The Former World Bar Site Will Be Reborn (Again) as a New Three-Level Arts Venue

It was home to music institution The World Bar (and its cocktails in teapots) for a huge 18 years, before it closed in November 2018 and the short-lived Cali Club took over. Now, after sitting vacant since February, the site at 24 Bayswater Road, Potts Point, is being reborn once again — this time as a multi-venue arts hub run by Sydney Fringe Festival.

Fringe HQ, as it shall be known, will see the Kings Cross institution reopened this Sunday, September 1 with the launch of the 2019 Sydney Fringe Festival. Instead of being just one venue, it will be multiple — the building will be home to four separate low-cost performance spaces and a ground-floor pop-up by local wine bar Dulcie's.

With no curatorial guidelines, it's set to deliver a broad program covering everything from comedy to theatre to live music. The aim is to provide emerging artists with an affordable place to hone their talents, and a space for more established acts to test out new ideas.

The site when it was operating as The World Bar.

On the ground floor, with the bar, will be the New Blood Theatre, which will seat between 60 and 70 theatregoers, while upstairs has a smaller 40-person space called Level Up! On level two is Top Shelf, a space for work-in-progress shows. This one can be hired for free if you're part of Fringe's 10,000 Hours initiative. If you're an artist, you can apply to perform at the hub.

While it will get a good workout during the festival, Fringe HQ will remain open for the next six months under a pilot project jointly funded by the NSW Government and the City of Sydney.

As well as making good use of one of the area's prime buildings, Fringe HQ will join a local theatre scene that includes venues like the Old Fitz, the Hayes Theatre, SBW Stables Theatre, and Kings Cross Theatre at the Kings Cross Hotel.

It follows Sydney Fringe's strong tradition of activating unused and underutilised spaces for use by Sydney's independent artists. The festival returns for its 2019 edition this weekend, taking over more than 60 venues across the city for a jam-packed program from September 1–30.

Fringe HQ will open this Sunday, September 1 to coincide with the launch of Sydney Fringe Festival 2019. TO find out whats on at Fringe HQ, check the website. 

Image: Joe Cheng.