
This is officially the world's most beautiful outdoor cinema
If you're of the opinion that going to the movies is an activity reserved for chilly winter evenings, you obviously haven't checked out our newly refreshed roundup of the planet's most glorious outdoor cinemas. Foolish.
Across the world, there are plenty to choose from, whether you're in Catalonia and fancy a screening with a mediaeval castle as your backdrop, or are hiking around Colorado and stumble across a showing at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre.
But none can quite compare to our crowning champion when it comes to big outdoor screens. Where is it, you ask? Well, it's perched overlooking Sydney Harbour.
The Westpac OpenAir sits on Mrs Macquaries Point with the city's skyline (including blockbuster landmarks like the Opera House and Harbour Bridge) in the background. There's dolby digital surround sound and 4k projection, as well as some seriously comfy seating and even the option to throw in a bougie dining experience on the site's waterside terrace.
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'A movie needs to really land when it has to compete with Sydney Harbour, the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge all doing their jaw-dropping thing in the background. Then again, if you do catch a dud, there's always the lights twinkling on the water and the fruit bats flying overhead to ensure a trip to this breathtaking screen in Sydney's Botanic Gardens is a memorable one,' writers Time Out contributor Stephen A Russell, 'You can order a bottle of bubbles to wash down a picnic box as you settle in for an evening watching everything from the latest blockbusters to vintage classics. It's a genuinely unforgettable experience.'
That's pretty high praise, eh? Well, there's 29 more stunning screens where that came from.
Check out our full roundup of
the most beautiful outdoor cinemas in the world
.
Oh, and here are the most beautiful (indoor) cinemas on the planet, as well as 100 places we think all movie lovers should visit.
ICYMI: The world's greatest art deco buildings, to mark 100 years of art deco.
Plus: The Italian island named the world's most colourful destination.
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Scottish Sun
6 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
Harry Styles spotted enjoying Rome and Vatican with Belgian designer as ex-1D star continues love affair with Italy
The pair were also spotted wandering the back streets carrying a bottle of wine HARRY'S NEW ROME-ANCE Harry Styles spotted enjoying Rome and Vatican with Belgian designer as ex-1D star continues love affair with Italy HE has made no secret of his love for Italy – and now it seems Harry Styles is enjoying showing off his favourite spots there. The former One Direction singer was seen wandering through Vatican City and Rome with Belgian-Congolese designer Kim Mupangilai last Friday. 8 Harry Styles was seen wandering through Vatican City and Rome with Kim Mupangilai Credit: Instagram 8 Former 1D singer Harry has made no secret of his love for Italy Credit: Getty 8 Belgian-Congolese designer Kim Mupangilai Credit: Instagram Harry was seen walking in front of St Peter's Basilica with New York-based designer Kim, who has appeared on the cover of high-end interior mags. The pair were also spotted wandering through the back streets of Rome — with Harry carrying a bottle of wine. A source said: 'Harry loves nothing more than showing people his favourite spots in Italy. 'He also loves art and Kim has been a great source of inspiration.' Kim, who grew up in Antwerp, Belgium, has shared pictures on her Instagram of The Loggia Of Cupid And Psyche — a mural depicting a love affair — at the Villa Farnesina in Rome. She also posted snaps of red peppers drying on a rooftop in Ravello on Italy's Amalfi Coast. It comes as Harry is rumoured to have fallen in love with the small Italian village of Civita di Bagnoregio. The Watermelon Sugar hitmaker spent the pandemic learning Italian and sign language. During his final Love On Tour show in Reggio Emilia, Italy, in 2023, Harry thanked 120,000 fans in Italian. Speaking in their language, he said: 'The last two years of my life have been a wonderful gift and it is truly very special to end my tour here, in a country that has a special place in my heart.' 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PUB JOB FOR SAM BEFORE rising to fame on Eurovision in 2022, Sam Ryder started out singing in boozers – and now he has been appointed Head of Gigs for Greene King Pubs to help support up-and-coming artists. Sam, who dropped new single The Feeling Never Went Away from his upcoming album Heartland on Friday, said: 'Pubs provided a place for me to actually learn how to play in front of people. 'Before the pub stage, you just played guitar in your bedroom as loud as it could go. 'At pubs, you got the chance to hone your craft and learn different songs, create a little catalogue, get the expertise of actually playing in front of people.' I couldn't agree more, Sam. CRUZ BECKHAM is taking his new band on tour next month, branding his indie music style as 'nepo rock'. 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The Guardian
3 hours ago
- The Guardian
What? They're doing raves in the morning now? With coffee? At a cafe?
