Sydney Winter Festival 2010

Overview

Why book a trip to Europe in December when Europe can come to you in June? That is the unique predicament that the Sydney Winter Festival so capably addresses.

Here’s the wrap: the Sydney Winter Festival — on every evening from Thursday, June 24 to Sunday, July 4 — is something of a spin-off of the Christmas markets held across Europe, where hoards of people come out to bustling squares for an ice skate, a hot mug of Gluhwein (steaming spiced wine — it’s tops) and perhaps a coquettish cuddle amid the snow. While the snow part is less likely in the middle of Sydney city, you can be assured plenty of alpine enjoyment on the ice rink in the Cook and Phillip Park forecourt.

Even though the rink is four times bigger than last year’s, you're advised to book in advance (averting potential skate-rage). Elsewhere in the forecourt are a woodfire-lit, ski-lodge-styled Alpine Ski Hut, where you get your fix of Austrian, Swiss and Bavarian delicacies and live folk music; an Alpine Food Market packed with bratwurst, beer and the like; and off-the-wall rides like the inflatable Zorb Ball (a 'global' sport, pardon the pun). With St Mary’s Cathedral looming in the background, the Sydney Winter Festival may as well be anywhere from Paris to Prague.