Latest news with #SydneyFringe
Time Out
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Sydney is having a cultural renaissance: "It's time for us to be proud of our city again"
Earlier this week, Time Out released their list of the best cities in the world for culture, and Sydney ranked in fifth place. According to 18,500 survey respondents (locals living in cities around the world, including here in city) and Time Out's global team of arts and culture editors, Sydney has more to offer on the culture front than London, New York, Barcelona and, yep, Melbourne. Following the announcement, NSW Minister for the Arts, Music and the Night-Time Economy John Graham, MLC released a statement shedding a little more light on how Sydney's cultural landscape has been blossoming to lead to this his statement reflecting on Sydney's super-high ranking on the global leaderboard, Minister Graham noted how Sydney's nightlife has bounced back since the lockout laws were lifted back in 2021. But the removal of the lockout laws isn't the only regulation change that's been implemented to boost Sydney's cultural landscape – with recent vibrancy reforms (largely driven forward by Sydney's 24-hour economy commissioner, Mike Rodrigues) having helped the city make big strides. "Since coming to government two years ago we've been fighting to bring Sydney back to life, which has involved cutting lots of red tape that was holding back small venues through to large cultural events," says Minister Graham. The Minister notes some of the initiatives: On the events front, Sydney is home to a strong line-up of annual cultural events supported by the NSW government, including Australian Fashion Week, Sydney Fringe, Sydney Film Festival, Sydney Writers' Festival, Vivid Sydney, SXSW Sydney, Sydney Comedy Festival (to name a few). Then there are our cultural institutions; with the Sydney Opera House consistently recognised as one of the most iconic venues in the world, the Art Gallery of NSW home to one of the world's most spectacular new museum spaces, and other incredible spaces including Walsh Bay Power Station, City Recital Hall and Machine Hall serving up wildly creative, boundary-pushing programs. And things aren't stopping there – Parramatta's Riverside Theatre is getting a major glow-up, as is Ultimo's beloved Powerhouse Museum. Minister Graham admits that it's "not mission accomplished" here in Sydney. "The hard work continues, so stay tuned as we rebuild our night-time economy block-by-block neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood.
Time Out
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
This Australian city is one of the world's 5 best cities for culture – and it's not Melbourne
Melbourne, brace yourself for a culture shock – you've just been dethroned as Australia's 'cultural capital'. We promise we're not here to stir the pot. Time Out just published its list of the Best Cities for Culture Right Now, and Melbourne's biggest rival claimed the top Aussie spot and cracked the global top five. To determine the rankings, Time Out surveyed 18,500 city dwellers around the world – including Melbourne – on their hometown's cultural scene. Based on the responses, each city was scored on both the quality and affordability of its cultural offering, with only the highest-scoring cities for each country making the long list. Time Out's culture experts (our global network of city editors and arts and culture writers) then weighed in, voting for their favourite cultural destinations. Unsurprisingly, Paris ranked as the best city for culture on the planet, with an enormous 96 per cent of Parisians rating their city's culture scene as either 'good' or 'amazing' in the survey. But here's a shocking stat: Sydney came fifth on the list, receiving the joint-highest share of votes from the culture-experts panel as Paris. Bloody oath! Yep, our Emerald City tied with Paris as a favourite among Time Out's panel of experts – and Sydney locals are frothing over our arts and culture scene at the moment, too, with 70 per cent rating this city's culture scene favourably, highlighting events like the Sydney Film Festival, Sydney Mardi Gras and Sydney Fringe, alongside happenings at the Art Gallery of NSW and (of course) the Sydney Opera House, plus indie venues like the Enmore Theatre. For years, Melbourne has proudly worn the crown as Australia's cultural capital – even landing tenth in the world in 2023. But despite priding itself on its arts and culture scene, the Victorian capital didn't even make the list this time around. (We love ya though, Melbs!) The following 20 cities did make the list – in each of these cities, culture isn't confined to museums, theatres and legacy art venues; plus it's affordable and accessible, for locals and visitors alike. You'll find pop-up festivals in unlikely locations, late-night museum parties, community gallery crawls, and a new cohort of creatives thinking up the next big thing. (Ever been to a rave in an actual cave? Or a nature-inspired literary festival?) These are the 20 best cities in the world for culture Paris Florence Edinburgh Mexico City Sydney Barcelona Chicago Lisbon Hanoi Cape Town Beijing Tbilisi Jakarta Delhi Medellín Amsterdam Marrakech Vienna Prague Abu Dhabi To see the full list and survey results, click here.