The only ways I know to rave are festival-style or in the buzzed wee hours – the time between pubs shutting and trains starting. This means I've never walked into a cafe, fresh-faced and sober at 9am, with the intention of raving. But this is 2025, not the late 1990s, and people are possibly more questioning of the cost of partying on their bodies than they once were. So, coffee raves have become a thing. They're all over the world and come in many shapes and sizes, tending towards the bijou. Inevitably, they're big in Los Angeles and on social media, and are often the territory of young people, athleisurewear and brand collaborations. They're so popular, they've also become fair game. In a TikTok rant last week, musician Keli Holiday said what I might have been thinking: 'Call me old, call me jaded, but enough is enough, no more coffee raves … If you want to get your rave on … go to a rave or go to a club.' But on a rainy Saturday morning in central Sydney, I try one out – dubbed Maple Social Club – approaching with caution. I'm not a leisurewear wearer or an Instagrammer or indeed a coffee drinker. My young adult life was, rightly or wrongly, given to maximum nights out and minimum responsibility – and my weekends now are generally about children and sleep. If there's a cafe involved, it's usually peaceful. Organiser Taylor Gwyther, 25, tells me morning raves are an add-on to the night-time variety, not instead of. 'But, there's definitely a trend away from alcohol that I think encourages events like this to be popular,' she says as the first arrivals begin to enter the warehouse space behind Wilson cafe in Surry Hills. Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning Maple Social Club, which Gwyther founded with Connor Cameron, 23, is less than a year old and was inspired by run clubs and LA's AM radio morning DJ sets. Their free events provide an alibi, Gwyther says, in the same way a run club is a little bit about running and a lot about meeting people. 'Covid shut down a lot of social life and created lonely adjacent habits, and people are looking to revitalise how they spend their time,' she says. 'We spend so much time online for work and now play, I think people are looking for places and spaces to spend offline. We're trying to make it easier to find those things.' Morning raves also make sense on another, more local, level. Sydney residents are among the world's earliest to bed and earliest risers. In a city whose nightlife sits well below its beaches, wealth and wellness reputations, mornings are sacrosanct. Plus, it's expensive to party the normal way in a city with a famously stratospheric cost of living. A beer is about $12 in the pubs nearby. Here, a coffee is about $5 – and there's no need to buy a drink at all. Because, as Bronte, a 30-year-old nurse tells me later on the dancefloor, 'Who's got money these days, really?' Michael Pung, 39, a property valuer from Sydney, saw the event advertised on Instagram. 'I thought I'd check it out. I've been single for a while and I thought I might as well just come out and meet people,' he says, queueing in the long and slow-moving coffee line – which, handily for him, doubles as another opportunity to meet people. Like me, he's not normally a coffee drinker but, given he was out late last night Latin dancing, he says 'probably today's the day'. Sign up to Saved for Later Catch up on the fun stuff with Guardian Australia's culture and lifestyle rundown of pop culture, trends and tips after newsletter promotion I order a tea and a croissant, which feels plain weird, and join the throng as DJs Catch25 and Haze near the end of the opening set. It's already busy and I feel too exposed, too daylit, too close to too many raised phones. But, everyone – and I really mean everyone – is smiling. By 10am, the dancefloor is heaving with what feels like a roughly 50/50 mix of men and women. There are some older people, but generally the crowd is aged 20 to 35 – and as Gwyther predicted, 'super diverse'. Some have made a morning of it and are wearing what I would consider proper going-out attire with high heels; others are grungy, and most are in baggy jeans. Bronte, who lives locally, is here with friends. She says her evening and night shifts as a nurse mean she is often socially 'removed from the night'. She's sweaty and happy and hard to hear above the music. 'I've done all my walking for the day,' she says, referring to another thing that didn't used to be a thing: step count. Like Pung, she also goes out at night-time, but having the option to dance her working week away come Saturday morning is, as she puts it, 'very nice'. The music's not quite loud enough, or bassy enough, to lose myself – but, by about 10.30am, I think I might be dancing. People near me are drinking iced matcha lattes, which I'll never condone, but as the DJ drops a relative banger, I admit to my colleague, who is photographing this road test, that I'm having quite an uplifting start to my weekend. The day is still young and there's an afterparty at a pub nearby and yet another planned for the afternoon. Before I leave (it's approaching 11am after all) I turn to talk to a man who is watching on from close to the DJ area. Liam, 25, is almost-but-not-quite dancing, and it turns out he works for Red Bull events. He's here professionally: might Maple's coffee raves be worth bringing into the energy drink's gargantuan sponsorship embrace? 'We see just as much relevance for Red Bull in an occasion like this [as] a music festival or the F1,' he says with no small amount of enthusiasm. Stepping around some spilt milk, it strikes me there is no alcohol-edged aggro, argy bargy at the bar or intimidating bouncers. Just music and broad daylight – plus caffeine, in hot, cold and increasingly corporatised modes.


