Nobody throws a party like Sydney and this will be a celebration unlike any
you have seen before!
Sydney Festival kicks off in grand style in on 5th January 2008 with the
inaugural Festival First Night, a free public event that offers up
the city’s streets, laneways and parks for a night of music, dance and
celebration, culminating in a massive outdoor concert in The Domain,
starring the legendary Brian Wilson.
Festival First Night is a new event for Sydneysiders and visitors
alike. It is free of charge and offers a chance for everyone to enjoy the
attractions of one of the world’s most beautiful cities and the creative
excitement of the 2008 Sydney Festival. With over 200 Australian and
international artists performing in five different precincts within the
city, from Martin Place to Hyde Park and The Domain, there is something to
suit all tastes. It is a chance for Sydney to celebrate what has been
achieved, and dream about what might yet be.
The 2008 Sydney Festival promises to continue the Festival’s reputation as one
of Australia’s most prestigious and popular annual cultural events.
Appearing right in the middle of a glorious summer season in January, the
Festival presents a concentrated display of Australian and international
talent, cultural diversity and artistic innovation. The program celebrates
variety by incorporating a range of genres including dance, theatre, music,
visual arts, film, forums and large-scale free outdoor events. The three
week long event showcases the finest of Australian talent alongside a
selection of the most acclaimed international artists and companies. In
recent history the event has generated an array of memorable Australian
commissions and world premieres, many of which have gone on to tour around
the world.
The Sydney Festival first took place in 1977 and has since grown exponentially
to become one of the nation’s most valuable and highly anticipated cultural
fixtures. Year after year, the quality of the performances has built an
international reputation for diverse, intelligent and modern programming.
The Festival’s increasing popularity, which is evident in attendance levels
from local patrons and enthusiastic travellers, has mirrored the artistic
progress.
As the stature of the annual event has grown, so have its explorations into
the natural outdoor stages of Sydney. The Festival has always been enjoyed
as a celebration of the best of Sydney’s landscape and community. Now more
than ever the sense of location is truly incorporated into the event with
the Festival’s adventurous use of the city’s outdoor environment.
The Domain concert series that runs throughout the event is always a feature
of the Festival that dramatically alters the feel of the city and its
community. This year at the Festival First Night, legendary Brian Wilson
and his band will stir up the crowd with classic hits like ‘Good
Vibrations’, ‘Fun Fun Fun’ and more. The great Australian artist Paul Kelly
will also play highlights from his extraordinary career and there will be a
special Festival tribute concert to Indigenous Australian songwriter Kev
Carmody. In addition, the free outdoor events, such as the Symphony in The
Domain and Jazz in The Domain, are huge concerts that attract thousands of
music-lovers who come with a blanket and a picnic eager to enjoy a new
perspective on the city and its appreciation for music.
Alongside the use of more traditional indoor locations, the Festival First
Night will be a huge extravaganza of outdoor events. Macquarie street, one
of Sydney’s most historic streets, will start it all off by playing host to
a trio of weddings reflecting the various cultures that combine to create
Sydney’s idiosyncratic sense of community. The event will incorporate a
colourful celebration of weddings, such as Hindi, Buddhist, Greek and Balkan
renderings of marital ceremonies. The red carpet will be rolled out from
Hyde Park to Martin Place for this truly epic walk down the aisle.
Coloured festoons will light up one of the biggest dance floors ever built in
the city, when Sydney’s iconic Archibald Fountain becomes a site for
swing-era dancing in Hyde Park. Harking back to the glamour of the 1940s,
when people enjoyed dressing for the occasion and dancing up a storm until
the sun came up, revelers will tango, jive, salsa and waltz to the headline
act, Pink Martini, the wildly popular twelve piece ensemble from Portland,
Oregon.
Martin Place will host Sydney’s favourite dance music specialists, Fuzzy on
Festival First Night. In addition to the main stages, hotels, bars and
restaurants throughout the city are coming to the party with a huge range of
live entertainment and many of the city’s galleries and museums will be
open free of charge on the night.
The Festival First Night will be great fun for young ones too, calling on
children to express their hopes and dreams for Sydney in the year ahead.
From early afternoon the city will come alive with family-friendly events.
Working with experts, children will participate in an epic origami project
creating thousands of paper cranes representing their dreams for the city.
The cranes will be hung in Hyde Park, setting the stage for a gala concert
featuring the Sydney Youth Orchestra, the Sydney Children’s Choir and very
special guests
Sydney Festival attracted a total audience of approximately 1 million people
last year across all of its events making it the most attended cultural
event in Australia. This year the Festival runs from 5-26th January. A full
listing of events, exhibitions and activities will be available from 1st
November on www.sydneyfestival.org.au.
