Sydney and New South Wales have set the stage for a spellbinding season of prime cultural and artistic shows and events during 2012 and 2013. The NSW Events Calendar lists over 90 major upcoming events -the annual list has more than 800. 

Sydney will host world-premiere musicals, sporting events, and blockbuster exhibitions, adding extra vibrancy to Australia's leading tourism and events city. This unprecedented line-up of events continues to expand into 2013 and covers everything from Sydney Carnival to Strictly Ballroom the musical, and from Sydney Mardi Gras' Parades to Alexander the Great exhibition. Whenever you visit Sydney, there's always world class events to experience.


Exciting events in Sydney - 2012/13

18th Biennale of Sydney. Australia's largest contemporary visual arts event is presented free to the public every two years. The 18th Biennale of Sydney, titled "All Our Relations", will focus on collaboration, conversation and compassion, in the face of coercion and destruction.  The Biennale will showcase Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA), which reopened in March 2012 after a AUD $53 million redevelopment. The MCA has been expanded and transformed into a major cultural centre for contemporary art and creative learning, along with exhibitions at the Art Gallery of NSW, Cockatoo Island, and Pier 2/3 At Walsh Bay. (18th Biennale of Sydney; 27 June-16 September 2012)

Since 1971, Sydneysiders have been joined by participants from all over the world - elite athletes rubbing shoulders with locals to run, walk or watch the 14km race from Hyde Park in Sydney's CBD to the finish at iconic Bondi Beach. The City to Surf will be run on the 12 August 2012.

In October, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia will host Primavera 2012, marking the 21st anniversary of this annual exhibition. It showcases work by artists aged 35 years and under from across Australia.  

Crave Sydney International Food Festival is a month-long celebration of extraordinary food experiences in Sydney and regional NSW locations, throughout October. Something for everyone, from large-scale food events to intimate dinners cooked by some of the world's leading chefs. Highlights include outdoor noodle markets, and The World Chef Showcase. (1-31 October 2012)

Experience Sculpture By The Sea, an exhibition of contemporary sculpture staged along Sydney's spectacular Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk. Over 100 works by artists from Australia and overseas are exhibited. From the witty  and the unexpected to the truly magnificent, the exhibition provides sculptors with a unique opportunity to placetheir work in a dramatic natural setting. (18 October - 4 November 2012)

Alexander the Great marches in to the Australian Museum. The Australian Museum in central Sydney will present a magnificent new exhibition: 'Alexander the Great: 2000 Years of Treasures'. Secured with the support of the NSW Government through Destination NSW, the exhibition is exclusive to the museum, to Sydney and to Australia.  'Alexander the Great: 2000 Years of Treasures' is the largest collection from the acclaimed State Hermitage Museum of St Petersburg to visit Australia. The exhibition will feature 400 priceless objects, spanning more than 2000 years.  (Opens 24 November 2012.)

Race by day and rock all night at this year's V8 Supercars Sydney Telstra 500 at Sydney Olympic Park. (30 November -2 December 2012). 

The 2012 Emirates Australian Open of Golf will be played for $1.5 million prize money at The Lakes Golf Club in Sydney from 6-9 December.

New Year's Eve. Sydney welcomes in the New Year on 31 December 2012 with its world-renowned harbour celebration, culminating in a spectacular midnight fireworks show that highlights the iconic Harbour Bridge. This is a must-do world-class event.

Every January, Sydney Festival enlivens and transforms Sydney with a bold cultural celebration based on high quality art and creative ideas. The Festival opens each year with the unique Festival First Night - a feast of music, dance and visual spectacle on the streets and in the parks of central Sydney and Parramatta, attracting over 200,000 people. This free event is the curtain raiser to a three week, ticketed and free program that reaches an audience of over 650,000.  The program is kaleidoscopic in its diversity, from burlesque circus to New York rap to Russian theatre; from contemporary dance to family programs to traditional Indigenous arts. The program comprises around 300 performances and around 100 events performed by over 1,000 artists in at least 20 venues each year. Sydney Festival - featuring Sydney Festival First Night is on 5 - 28th January 2013.

