Barangaroo Reserve Welcome Celebration

Overview

Sydney's newest public park is open on the CBD's north-western foreshore, and it's launching with a huge Welcome Celebration — with a giant picnic, fireworks, a free foreshore party, the works.

Barangaroo Reserve consists of six hectares of waterfront parkland with views of the western harbour. With a design by American landscape architect Peter Walker (who previously designed the 9/11 memorial in Manhattan) and an outspoken ambassador in former Prime Minister Paul Keating, the park project took two-and-a-half years to complete at a cost of around $250 million. The opening of the park marks the first time in more than a century that this section of the harbour has been accessible to the public. It's also step one in the ambitious $6 billion Barangaroo project, which has the been the subject of controversy for some time now, mostly surrounding James Packer's plans for a $2 billion hotel, casino and apartment complex. Beyond that, the precinct is expected to welcome 80 retailers, including 50 bars and restaurants.

In the meantime, the Barangaroo Delivery Authority will celebrate the opening of the park with a 12-week program of free live entertainment, beginning with a giant picnic and welcome party on Sunday September 6 that will shine a light on the Indigenous history of the area and its traditional custodians the Gadigal people. Depending on what time you’re likely to be up and at ‘em on a Sunday, there’s the Welcome Walk first up. Assemble at 10am in Hickson Road Reserve for a free, history-laden tour of the area. There'll be a ceremonial cauldron lighting at 11.15am in Nawi Cove, a tribute to the importance of fire (or guwiiyang) to the Gadigal people of the area, then a Welcome to Country ceremony near Marrinawi Cove at 12.30pm with traditional song and dance.

If you're wanting to take full advantage of the waterfront site as it will inevitably be used from now on, bring your blankets and tubs of hummus for the Giant Picnic (yes, it’s a proper noun) where there'll be nosh from Aria Catering and Bourke Street Bakery, pop-up bars by Young Henrys, Lowe Wines and Batlow Cider, hip hop workshops, weaving classes, onstage talks and more. There'll a dusk ceremony in tribute to the women of the Sydney basin lands, including Barangaroo, of course. Then there’ll be a flurry of fireworks off the foreshore from 6pm, directed by Fortunato Foti (the brains behind Sydney's NYE fireworks since 1997).

But after so many millions spent, Barangaroo needs a solid party to truly launch the space. The Welcome Party is an all-ages, free shindig happening in the Cutaway — Barangaroo's new cultural/exhibition space— from 6.30-8.30pm, with Thelma Plum, DJ Richard Weiss, NAISDA Dance Group and Oka. It’s a free event, but you have to pre-register here. While you're there, check out contemporary artist Brook Andrew's large-scale sculptural installation Stone – The Weight of History, The Mark of Time.

Images: Hamilton Lund & Kata Bayer

By Tom Clift and Shannon Connellan.