Sydney Festival

Sydney Festival, which is also known as SydFest, is an arts and cultural festival held annually in Sydney, Australia. The festival includes visual arts, musical performances, theatrical performances and more. Held since 1977, the festival normally attracts musicians, artists and performers from around the world. It is a major cultural event in Sydney and has become a major economic force because of the tourism that it generates. The weeks-long event draws approximately 450,000 visitors on average and features about 800 Australian and international artists. Although the festival is popular in Sydney, some residents have criticized the amount of taxpayer money that goes toward the festival.

History

The idea for the festival grew out of the Waratah Spring Festival, which had been held in Sydney from the early 1950s through the early 1970s. The City of Sydney and the New South Wales (NSW) government wanted to increase tourism in the city. Together with the Sydney Committee, these organizations developed a plan to create an arts festival that would attract people to the city during the holiday month of January, which is also the summer tourism season.

The first festival, which was called the Festival of Sydney, launched with a New Year’s Eve celebration. It ran from 31 December 1976 to 31 January 1977. The festival included a wide range of roughly 180 activities from high-art performances to sports competitions. The event was relatively successful, even though the planning committee lost hundreds of thousands of dollars while producing the event. Thanks to the overall success of the inaugural 1977 festival, the planners held the festival again the following year, starting with a 31 December 1977 New Year’s Eve celebration at the Sydney Opera House. The festival included a grand parade, which took place in the middle of the city. The festival helped change Sydney and kicked off a number of important cultural events including the city’s first International Children’s Film Festival and the Festival of Folklife. The second festival was even more successful than the first, with roughly 200,000 people in attendance.

The Sydney Festival became an important cultural event in the country and attracted some of Australia’s most famous and talented artists, musicians and performers. By 1979, the festival featured Australian cinema and theatre prominently. It included high art and low art, and some critics claimed the festival tried to include too many events to fit all different tastes. These critics believed that having a more focused festival would help give the event a unique identity.

The festival continued into the twenty-first century. Over time it became more focused. Sporting events and some of the community events were removed from the schedule. As the festival became internationally recognized, it drew celebrities and performers from many countries.

The 2021 Sydney Festival was drastically scaled back because of the 2020 global COVID-19 pandemic. The schedule was about one-third of previous years, and—because of travel restrictions—only Australian artists and performers were invited. The planners, who also reduced the number of venues to be used, wanted to hold the festival in spite of concerns about the pandemic, they said, because the arts community was hit especially hard by the pandemic.

Topic Today

The Sydney Festival is one of the largest annual cultural events in Australia. It has a reputation for showcasing modern and popular art and entertainment. The event is usually spread out in the city in roughly fifty different venues, including theatres, outdoor public spaces, and more.

The event generally lasts for about three weeks and begins in early January. Festival First Night, a celebration taking place at venues throughout the city, kicks off SydFest. The Festival First Night itself generally attracts about 250,000 people in an average year. This night of the festival includes many street events, which crowd the city with tourists and locals. Festival First Night often features a multitude of events targeted towards children, such as dance lessons and outdoor circuses and musical performances. Many of the city streets are closed to automobile traffic to make way for safe foot traffic. Art museums, theatres and other venues also hold special events during Festival First Night.

Saturday schedules also include many family-friendly and often free events. Festival beer gardens, outdoor concerts, visual art exhibits and even burlesque shows occur in various spaces throughout the city, including parks, theatres, museums and famous venues such as the Sydney Opera House. Many famous performances—such as Cloudstreet (1998), Little Ragged Blossom (2007) and Circa’s Humans (2017)—have debuted at the event.

Some Sydney residents have expressed concerns about SydFest. For example, the city and NSW spend millions of taxpayer dollars to host the festival each year. Some critics believe the event is not an appropriate use of government funds. Nevertheless, supporters of the festival argue that it is an important economic event that draws tourists and helps boost businesses in the city. Supporters believe that the tax revenue it generates helps to offset the public money spent. Another concern that has been raised about Sydney Festival is its environmental impact. Because the festival draws roughly 450,000 visitors, it creates a great deal of waste and has a large carbon footprint. The festival has responded to criticisms about the environmental impact by making minor changes. For example, the festival stopped providing water in disposable plastic bottles. Instead, artists and staff receive reusable metal water bottles. Nevertheless, the festival continues to have a significant carbon footprint.

SydFest remains a significant cultural and economic event for the city. While some critics have noted the environmental impact and cost of the event, others argue that it draws visitors to Sydney and encourages residents to frequent the venues.

Bibliography

“About Sydney Festival.” Sydney Festival, 2020, www.sydneyfestival.org.au/about-us. Accessed 9 Dec. 2020.

“Archive.” Sydney Festival, 2020, www.sydneyfestival.org.au/archive. Accessed 9 Dec. 2020.

Galvin, Nick. “Smaller Sydney Festival Will Go Ahead with More Local Flavour.” Sydney Morning Herald, 23 Sept. 2020, www.smh.com.au/culture/theatre/smaller-sydney-festival-will-go-ahead-with-more-local-flavour-20200923-p55yeo.html. Accessed 9 Dec. 2020.

Snee, Peter J. “Australian Made: Wesley Enoch Unveils Fifth and Final Sydney Festival Program.” AussieTheatre.com, 12 Nov. 2020, aussietheatre.com.au/news/australian-made-wesley-enoch-unveils-fifth-and-final-sydney-festival-program. Accessed 9 Dec. 2020.

“Sydney Festival.” City of Sydney, 2020, whatson.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/programs/sydney-festival. Accessed 9 Dec. 2020.

“Sydney Festival.” Destination NSW, 2020, int.sydney.com/destinations/sydney/sydney-city/city-centre/events/sydney-festival. Accessed 9 Dec. 2020.

“Sydney Festival Turns Forty.” City of Sydney, 2015, www.sydneyoralhistories.com.au/stories/sydney-festival-turns-forty/. Accessed 9 Dec. 2020.

“Talent from the Con Shining at the 2021 Sydney Festival.” The University of Sydney, 9 Dec. 2020, www.sydney.edu.au/music/news-and-events/2020/12/09/talent-from-the-con-shining-at-the-2021-sydney-festival.html. Accessed 9 Dec. 2020.