St George Open Air Cinema. The Harbour Bridge, Sydney Opera House and city skyline set the magnificent scene for this alfresco celebration of film, food, wine and the Sydney lifestyle.  (February - March 2013) 

2012 Sydney Chinese New Year Festival. The Year of the Dragon roars to a start with a major arts festival bursting with cultural events, markets, tours, entertainment, exhibitions and the Twilight Parade.   (8 - 24th February 2013) 

Movie Extra Tropfest. Australia's most prestigious short film festival is one of its most iconic cultural events. It is also the largest short film festival in the world. Tropfest is free to attend and will celebrate its 21st birthday in 2013. The festival is an outdoor celebration complete with live music and entertainment, public catering and bars, red-carpet arrivals and the highly anticipated film screenings followed by an awards ceremony. (February 2013)

Australian Open of Surfing. This nine-day festival at Manly Beach celebrates the best of Australian action sports, music, art and fashion, incorporating skateboarding and ASP-sanctioned Pro and Junior surfing tournaments.  It's action sports event meets music festival meets the world surfing tour... and it's all free!  (9 -17 February 2013)

Sydney Mardi Gras. Three fun-packed weeks showcase the very best of Sydney in summertime, from the drag races on Bondi Beach to the music and dance at Harbour Party, culminating with the world famous Sydney Mardi Gras costume parade and Party. Expect a diverse feast of colour and the most diverse procession of people, floats and choreography to be seen anywhere on 2 March 2013.

Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour. A fusion of beautiful music and a breathtaking spectacle creates an unforgettable evening under the stars. The event's debut featured La Traviata in 2012 andproved an unqualified success, as fireworks, a harbour stage and a giant chandelier transformed opera in Sydney like never before. More than 40,000 people attended one of the 17 performances - more than half of them opera novices. In 2013, Gale Edwards will direct Bizet's Carmen. If it's anything like the 2012 production it will be spectacular. La Traviata featured a 40-piece orchestra, magnificent sets, beautiful costumes, dazzling effects, and a nine-metre chandelier suspended above the purpose-built floating stage.  The Sydney Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge and city skyline provided the spectacular backdrop. Carmen will be performed in 2013, with exact dates still to be announced. (March/April 2013) 

Sydney Royal Easter Show. Fourteen days of top family fun each April as Australia's largest and most treasured annual public event showcases the culture, heritage and tradition of Australian country life, promoting and displaying livestock, produce and rural merchandise. (28 March -10 April 2013) 

Sydney Carnival. Catch the fun at two major racing carnivals at Rosehill and Randwick racecourses. Highlights are the Golden Slipper Festival held on the first Saturday in April followed by David Jones Australian Derby Day at Randwick the following week. Latest fashions, spirited horses and over AUD $20 million in total prize money make this a Sydney racing and thoroughbred classic. (April 2013) 

Vivid Sydney. A unique annual festival of light, music and ideas, a mesmerising free public exhibition of outdoor lighting sculptures, a cutting-edge contemporary music program and the spectacular illumination of the Sydney Opera House sails. This year's event has just ended (on 11 June) and next year's line-up is already being arranged. One of the signature events in the NSW Events Calendar developed by Destination NSW, with the NSW Government as the major investor, Vivid Sydney has become Sydney's major winter festival, lighting up the city each night from 6pm with free and ticketed events at Sydney Opera House, Museum of Contemporary Art, Circular Quay and The Rocks. Vivid Sydney wows the crowds! (10 May - 12 June 2013) 

Sydney Writers' Festival. Australia's largest annual celebration of literature and ideas presents over 300 events (half of them free) and attracts attendances of about 80,000 in venues that stretch from the festival hub at Walsh Bay to the Blue Mountains. For one week every May, the festival brings together authors of the best contemporary fiction and writers of cutting-edge nonfiction, including some of the world's leading public intellectuals, scientists and journalists.  (May 2013)

Sydney Film Festival. One of the longest running events of its kind in the world, the festival brings the best new films each year to audiences in Sydney. (June 2013) 


Prepare for a wonderful array of musicals. 

