Max your summer in Sydney

Most people know a Suntory beverage. Maybe it’s the mega popular Minus 196 cans, the ultimate to-go Boss Coffee, the refined Roku Gin or premium Japanese whiskies. What we guarantee you *don’t* know is just how many popular labels it owns: think everything from Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark to Canadian Club. And now, you can experience more than 125 years of Suntory’s history and innovation all in one place – for the next three months. Say hello to Sydney’s new Suntory Bar. The Japanese spirit company has chosen the city’s only Japanese culture and dining precinct, Prefecture 48 on Sussex Street, as host for the residency. The moody Whisky Thief bar with gorgeous historic artwork and marbletop counters is the place to be when you clock off. Choose between timeless highballs, signature serves, special cocktails, RTDs, The Premium Malt beer and whisky flights crafted by the team at Prefecture 48 in collaboration with Suntory.  The must-try tipple of the affair is the Highball. While it’ll be dished up with a range of Suntory whiskies (it’s what Suntory’s known for in Japan), we say try the spotlight cocktail, the Hakushu Highball, first. Not only is it a refreshing mix of Hakushu Distiller’s Reserve, soda and mint, but it’s been paired with an exclusive snack from the genius Michelin Star chef Tetsuya Wakuda (you know, from *the* Tetsuya’s). Now’s the chance to sample Wakuda’s cuisine since his eminent Sydney restaurant closed last year – that’s a golden opportunity if we ever...

The state’s largest independent arts festival, Sydney Fringe Festival, is back for 2025 – with more than 460 events hitting our stages for one very entertaining month. Presented across the city throughout September 2025, the dynamic program spans theatre, music, comedy, visual art, film, musical theatre, dance, circus, street festivals, literature and poetry – and it's going to be ace. Clover Moore, Lord Mayor of Sydney, says: “The Fringe is as diverse as our city – and I’m very proud of that.” This year, Sydney Fringe Festival is presenting a city-wide playground of entertainment, with ten key hubs hosting immersive theatre shows, boundary-pushing cabaret, comedy galas, dance shows, live music performances and so much more. Time Out's picks: 10 of the best shows to see at Sydney Fringe Festival 2025Spanning a full four weeks from now until September 30, the Sydney Fringe program includes a heap of interactive, community-focused events, including a free street party taking over The Rocks on Thursday, September 4 and a child-friendly ‘Kids Fringe’ popping up in The Entertainment Quarter for the school holidays.  You can learn more and plan your Sydney Fringe experience over here. Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Sydney newsletter for more news, straight to your inbox. RECOMMENDED:  Want fun now? Here’s what’s on in Sydney this weekend. In the mood for a show? Here’s our list of the best theatre to see in Sydney this month.

Scrap the seat and get moving at this interactive theatre show that engages all your senses, including taste, with cocktail (and mocktail) tastings embedded into the show. Imagine a theatre production, your favourite dimly lit bar and a haunted house (just way less scary, and heaps more playful) all rolled into one.  Setting up camp at the Union Bond Store in The Rocks this August and September, When Night Comes is part of Sydney Fringe Festival’s ‘Sideshow at The Rocks’ hub. You’ll follow performers between multiple rooms, each with a setting more hedonistic and sensory than the last. Your ticket includes a number of cocktails tastings, plus some gold-star entertainment, of course. Not a big alcohol drinker? You can still get involved by selecting the mocktail option when you check out.  Catch When Night Comes at Union Bond Store from August 22. Find out more here and book your tickets here. 

As I’m on my way to Sydney's Capitol Theatre for the new Australian production of The Book of Mormon, my friend tells me it’s the very first musical a lot of people see. Created by South Park duo Trey Parker and Matt Stone (with Robert Lopez), the show’s reputation for extremely irreverent jabs at religion draws a non-traditional theatre crowd. What I now realise my friend didn’t mean was, “it’s often the first musical kids see”. When I say the musical is extremely irreverent, I mean it. The humour is crass, verging on grotesque (some things I wouldn’t dare repeat). So it’s probably questionable that I’ve brought along my 13-year-old son with me. That said, he loves it.  Some of the humour is classic teen boy (i.e. a regular exclamation from one of the Ugandan characters that he has “maggots in my scrotum”). Very South Park. My son laughs loudly with the rest of the audience – and when the jokes go too far, he cringes, glancing around with a “should I be laughing at this?” look. Although the shock value is high, it’s nice seeing a Gen Alpha-ite who’s been raised on Youtube and other screen-based entertainment bopping along in his seat to the song and dance of a stage show.    What’s the premise of The Book of Mormon? The Book of Mormon tells the story of two young Mormon missionaries sent to a small village in Uganda. Although the story centres on Mormonism, Parker and Stone have been known to refer to the show as an “atheist’s love letter to religion” – a wink and a jab...