The Guardian
3 hours ago
- The Guardian
The moment I knew: moving so far and so fast wasn't in my character but it just felt right
In December 2024 I arrived in Sydney ready for an adventure. A friend was getting married in Australia and I had originally booked the trip with my ex, but when he dropped out after our breakup I decided to go ahead. I was considering quitting my job and moving back to the Netherlands so, even though I didn't know what my future would look like, I was ready for a holiday. I planned a week with friends in Sydney and Newcastle, a week with a friend travelling up the east coast and a final week on my own. On New Year's Eve I'd been at an all-day boat party on Sydney Harbour when a friend said she was off to meet an old flame of hers at a fireworks event in Bondi. I remember her telling me he had a nice single brother called Ben and showing me a photo: he had a moustache, was wearing a tank top and didn't look like my type at all. I told her I wasn't interested. I just wanted to stay with friends. When my friend's taxi arrived she pulled me in with her – and thank goodness she did because, when I met Ben in person, he looked completely different to the guy in the photos – tall and handsome with a big smile. He immediately made me laugh. We kissed within 10 minutes of saying hello, which was about half an hour before midnight. Ben had been ill with food poisoning and hadn't been in particularly high spirits until we arrived but said he immediately forgot about all of that. There was just this instant connection and we both felt as though we had nothing to lose. We lived too far apart to ever see each other again. The following day Ben and his brother invited my friend and me to a music festival. We worried it would be awkward at first but Ben and I picked up where we'd left off. We were like little kids running between stages. The next morning I had to leave for the wedding in Newcastle. I remember kissing Ben goodbye at the ferry terminal in Manly, wondering if I'd ever see this man again but knowing I definitely wanted to. We started texting straight away and I was so distracted I ended up missing my connecting train. Later in the trip I got an ear infection just before a five-day scuba diving expedition on the Great Barrier Reef. I cancelled – and something inside me was happy to, knowing that it would give me five days without a plan. Ben was competing in a triathlon in Nelson Bay and he asked if I wanted to come watch him drown, which felt like a fun way to hang out. It turned out to be an indirect invitation to stay with his aunt and uncle for the weekend. I booked a flight immediately. At this point I saw the whole thing as a bit of fun – a holiday romance, nothing serious. Being so far from home gave me a kind of 'why not' mentality. We both knew long-distance between London and Sydney would never work so we just decided to enjoy each other's company for as long as we had it. Over the next couple of days we spent time with his aunt and uncle, slept in a tent on the beach and competed in a mini-triathlon together. I remember travelling back to Sydney with Ben holding my hand the whole way back. He didn't want to let me go and I felt the same way. He booked flights to Melbourne with me for the Australian Open that week, and I ended up delaying my return flight so we could have an extra day together. Leaving each other at Melbourne airport was when we decided to see if maybe we could make long-distance work after all. We agreed to meet in Scotland six weeks later, calling each other every day in the meantime. I met all of Ben's family and friends on that trip to Scotland and, after four days, he asked me to be his girlfriend. This time when we went our separate ways it wasn't just goodbye until the next trip; it was goodbye until we moved in together. It wasn't in my character to do things like this but it just felt right and my friends and family could see that. They told me to take a leap of faith and see what happened. Ben and I reunited eight weeks later at Sydney airport and this time I was holding more than just a holiday bag. It turns out that my first impressions of Ben were right; we talked non-stop that New Year's Eve and, to be honest, we've never really stopped. He is still that fun and charismatic guy who makes me feel comfortable. For now Australia is our home but we plan to move back to Europe together in the longer term. Whether that's England, Scotland or the Netherlands remains to be seen – that's for figuring out later down the line. All I know is that we will find our home together. Do you have a romantic realisation you'd like to share? From quiet domestic scenes to dramatic revelations, Guardian Australia wants to hear about the moment you knew you were in love. Your contact details are helpful so we can contact you for more information. They will only be seen by the Guardian. Your contact details are helpful so we can contact you for more information. They will only be seen by the Guardian.