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Regardless of the occasion, the sunny city of Sydney is a great place to explore. Whether you live in New South Wales or beyond, you must add a few attractions within Sydney’s vibrant arts and culture scene to your trip itinerary and discover the many incredible events that take place in this vibrant city each year.
Much like the city of Melbourne in Victoria, Sydney residents, artists, and entertainment professionals work hard to profile new and emerging artists, and so we always encourage travellers to look and see what kind of cultural events are taking place off the beaten track, produced by artists you might not yet be familiar with. Who doesn’t want to discover the new Aussie talent?
Here are some of our top tips for experiencing all that Sydney’s vibrant arts and culture scene has to offer.
Stay central to the cultural hotspots
Immersing in the arts and cultural scene of Sydney is going to be so much easier if you are centrally located or staying in Sydney CBD hotels. This will allow you to have a home base right around the corner from a bar that is showing up-and-coming stand-up comedians, a club with a great DJ, or an independent theatre close by.
When a long commute and public transport are involved (regardless of how advanced Sydney’s public transport is), it can be all too easy to just stick to the streets that are familiar to you, so you’ll want to make sure those streets are precisely where all the action can be found. Please note that if the Vivid Festival, or other large events are what’s bringing you to Sydney, you should be sure to book your hotel accommodation early so you can stay where you want and snag accommodation at a reasonable rate!
Another great advantage to staying at a central Sydney hotel is that you can ask the concierge what is happening around the hotel. Your hotel concierge is likely to be very well informed about what’s happening in the city and surrounding suburbs, so lean on that knowledge in order to get a great ‘insider look’ at Sydney’s art and cultural scene.
Check out the gig guides
Huge headliners are going to be hard to miss when it comes to researching what to do in Sydney. Those smaller acts and events, however, might be harder to find if you do not know where to look. Take a look at the gig guides for all major, medium and small theatre and concert spaces, as well as those bars and clubs that are known to host events. These guides will usually have events slated months in advance so that you can secure tickets and work out the logistics.
Print and online publications will also have a gig guide or event guide in Sydney that you can take advantage of as a tourist. These guides may even be a better source of information than formal gig guides that you may find at the airport or other tourist hotspots, as they’ll have a variety of events happening all over Sydney, including more fringe productions.
When you have a shortlisted collection of events that you want to experience during your upcoming Sydney adventure, you should feel confident enough to start mapping them out in order to be absolutely certain that you can squeeze all this excitement into your trip timeline.
Don’t forget to experience Sydney dining
Have you ever planned a fabulous day or evening out, only to find that you didn’t allocate time for fitting in a good feed? Being absolutely starving can really wreck even the most exciting of events, and find yourself hoping that your show or exhibit ends early so that you can go and grab a bite to eat.
Be sure to allow enough time to have a meal and refreshments in between items in your itinerary. Similarly, if you’re hoping to dine at a fairly high-profile restaurant, you should be sure to book ahead so that you can guarantee yourself a table and won’t be disappointed if they happen to be at capacity.
You will soon find out that Sydney has a love affair with its food and hospitality scene, so blending events and dining can be a great way to fully experience Sydney’s eclectic culture. If you are the type of person who likes to sample lots of different cuisines on the go, be sure to find out where the best Sydney food trucks are so that you can get involved!
Explore the regional talent out there
If you have more time than a weekend, why not head out to some regional NSW destinations to see some more of the city’s locally grown talents? There are some fantastic art galleries in Goulburn and Armidale which showcase new and well known New South Wales artists. There are also beautiful accommodation offerings that perfectly capture the understated beauty of these regional towns.
If you’re a fan of music, there are also some great music festivals to attend in Tamworth and Byron Bay if you are open to the drive, so be sure to explore all the things happening in and out of Sydney for maximum entertainment.
We hope you are feeling excited about your upcoming Sydney escape and have lots of ideas about how you can explore the many things happening in the city’s cultural and art scene. Remember to let us know what you end up attending and what you thought!
About This SIte
Hi! I’m Stephen Schreck! A travel addict, wordsmith, and shutterbug.
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