Ten Free Things to See and Do at Sydney Festival 2018

Buckle up, Sydneysiders, because the circus is rolling back into town with a full schedule of performances, workshops and all sorts of other circus-y delights. Join other circus fans for the opening night of the iconic Circus City in Parramatta’s Prince Alfred Square for a night of free live music and performances, including the first Highly Sprung show. This innovative performance sees the Legs On The Wall team leaping around a multi-level trampoline for some sky-high storytelling. After the show, clamber on up to the trampoline to join a free audience bounce-off, where you can try your hand (or leg) at a bit of leaping and bounding yourself.

Image: Prudence Upton.

An engaging commentary on our hyper-consumerist society, this witty installation by Japanese artist Hiroshi Fuji examines the trend of mass consumption and its environmental impacts. Appropriate for both children and adults, the exhibition turns unwanted plastic toys into colourful landscapes and dinosaur sculptures that are both visually appealing and thought-provoking. Evoking nostalgia for childhood, this reflection on capitalism, mass production and the environment is a feast for the senses.

Image: Keizo Kioku.

If all the edgy theatre and dance shows are making your head spin a little, give your brain a break with a few hours at the Village Sideshow presented by China Southern Airlines. This freaky fun park at the Meriton Festival Village is packed with a variety of wild and wonderful experiences that will make your festival experience even more magical. Delights include dancing to your favourite song in a transparent, glitter-filled cube; swimming in a shipping container pool; playing hybrid pinball-music machines at the Temple of Din and even getting up on stage with the Sydney Dance Company in their ground-breaking virtual reality film Stuck in the Middle With You.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to see one of Lisa Reihana’s innovative multimedia works, now’s your chance. The renowned Aotearoa New Zealand artist’s first Australian survey show features a collection of photographic and video works, including the much-talked-about in Pursuit of Venus [infected]. This massive panoramic video installation is a modern reimagining of the famous colonial nineteenth-century wallpaper Les Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique (Savages from the Pacific Ocean). Spanning a width of 26 metres, the live action video uses cutting-edge digital technologies to animate and reinterpret the wallpaper, interrogating the complexities of colonisation and historical and contemporary stereotypes.

Image: Michael Hall.

Even if you’re not much of an opera connoisseur, this iconic Sydney Festival event is a must. Each year, Opera in the Domain brings some of opera’s biggest hits to thousands of Sydneysiders under the starry night sky. Bring a blanket and a picnic basket and lose yourself in the marvel that is the human voice. No time to pack food? Never fear — the food and drink stalls have you covered.

If you’re keen to learn how to say a few words in Sydney’s Indigenous language, don’t miss Bayala. Named after the word for “speak” in local language, this annual series includes a free one-hour introductory language class taught by Darug woman Aunty Jacinta Tobin and Gadigal man Joel Davison. In under 60 minutes, you’ll learn basic greetings, place names and songs. Not a bad way to spend an hour. History and language buffs can also check out the Out of the Vaults show at the State Library of NSW, where a rarely-exhibited collection of items relating to the history of Sydney language will be available for public viewing.

Image: Jamie Williams.

This Sydney Festival classic returns for yet another evening of gorgeous music by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra under the open night skies. Grab your friends, family or current flame, pack a picnic basket and a blanket and relax into the summery dusk for a night of music that will make you feel a bit like you’re living in a film. Don’t worry if you forget the picnic bit, there will be bars and food stalls aplenty on site.

Image: Jamie Williams.

This creative, interactive installation reimagines the days in 1790 when British colonists netted 4000 fish, far beyond what was needed for their consumption. This excessive over-fishing disrupted the delicate ecosystem that Aboriginal women had maintained for millennia, undermining their status as providers of sustenance for their community. To commemorate the resilience of the Warrane fisherwomen, audience members are invited to help symbolically return fish ice sculptures to the harbour, releasing them every weekend, between 4pm and 9pm, from a modern interpretation of a traditional nawi (bark canoe).

Image: Jamie Williams.

Stretch your brain a little with this series of thought-provoking talks by UTS. These lectures by some of the university’s great minds examine pressing contemporary issues and will be sure to provide ample food for thought. Check out Consuming the World, for an exploration of the tension between environmentalism and mass consumerism, and Analogue Body in A Digital World for a reflection on how hyper-digitalisation impacts human engagement with our surroundings. While the talks are free, pre-registration online is required.

This hard-hitting exhibition by Australian artist Helen Johnson shines a satirical light on Australia’s history, examining the violence, corruption and bribery at the heart of the country’s past. Massive, heavily textured paintings done on unstretched canvas, Johnson’s works use a ribald caricature-like style to make a searing critique of the British colonialists who landed in Australia and claimed it as their own.