Sydney is the musical capital of Australia, with the NSW State Government and Destination NSW bolstering a world-class musicals program that is sure to entertain visitors and residents alike. Sydney hosted the World Premiere of An Officer and a Gentleman in May, ahead of international musical theatre destinations such as London and New York. The Australian Premiere of Legally Blonde, the musical, is set to paint Sydney pink when it opens at the Lyric Theatre, The Star on 4 October 2012. The Addams Family will make its Australian Premiere in Sydney's Capitol Theatre from 23 March 2013 and Strictly Ballroom, the musical, will have its World Premiere at the Lyric Theatre from September 2013. A true blockbuster musical, The Lion King is set to return to Sydney's Capitol Theatre in December 2013 and run for eight or nine months. The Lion King is one of the world's favourite musicals and the 2013 production is expected to attract 500,000 visitors to NSW from interstate and overseas, generating AUD $36 million for the State. 


Culture, music, food and fun in Regional NSW

Dungog Film Festival. Set in the picturesque little town of Dungog, about a three-hour drive northwest of Sydney, this four-day event showcases the best of new and classic Australian cinema. Its principal objective: to increase the appreciation of Australian screen culture and heritage. Dungog is a spirited country town set against a majestic backdrop of rolling hills at the gateway to Barrington Tops National Park. As well as a celebration of Australian cinema, the festival has a lively regional content with local produce and Hunter Valley wines to the fore. (19 June-1 July 2012) 

Deniliquin Ute Muster. A festival celebrating the ute, Australia's version of a pick-up truck, with music competitions and family fun. It's held on the flattest, natural, open plains on earth. Ute culture is an intrinsic part of Deniliquin. The word ute, incidentally, derives from "coupe utility". The first one was produced by Ford Australia in response to a 1932 letter from the wife of an Australian farmer asking for "a vehicle to go to church in on a Sunday and which can carry our pigs to market on Mondays". (28-29 September 2012) 

Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000. This 1000km touring car race roars off annually at Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst on the second Sunday in October. V8 Supercars - high-octane stuff! (4-7 October 2012) 

CountryLink Parkes Elvis Festival. Bring on Elvis!  The Central NSW town of Parkes is all shook up in the second week of January as thousands of hip-swivelling Elvis impersonators, tribute artists and fans convene for a dazzling array of events to celebrate the birthday of "the King". (9-13 January 2013) 

Jayco Tamworth Country Music Festival. Australia's biggest celebration of country music is held annually in the country town of Tamworth, about 500 kilometres north of Sydney. Music is at the heart of the 10-day festival, but the combination of welcoming locals, friendly visitors, summer-holiday atmosphere and non-stop music gives the event across-the-board appeal. (18-27 January 2013) 

Bluesfest Byron Bay. Australia's premier blues and roots music festival is held annually at Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm, just outside Byron Bay.  (28 March - 1 April 2013) 

Orange F.O.O.D Week. A gastronomical extravaganza in April each year, this week is so popular that it stretches to cover 10 days. Experience NSW's finest regional food, from vegetables to venison, from the shires of Orange, Cabonne and Blayney. Meet the farmers who grow the food and the chefs, caterers and cooks who create extraordinary dishes from it. (April 2013) 

Hundreds of events take place right throughout the year in Sydney and NSW. In Sydney, it's always on - and whenever you visit Regional NSW, you'll find something exciting happening.

For more information go to www.sydney.com or www.visitnsw.com

To access the image library and download images go to images.destinationnsw.com.au  


MEDIA CONTACT:
Diane Glasson
diane.glasson@dnsw.com.au
61 2 9931 1475


Who's at ATE12 ?

Destination NSW. Booth 35. Eastern and Western. www.dnsw.com.au
Art Gallery of New South Wales. Booth 10. Eastern and Western. www.ag.nsw.gov.au
Australian Museum. Booth 27A. Western. www.austmus.gov.au
Sydney Opera House. Booth 31. Eastern and Western. www.sydneyoperahouse.com