The Best Things to Do in Sydney Over the Easter Long Weekend

Gearing up for their huge Easter celebrations from March 25 to 27, The Grounds crew love a spot of Easter indulgence. From Good Friday to Easter Sunday they’re transforming their Alexandria digs into a magical storybook land.

There’ll be a Golden Easter Egg Hunt, a Humpty Dumpty Wall built for selfies, real-life roaming children’s storybook characters, a giant bunny made out of moss (named Cate Moss, of course), the beloved petting zoo, free Easter arts and crafts workshops, balloon twisting, live music from bands like Pets in the Park, and Australia’s largest chocolate Easter egg — a three-metre-high, 300 kilogram chocolate egg which you can obliterate in in the ‘community cracking’ on Easter Sunday.

This Easter long weekend, there’s a damn good new reason to ditch the road trip plans. Glebe is set to host the inaugural Coloursound Festival, a brand new music, craft beer, food and culture festival happening from March 24-27. Yup, that’s one big mouthful of awesomeness.

The four-day event is being organised by local Glebe resident and event manager Joshua McBeath, in partnership with The Record Crate. In an effort to bring the community together with independent bands, artists and local businesses, McBeath has curated one serious lineup of live acts, performances, exhibitions and craft beer events. The Record Crate has long been a champion of the live music and craft beer combo, so their involvement is a no-brainer.

With 70+ performances across 13 Glebe spaces, the suburb will be rocking nonstop for the entire weekend. Local Sydney bands like Dead Radio and Suixx will be joined by Victorian imports Terrible Truths and Contrast, among many, many others.

That’s just the music side. Staves Brewery will also play a major role, including the ‘world record tankard challenge’, a craft beer showdown, tastings and giveaways from the likes of Merchant, Feral, Badlands and Nomad brewing companies. These events will run alongside an Altairzine photography exhibition, zine fair, and Mug and Kettle comedy festival. Markets and live art installations will also be popping up throughout the weekend.

Discounts and special offers will be available across upward of 10 popular Glebe Point Road joints, including Flying Fajita Sisters, Badde Manors, and one of Glebe’s newer favourites, Thievery.

Tickets range from $5 one-day passes to $75 all-access — which includes access to, well, everything, but most notably to all 25 bands that will play at The Record Crate’s upstairs live room. For a lineup this jam packed, it’s some serious bang-for-your-buck action..

A collection of Australia’s most talented street artists will transform Centenary Square in Parramatta into a temporary open-air art studio. Each morning for nine consecutive weekdays beginning on Monday March 14, a different artist will produce a brand new, large scale artwork live in front of the public, demonstrating their technique and turning the space into a vibrant artistic hub.

An initiative of the Parramatta City Council and real estate developers Walker Corporation in partnership with creative arts organisation Work-Shop, the Live Walls Project has tapped a number of notable names to take part. Anthony Lister, Anya Brock, Guido Van Helten, James Jirat Patradoon, Sid Tapia, Georgia Hill, Aidan “Sprinkles” McKenzie, Phibs, Nico and Jumbo will all take part, each working from 10am to 3pm on their allocated day to create a new artwork on the hoarding in front of the Parramatta Square development.

Watsons Bay Boutique Hotel is hosting a veritable festival this easter. Drop in anytime over the weekend and you’ll be treated to a banquet feast for $49.50 a pop. Meanwhile, egg hunts are happening in Robertson Park at 1pm every day, except for Sunday, when the search will move into the water. Yep, an aqua egg hunt. According to the hotel’s website, the hunts are for kids but we’re hoping against hope that age is no barrier.

Whether or not you dominate the egg hunt or not, there’s plenty for the grown-ups to do. Easter Saturday will be all about live music and Corona buckets, Easter Sunday will see a Captain’s Club Party with DJs, and on Monday, you’ll be recovering from the weekend with seafood platters.

Merivale’s much talked about mammoth 2016 opening is finally opening its doors at noon on Good Friday. If you want to be one of the first to visit The Newport to experience the expansive beer garden, pizzeria, ‘vintage gymnasium’ and menu by chef Sebastien Lutaud, make your way up to the Northern Beaches on Friday and/or Saturday for all of the above, as well as live music and DJs. But Sunday is when the real action kicks off. They’ll be holding an Easter egg hunt at 9am (with gold coin donations going to charity) and the very first Newport Sunday Sundown session will also kick off at 3pm, with Saskwatch, Yes You and Two Can playing. Best of all, it’s free.

Get your ridin’ boots, Texan hat and burger chops prepped for Americana Fiesta, happening this Sunday at the Bald Faced Stag. The Leichhardt hotel has teamed up with The Fatties Burgers Appreciation Society to bring you a celebration of all things Deep South.

