Eight of the Best Sydney Festival 2024 Events You Can Hit Up for Under $50

The giant octopus popping up on Sydney harbour is known as Te Wheke-a-Muturangi and is spreading its colourful tentacles across Watermans Cove throughout Sydney Fest.

The magnificent floating cephalopoda was created by Māori artist Lisa Reihana and is based on Māori mythology, telling the story of the octopus Te Wheke who is chased and eventually killed by legendary fisherman Kupe. If you want to get right up close and experience the work from the water, you can book a kayak tour with Sydney Harbour Kayaks.

It’s a rare treat to see classical favourites performed by world-class musicians in a beautiful setting. And it’s even rarer for that experience to be completely free — but that’s exactly what you get at Sydney Symphony Under the Stars at Parramatta Park.

This year, the Sydney Symphony will perform a sparkling new program of tunes ranging from beloved movie themes to original works from the great composer, multi-instrumentalist and didgeridoo virtuoso William Barton. Pack a picnic basket then sit back, relax, and be treated to a world-class performance under the night sky.

Image: Jamie Williams

Melbourne art collective Fast Fashun is heading up to Sydney for a two-day pop-up in Tumbalong Park over the weekend of January 20–21. The free activation will shine a light on how we can reduce the waste created by the clothes we wear.

Learn how to make one-of-a-kind fashion creations from recycled clothes with members of the Fast Fashun team on hand to run workshops in repurposing clothing. And every hour between 1–4pm there will be a runway show where the participants can show off their creations and hit the catwalk in front of a cheering crowd to shine a spotlight on how imaginative you can be with pre-loved garms.

Image: Theresa Harrison

Sydney Festival is bringing US singer-songwriter Julie Byrne back to Australian shores. The acclaimed folk musician is currently touring the release of her devastating new album, The Greater Wings, a record which reckons with the passing of Byrne’s longtime creative partner Eric Littmann.

You can expect an intimate hour-long journey through the songs of The Greater Wings and Byrne’s back catalogue at Sydney Fest’s Walsh Bay pop-up art precinct The Thirsty Mile. Inject her beautifully gentle, intensely personal folk music into your summer at one of two shows: Wednesday, January 17, and Friday, January 19.

Image: Alexander Kellner 

If the date of January 26 finds you looking for a thoughtful way to reflect on the impact of Australia’s colonisation on its First Nations people, you should join the folks from Sydney Festival at the annual vigil the evening prior at Barangaroo Reserve.

This year, the event is titled Vigil: The Future and will be about hope and empowering young voices, giving them a platform to share their stories and art. The ceremony will feature a large-scale public installation and a performance from a choir of young First Nations singers. This powerful event is free and registration is not required.

Southwest Sydney residents and art lovers from across the city should mark Saturday, January 20 in your diaries. That’s when Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre is hosting the free event Exhibitions After Dark as part of Sydney Festival.

The beloved Western Sydney cultural space will be opening from 6pm until late for a midweek dose of after-hours art. Check out Eddie Abd, Katy B Plummer and Leanne Tobin’s new exhibitions, all of which are part of the Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre’s summer program. Rounding out the night’s entertainment will be a series of performances and workshops. There’s also a yet-to-be-announced food and drink lineup that will keep the art lovers in attendance well-fed.

A big part of this year’s festival is its waterfront arts precinct at Walsh Bay coined The Thirsty Mile. On offer there: theatre and art, cabaret and dance, bars and speakeasies, and also a late-night club Moonshine Bar. And as part of The Thirsty Mile’s program, party-throwing legends Astral People are doing a series of shindigs.

Head to Moonshine Bar on Saturday, January 13 and you’ll be treated to a performance from genre-bending multi-instrumentalist Nabihah Iqbal. Fans of pop-tinged rock music in any shape or form just need to listen to Iqbal’s track ‘This World Couldn’t See Us’ and you’ll be immediately hooked on the fast-rising British musician. Iqbal’s first-ever show Down Under is co-presented by local South Asian creative collective Kerfew. The Sydney-based group explore stories of the Australian South Asian diaspora through music and art, and will be continuing the party on the DJ decks.

One final element of Sydney Festival’s 2024 program is the Sydney International Art Series. Thanks to this series, landmark exhibitions from Louise Bourgeois and Kandinsky have both arrived at the Art Gallery of NSW, while the MCA is hosting a retrospective on the works of Tacita Dean.

Louise Bourgeois: Has the Day Invaded the Night, or Has the Night Invaded the Day? is running at the AGNSW until Sunday, April 28, boasting 120 different works — the most comprehensive exhibition of Bourgeois’s pieces ever to grace a gallery in the Asia Pacific. The star of the show is the nine-metre-tall metal spider currently on display on the gallery’s forecourt, but there’s a heap of powerful works to discover.

Image: Felicity Jenkins.