, okonomiyaki, croissants and creative doughnuts from Donut Papi — and so so much more. We suggest heading here with an empty stomach.
Image: Fiora Sacco
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Each year sees William Street close to cars, with the usual traffic replaced with fun and frivolity spilling out onto the road for the annual William Street Festival. This year from 11am–8pm on Saturday, October 19, the unique businesses of Paddington will be celebrated in style with food, pop-up bars, shopping and live entertainment.
What happens? Well, all of the boutiques along this well-known shopping strip swap their usual trading for parties, food and deals galore to lure you away from the Westfields of the world and back to the simple joy of wandering around the Victorian terrace-lined, quaint streets of Paddo. Plus, there’ll be live music, street art and swing dancing to keep you entertained.
Be sure to keep an eye out for the Victorian-inspired, eccentrically dressed entertainers, too, who will be roving throughout the streets in celebration of Hendrick’s Gin’s special edition, and deeply floral, Midsummer Solstice gin to keep you entertained and point you in the direction of the Paddo Inn — aptly renamed Paddo Ginn for October — where you can enjoy a Midsummer Solstice Spritz while surrounded by Dr Lisa Cooper‘s wonderful floral installations.
You can also line your stomach with some of the best food, wine and cocktails the area has to offer, with 10 William Street, Barbetta, Italian Bar and The London all taking part in this street-wide party.
Image: Nicole Richstein Photography
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Ah, the annual festival of all things Italian — just when I thought I was out, they dragged me back in. Sunday, October 27 marks the day of celebration for the nation that brought us Julius Caesar, prosecco and Dario Argento. This year’s incarnation of the street fair is a special one though, as it’s celebrating 33 years of the exultation of Mediterranean multiculturalism.
As per usual though, Norton Street will be lined with food vendors ranging from nonnas to professional culinary wizards. The big communal table will be back, and the Royal Hotel’s verandah will be in full swing throughout the afternoon. There’ll be entertainment, beverages, fashion and the Auto Festa, with as many Ferraris and Lambos as you can shake a cannoli at.
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Not all street festivals are held in the inner west. The lower north shore has its own in Crown Nest Fest. And it’s no small affair — each year, the one-day festival brings in over 50,000 punters.
This year — its big 3-0 — will see Willoughby Road lined with over 200 stallholders hawking food, drinks and other goodies. You’ll find pasta in a cheese wheel from Fratelli Fresh, gelato from Bravo Trattoria and Filipino street food from Pasalubongs. You can expect local haunts like The Hayberry, Johnny Bird and Double Cross to get involved, too.
Bands will play throughout the day across two stages, there’ll be dancing on another and a cooking stage will see local chefs hosting demonstrations and workshops.
Top image: Newtown Festival by James Simpson
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