The Best Parties Happening Throughout Vivid Sydney 2019

As if the furore generated by the Vivid Sydney 2019 announcement wasn’t enough to stir your loins, Fuzzy Events has announced a banging lineup for its 2019 instalment of Curve Ball. Taking over Carriageworks on Saturday, June 8, the live electronic music event will a tight little lineup with a hefty side of visual arts. The lineup is fronted by Sydney’s own Hayden James and Touch Sensitive. They’ll be joined by Brissie’s Mallrat, DJ duo Set Mo, FlexMami and more. It’s basically a who’s who of Australia’s up-and-coming artists. Carriageworks is bringing the fire with an immersive audio and visual experience to accompany the tunes as well as large scale art installations. First release tickets have already sold out, so make sure you snap up some final ones soon.

The Opera House is transforming its Studio into a party hub for Vivid Sydney‘s first two weekends. Over four nights, the space will be taken over by an impressive lineup of international DJs coming in from everywhere from Seoul to Spain. Head down on Friday, May 24 to catch two women killing it on the global electronic music scene: Lauren Halo and 박혜진 Park Hye Jin. Halo is Berlin-based and comes highly critically acclaimed as one of the world’s most exciting electronic composer, while up and coming Seoul DJ-rapper-producer Park Hye Jin is an up and comer that — if you’re a fan of house and techno — you don’t want to miss. If you can back it up, UK electronic music veteran Gerald Simpson (aka A Guy Called Gerald) will play an epic five-hour set in The Studio the following night The next week sees Spanish producer John Talbot take the stage on Friday, May 31, and Moritz van Oswald bring is home on the Saturday. All shows kick off until 9pm and will run until around 2.30am.

Purple Sneakers — a Sydney-based crew dedicated to emerging club music — turns 13 this year and, to celebrate, the team is taking over every nook and cranny of The Landsdowne Hotel. Happening as part of Vivid Sydney, this epic one-night shindig will host a stack of artists, who’ll be keeping the party going for seven hours on Saturday, June 15. The lineup is jam-packed. Gracing the stages a verious points between 8pm and 3am will be Kota Banks, Mickey Kojack, Din, Rebel Yell and Close Counters, among others. There’ll also be DJ sets from new Triple J House Party host Ebony Boabu, plus appearances by local favourites Nectar’s Merph, Lex Deluxe and Ayebatonye, as well as the next generation of Purple Sneakers DJs. Since kicking off in 2006, Purple Sneakers has given career-launching gigs to the likes of Flume, Rüfüs du Sol, Alison Wonderland, Cloud Control and Nina Las Vegas, as well as hosting Melbourne premieres for both Disclosure and Flosstradamus. These days, the team runs a website, radio show and regular parties around Australia.

Throw on the best gown your local op shop has in stock, because Heaps Gay and Vivid Sydney are throwing a fancy schmancy party. Taking over Sydney Town Hall on the Saturday of Queen’s Birthday long weekend, the second annual Heaps Gay Qweens Ball will be headlined than none other than Vanessa Amorosi. Be prepared to throw your hands in the air to ‘Absolutely Everybody’ like it’s 2000 once again. Joining her will be electro Sydney singer Kota Banks, pop duo Collarbones and DJs including Mimi, Mowgli May and Fur Coat. Expect art, burlesque, drag shows and more. Oh, and did we mention the whole thing is sponsored by Young Henrys and Archie Rose? Needless to say, there’ll be libations aplenty, as the party kicks on well into the night.

At this year’s Vivid Sydney you can celebrate women in music in the most unlikeliest of places: a barber shop. Ziggy’s Barber Salon in Darlinghurst (serving ladies and gents, by the way) is known for its fashion-forward haircuts and now, apparently, cutting edge gigs. Featuring established and emerging talent, artists including Abby Dobson, Lupa J, Jade MacRae and Sayah & Xira will be taking to the, erm, floor as part of an awesome lineup of women in the Aussie music scene. Kick back and enjoy the tunes in a traditional barber chair or dance your heart out on the salon floor. These barber shop beats will be spread across a weekend, with different acts playing on three different nights running from Thursday, May 30 until Saturday, June 1. The party is all ages and it’s a BYO drinks policy. Tickets are $25–35 for each gig, or you can get a pass to all three for $60. Do Vivid a little differently this year and add this pop-up live music party to your itinerary.

If you’re anything like us, you’re probably hard at work making a list of what to see at Vivid 2019. A word of advice, though: keep Wednesday nights free. Why? Because each hump day throughout the duration of the festival, the Art Gallery of New South Wales will keep its doors open late for a free evening of music, discussion and art. The first Art After Hours, on the evening of May 29, will explore spirituality and inner life in a conversation between Meshel Laurie and Benjamin Law before a musical tribute to the films of Spike Lee (a Vivid Ideas speaker this year). Week two will feature a talk from poet-rapper Omar Musa and artist Abdul Abdullah on expressing culture and identity in Australia, along with a striking performance from Okenyo, while week three will go back to the moon landing by reimagining songs from the cassette played during the moon landing. There’ll be heaps to do each night, with free mindfulness sessions, drawing workshop and artist-led talks. They’re also a good opportunity to catch the gallery’s current exhibitions: The Archibald Prize, Duchamp and The National.

Vivid Sydney is almost here — which means the city is at full capacity with enough art, music and entertainment to keep you warm over winter. Instead of spending all your time looking at the lights and crowds at Opera Bar, head over to Kings Cross Hotel, because the venue is teaming up with Vivid once again to throw parties on each Saturday of the festival. On May 25, June 1 and June 8, the hotel fill its seven levels with bands, DJs, artists and performers. Expect to party until you can party no more, because each night celebrates something new. Find yourself boogying on the rooftop to an all-female lineup led by Nina Las Vegas on the first Saturday, cutting shapes to some fresh music from electronic label Clipp Art on the second, and then rounding it all out with a curation of Australia’s hip hop and dancehall up-and-comers. Best of all, entry is 100 percent free.