The Rocks Village Bizarre 2013

Overview

Looking for a novel (and free) way to celebrate the end of the working week? Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority is turning The Rocks and its laneways into a strange and mysterious playground over eight Friday nights during November and December.

Taking Rocks Square as its centre, the Rocks Village Bizarre aims to take its visitors by surprise, changing its theme weekly and placing unexpected experiences around every corner. The event's creative director Michael Cohen says, "It's more than just an event; it's a weekly adventure into weirdly wonderful."

Amongst the myriad of things to do will be a sprinkling of intriguing places to drink (including a 1920s speakeasy experience thanks to Gin Mill Social), silent discos, bingo games, open air peddle-powered YouTube battles, a birds-only 'hole-in-the-sky' pop-up bar, night markets, old school barbers offering haircuts, magicians, fortune telling, love potions and a constant stream of roving performers. Sounds pretty wacky, right?

Budding filmmakers may be keen to get involved in the festival's Bike Shorts Film Competition. There are two categories depending on your experience level, so you can enter either a five-minute standard short or a 15-second micro short. The prizes are pretty awesome, too. Get all the info here.

When the inaugural Village Bizarre event launched last year, we wrote: "The Rocks has proved an unexpectedly difficult area to rejuvenate. Home to winding laneways, heel-cracking cobblestones, quaint colonial haunts, and shady histories, it should be the atmospheric epicentre of cultural life in this city ... Now the most promising sign of change yet has come."

The marquees and pop-ups of the Village Bizarre were the wardrobe to Narnia on those nights, and sure enough, we've found more and more reasons to loiter in The Rocks ever since. Here's to a new season of inspired happenings.

Get the full events listing at The Rocks Village Bizarre website. To watch the teaser video, click here.