Every year, the Committee for Sydney – an advocacy and urban policy think tank comitted to making Sydney the best city in the world – invites Sydneysiders to submit ideas that they think could re-shape the city for the better. After a rigorous judging process, four winning ideas are platformed at the annual Sydney Summit – giving forward-thinking locals the chance to be heard by policy makers. The Sydney Summit took place yesterday (Tuesday, February 7), and of the ideas put forward, one has been chosen to be pursued by the City. The winning “Big Idea” is called “Sydney Saturdays”, and will see suburbs across the city transform into (public transport-accessible) festival sites every Saturday, helping people from across the city experience the best of what each unique suburb has to offer. Pumped? Us too.
The Sydney Saturdays concept was put to the Committee For Sydney by Andy Hoyne from Hoyne The Place Economy Consultancy, who describes it as “a city-wide movement across Sydney’s 169 metro and train stations and 52 dedicated weekends of the year”.
Essentially, the movement would see a different Sydney suburb (crucially, one that’s accessible by train or metro) host a street festival celebrating their community. When presenting the idea to the Committee for Sydney, Hoyne described how “local stations and adjoining streets would come alive with weekly food markets, live performances and culture”, with each event set to celebrate “the unique character of the host suburb.”
According to Hoyne, interactive art would guide Sydneysiders from the station to the street (or streets) where the festival is taking place – gearing the whole experience around accessibility. In some suburbs, the station would be the central hub of the festival, in others, it would involve “a short walk with an interwoven activation experience connecting the two.”
“From Vietnamese pho in Cabramatta to Middle Eastern flavours in Lakemba, Sydney Saturdays could also incorporate existing events such as Africultures Festival at Sydney Olympic Park and the Real Festival in Penrith,” Hoyne explained, outlining how local councils could collaborate with community groups and government agencies to pull off the event.
The concept of boosting street parties in Sydney isn’t totally new, with removing the red tape for communities to host public events forming a key pillar of the government’s vibrancy plan. As explained by Committee for Sydney Culture Policy lead Matt Levinson, “the work that is already underway to make it easier to stage community events and street festivals bodes well for the viability of this great big idea.”
We’ll be sharing details of the other Big Ideas from this year’s summit soon – stay tuned.
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