Time Out
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Sydney has just ranked in the world's top 5 cities for culture on this global Time Out list
Sydney gets a lot of attention for its looks – our stunning harbour, pristine beaches and incredible national parks come to mind. But look beyond the surface beauty, and you'll find that Sydney has a rich arts and culture scene that is increasingly grabbing attention. Now, Sydney has been recognised for being the fifth-best city in the whole world for culture, according to a huge reader survey that forms the basis of Time Out's World's 20 Best Cities for Culture Right Now. Earlier this year, Time Out published its annual list of the world's greatest cities. Some places earned kudos for their food scenes, others got top marks for their world-class public transport and walkable streets. But which were the top of the pops when it comes to art and culture? To find out, Time Out quizzed 18,500 locals in cities across the planet about the culture scene in their hometown. Based on survey responses, each city got a score for both the quality and affordability of its cultural offering, and only the highest-scoring cities for each country made the long list. Time Out's culture experts (our global network of city editors and arts and culture writers) then weighed in, voting for their favourite cultural destinations. It's quite an achievement for Sydney to rank 5th in the whole world, especially considering the other top cities on the list. Paris took the number one spot, with an enormous 96 per cent of Parisians rating their city's culture scene as either 'good' or 'amazing' in the survey. Are we surprised? Non. But this part is perhaps more surprising – Paris received the joint -highest share of votes from the culture-experts panel, tying with none other than Sydney! Bloody oath. Yep, our Emerald City tied with Paris as a favourite among Time Out's panel of experts – and Sydney locals are frothing over our arts and culture scene at the moment, too, with 70 per cent rating this city's culture scene favourably, highlighting events like the Sydney Film Festival, Sydney Mardi Gras and Sydney Fringe, alongside happenings at the and (of course) the Sydney Opera House, plus indie venues like the Enmore Theatre. exhibitions and sparkly mainstage extravaganzas to grassroots artist collectives and drag queens strutting their stuff on bartops, Sydney's diverse tapestry of arts and culture is a huge part of what makes our city so special. 'Sydney's theatre scene is particularly alive right now – there's always a new major musical making its premiere, enticing drama from our leading companies like Sydney Theatre Company (birthplace of current Broadway hit The Picture of Dorian Gray), and indie spaces like the Old Fitz Theatre are busy with incubating the next generation of storytellers.' The other cities that came in ahead of Sydney were Florence, Edinburgh and Mexico City, but Sydney managed to outrank epic cultural hubs like Barcelona, Amsterdam and Vienna. And despite the fact that Melbourne prides itself on its arts and culture scene, our southern neighbours didn't actually make the list. (We love ya though, Melbs!) The following 20 cities did make the list – in each of these cities, culture isn't confined to museums, theatres and legacy art venues; plus it's affordable and accessible, for locals and visitors alike. You'll find pop-up festivals in unlikely locations, late-night museum parties, community gallery crawls, and a new cohort of creatives thinking up the next big thing. (Ever been to a rave in an actual cave? Or a nature-inspired literary festival?) Here are the 20 best cities in the world for culture: Paris Florence Edinburgh Mexico City Sydney Barcelona Chicago Lisbon Hanoi Cape Town Beijing Tbilisi Jakarta Delhi Medellín Amsterdam Marrakech Vienna Prague Abu Dhabi To see the full list and survey results, click here. 🎭
