With 66 ticketed events and 26 free events, Sydney Festival took place over 23 days, reaching a predicted audience of 500,000 people. The Festival recorded 121 sold-out performances and a box-office of over $7.3 million with a program that included 10 world premieres, 3 Australian premieres and 25 Australian
exclusives, with more than 750 artists coming from 17 different
countries. Stretching from Bondi to Penrith and from Chatswood to Sutherland, Sydney Festival took over the entire city this January.
‘Sydney Festival embraced its catch line This is Our City in Summer with a diverse and buoyant program,’ said Festival Director Lieven Bertels. ‘The artists, the Festival
team and hundreds of volunteers brought to life an ambitious program
that delighted our audiences with small and big surprises. We were
pleased to see our quest to bring back opera and highlight the joy of
live music in dance and theatre, as well as in a concert format, was
well-received.’
Program highlights included a performance by folk musician Archie Roach, an Irish dancing concert, Cantina’s unorthodox ‘physical theatre’ in the Spiegeltent, the world premiere of Kate Grenville’s adapted novel, The Secret River, a performance by Latin circus troupe Circolumbia with URBAN at the Parramatta Riverside Theatre and Malian musician Rokia Traore.
Another highlight (see video below) was the giant rubber duck towed around Darling Harbour. It was a light-hearted affair with activities for all ages. The centre of the city was transformed into the ‘Honda Festival Garden’ and the recently-opened Paradiso Bar saw the Sydney Town Hall take on a new look. The Parramatta Opening Party kicked off the festival with live music, art installations and DJs. The Domain was another popular venue, hosting the Symphony and Summer Sounds concerts and numerous late-night parties.
The Festival received considerable international recognition, with print media headlines in London, New York, Zambia and Kazakhstan while social media networks such as Instagram and Facebook were daily flooded with reports and pictures of the festival.