From midday in the carpark, you’ll be able to sample creations from some of Sydney’s smokin’ experts, while getting into cracking drink specials. Leading the culinary lineup are Burgers By Josh, barbecue experts Bovine & Swine, Chicken & Sons and Grumpy Donuts.

In between all this finger lickin’ goodness, you’ll be kicking back to live music and getting involved in other manifestations of Americana fun, including a stag riding machine.

If Easter doesn’t scream barge party to you, then you’d do well to get down to Beach Club at The Island and damn well change that. The club, which literally floats on the water off Bradleys Head, is holding a weekend-long shindig, with day parties happening Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 1pm.

Check the website for details about tickets; they’re available to ‘Ambassadors’, and you can ‘request’ to be one. The club is only accessible by water, and water taxis will run from Double Bay Wharf every half an hour from 1pm. So get on it and spend a long, lazy afternoon sipping cocktails, cosying up under stripy umbrellas and wiping back the tears as you say your farewells.

Lovers of cinema and hummus-fuelled picnics rejoice: this year’s Moonlight Cinema season is almost all wrapped up. Easter weekend is the last weekend for Moonlight — Thursday, March 24 will see Eddie the Eagle, Friday’s down for The Man Who Knew Infinity, then the weekend’s set for Grimsby on Saturday and Dad’s Army on Sunday.

Take a trip to America’s East Coast this Easter Sunday with an epic hip hop and R&B jam, happening at The Soda Factory. New York City’s biggest names will be in your ears from 6pm till late and you’re invited to get into their beats in whatever way makes you happy — be that dancin’, rappin’, sittin’ or chowin’ down.

While you’re getting comfy to Biggie Smalls, Tupac, TLC, Jay-Z and Lil’ Kim, the Soda Factory’s usual goodies will be on the menu — from housemade burgers to juicy, crunchy, southern fried chicken to those famous gourmet hot dogs. Entry is free, but you can book yourself a table by emailing hello@sodafactory.com.au. 

Ease your way into the Easter long weekend with a film, cocktail and music at Golden Age Cinema and Bar. The main act of the evening is a screening of Hail The New Puritan (1987), starting at 7pm on Thursday, March 24.

Directed by Charles Atlas, this off-the-wall film tells the story dancer and choreographer Michael Clark, who hails from Aberdeen, Scotland. It’s part-art flick, part-documentary and delves deep into Clark’s life beyond the stage, drawing together interviews, rehearsals and performance preparation, as well as bowls of fruit and spots, spots, spots.

Artist and fashion designer Leigh Bowery took care of production design, while the soundtrack was the work of The Fall and Glenn Branca, among others. Pelvis DJs are the brains behind this event and they’ll be playing in the bar all night long.

The lockout laws may have temporarily slowed down Sydney’s club scene, but you can’t keep a good city down. We’ve seen protests and social media activism a-plenty and now a bunch of fun-lovers are putting together their own, late-night shindig at a BYO Warehouse.

Dubbed Refractory 001 and happening on Saturday 26 March, the evening will rock on till 3am, with sets from Cliques, DJ Kiti, Cop Envy and Natalja making sure there’s no lull in the action.

“Thanks to the lockouts, we’ve had to make our own fun and Refractory is doing just that,” reads the Resident Advisor event page. “We’re about creating an inviting, carefree space for good, local music outside of Baird’s bleak cultural wasteland. Sydney culture cannot be managed and this first party is our little attempt to resist.”

Reckon you’ve seen all of Sydney there is to see in all the ways there is to see it? Find out what you don’t know (and work off those Good Friday and Easter Saturday excesses) with a guided foreshore discovery ride on Easter Sunday.

Leaving Sydney Square at 8.30am, 10am and 11.30am, this 10-kilometre cycling adventure run by the City of Sydney will take you and up to nine others on a fun journey, passing many of Sydney’s famous, infamous and not-so-famous sites.

If you’ve been wanting to cycle the city, but been put off by driver aggression, out-of-control traffic and crazy fines, this is your chance to explore without stressing.

Launch straight in the Easter long weekend at The Cliff Dive. At 9pm on Thursday 24 March, yet another incarnation of the club’s mega-popular Naughty Noughties night will kick off. If you’ve been before, you’ll know it’s all about taking unashamed pride in your addiction to the 2000s charts.

Taking care of the DJing will be Adam Bozzetto aka DJ Chardonnay (Wordlife/Motorik/Heaps Decent), who’s promising to drop a 20-minute Jennifer Lopez medley; Leon Smith, ‘Australia’s Number One Strip Club DJ’ (stay with us) and expert in all things 50 Cent, Ja Rule and Crazy Town; and upcoming talent JORDVN. As usual, fashion blogger 24 Karat Kev will be doing the emceeing.