Cockatoo Island Aerial view
Photograph: Supplied

Cockatoo Island

  • Things to do
  • Sydney
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Time Out says

The largest island in Sydney's harbour and set at the junction of the Parramatta and Lane Cove rivers, Cockatoo Island is 18 hectares in size and named for the presence of sulphur-crested cockatoos. Before 1839, when a prison was built to house convicts from Norfolk Island, it was covered with red gums and was almost certainly an Aboriginal fishing spot.

The convicts eventually relocated to Darlinghurst Gaol and the island had a brief stint hosting an industrial school for girls and a naval training ship for boys (but due to ‘unseemly and unscheduled meetings' the girls moved to Parramatta). However, the island was mostly used for shipbuilding and repairs; its several docks serviced the Royal Navy during WWII and was the construction site of Australia's first steel warship. The island's maritime industrial activity ceased in 1992, and Cockatoo Island only opened to the public in 2007.

Today, the island is run by the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust and remains commercial free, although there are talks of reintroducing boat building on a smaller scale. The trust run different types of tours – visitors can opt for a self-guided audio tour (90 mins; $5-$8), on-demand guided tour (60 or 90 mins; $16) or a pensioner tour (60 or 90 mins; $12). Those who want to stay on a bit longer also have options – there are camp sites, glamping packages, apartments or heritage holiday houses.

Mon-Fri 6.15am-11.37pm; Sat-Sun 6.45am-11.37pm. Camping: (02 8898 9774). $45 per site, $75 per site with tent, sleeping mat, chair & lantern hire.

Details

Address
Cockatoo Island
Sydney Harbour
Sydney
2000

What’s on

Sunset Sessions at Cockatoo Island

It’s summertime in the Harbour City, and you know you can't go wrong with some picnic blankets, antipasto snacks, and live music. Bonus points if there's a sunset and a harbour view involved.  Sunset Sessions – Cockatoo Island's family-friendly outdoor gig series – is back and running every Saturday evening from January 11 to April 5 (except February 8, when the island will be taken over by the Nowhere Festival). A carefully curated line-up of local and not-so-local acts (brought together by Sydney tastemakers The Music & Booze Co) will be playing on the lawn of the Biloela House every Saturday evening, where there will be grazing boxes and refreshments aplenty.  There's a broad range of talents to take in, with artists hailing from all over Australia – with a mix acoustic sets, folk, contemporary and feel-good sounds. Highlights from the line-up so far include First Nations traditional language storyteller Maanyung, sibling doo-wop duo Surely Shirley and etherial physch spaceman Misty Lanes, with more acts still to be announced.You can catch Sunset Sessions on Saturdays from 5.30pm, but get there early when the gates open at 5pm to soak in the atmosphere. Tickets are $35, and children under 12 can attend for free. If you find yourself wanting more of Cockatoo Island’s out-of-this-world views, you can turn your Sunset Session into a sunrise by booking a night at the island’s heritage listed lodgings or the waterfront campground. For the first few events (from January 11...

The Nowhere Festival

When the team behind Mode Festival first turned Cockatoo Island into a Berlin-esque dancefloor back in 2022, it marked a new era for Sydney’s harbour-based venue. The former penal colony has hosted large-scale events – from major art exhibitions to sunset serenade sessions – for years, but Mode brought a new, edgy energy to the island’s huge, haunting buildings. Now, just weeks after the third iteration of Mode brought the post-industrial site to life for its biggest party yet, Cockatoo Island has announced details of something even bigger. From Saturday February 8 to Sunday February 9 2025, Cockatoo Island will transform into an obscurely beautiful festival site for two days of dance music, immersive art and abstract live performances.  Brought to life by some of Sydney’s favourite event producers (including Jody Coker, who’s responsible for the annual Gorgeous Presents party at the MCA rooftop), The Nowhere Festival will take over the entire island for a creative weekend of music in the middle of the world’s most well-known harbour. Four carefully curated stages – connected the former-shipyard’s labyrinth of shadowy tunnels – will play host to a 50-strong line-up of international and Australian live acts and DJs, with a focus on house, techno and electronic music. Global electronic acts including Carl Craig, Moodymann, Marcel Dettmann and Adiel will join Sydney favourites like Adi Toohey, Barney Kato and Mad Racket DJs for two days of dancing, with the cavernous turbine...
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