If you’re missing the sparkly lights of Vivid, we’ve got good news. For a full month this spring, a beautiful heritage-listed property in Sydney’s northwest will be illuminated by an immersive light show that will transport you back in time. Transforming the grounds of Bella Vista Farm, Echoes – Luna Light Journey will recreate the sights and sounds of the 1700s working farm, taking Sydneysiders on a magical immersive journey. Celebrating the stories that form the area’s complex history – from the Dharug people’s study of the stars to the seeding of the citrus orchard by early settlers – Echoes will momentarily transport you away from 2025. Keen? Read on. Brought to life by Dural-based international events company Laservision (the people behind some of the world’s most spectacular immersive light shows, including Imagine in Dubai, Wonder Full in Singapore, and Nocturnal in the NSW Blue Mountains), the multi-sensory experience will feature reimagined convict roads and fluorescent flower fields. To keep you energised, food trucks will be on-site offering street food-style eats all evening long. You’ll find some parking on-site, but the organisers suggest catching the metro to Bella Vista or Norwest metro stations and walking to the farm (the walk to the farm from each station is around 15 minutes). Kicking off on Friday, September 5, the event will run every night until Monday, October 6. Entry times will run every 15 minutes from 6.15pm, and the organisers suggest allowing...

Flower fiends, your time is approaching. As spring beckons in the Southern Highlands, the charming Corbett Gardens will transform into a tulip-adorned wonderland – with Tulip Time Festival showcasing a breathtaking display of 80,000 hand-planted tulips in a dreamy garden in the heart of Bowral. The flower-themed festival will run from Friday, September 12 until Monday, October 6 – with so much more than just tulip-based delights on offer. Alongside the tulip displays (80,000 of the beautiful colourful plants will be lighting up the gardens), guests can expect market stalls, daily entertainment and delicious foodie options.  Back for its 65th year, Tulip Time Festival will welcome guests between 9.30am and 4.30pm every Sunday to Friday, and until 6pm on Saturdays – giving you plenty of time to stroll among the flowers and find a spot to set up a picnic in the gardens.A visit to Tulip Time Festival is the perfect excuse to explore the rest of what the region has to offer, with the Southern Highlands home to some of the most beautiful gardens, quaint towns and adorable cellar doors in NSW. Tulip Time Festival tickets for adults cost $18.50 when booked online ($20 at the gate), with youth and concession tickets costing $12.50 when booked online and $13.50 at the gate. Carers and kids under 12 visit for free. You can learn more and book your tickets over here, but if you rock up on the day, you should be able to score a ticket at the gate (card payments only).  Stay in the...

If you can’t quite hack the requisite international airfare and/or annual leave to explore the Amazon, meet polar bears, or go deep sea diving right now, there is another method for getting up close and personal with some of the world’s most incredible animals.  For the 60th year in a row, the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition will arrive in Sydney on loan from London’s Natural History Museum. Taking root at the National Maritime Museum, this stunning collection of photographs will be on show in Sydney from Thursday, May 15 until Sunday, October 19.  This incredibly prestigious photography event is centred on drawing attention to the wild beauty and fragility of the natural world. This year, judges had to look at a baffling 59,228 entries from photographers of all ages and experience levels from 117 countries and territories, and were faced with the near-impossible task of whittling these down to just over 100 photo finalists. The images that made this year’s exhibition captures mesmerising snapshots of fascinating animal behaviour and stunning secret moments in the hearts of the world’s most unreachable places.The prestigious Grand Title this year went to Canadian Marine Conservation Photojournalist, Shane Gross, for his incredible underwater image of a community of western toad tadpoles. The award for Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year went to German photographer Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas for his up-close image Life Under Dead Wood. Of the talented Aussie...

No Lights, No Lycra is an afterwork activity unlike any other. Beloved by its loyal followers for decades, this pitch black anonymous dance class is all about two things: total and unfettered freedom and the chance to seriously, seriously dance.  With locations all over the world, No Lights No Lycra has been bringing sweet tunes, sweat and a total lack of inhibition to people who are keen to boogie like nobody’s watching them for years. And for interested Sydneysiders, opportunities to let loose in the pitch dark are plentiful.  How does it work? You arrive (solo, or with whoever you want to bring as your anonymous dancing companion), enter a community hall, and dance for a good hour and a half to absolute bangers. The catch? It’s so dark you can’t see your feet.  The joy of this dance class is that it cuts out all the surface bullshit of judgement and fear and leaves space just for you, your joy and time for you to move your body in a way that thrills you, and you alone. In Sydney, there are weekly classes going down in Bondi, Newtown, Parramatta and Sutherland – plus a whole lot more. You can find out all the details of your closest local event by just typing in your location into their online interactive map.  Tickets generally seem to cost around the $10 to $15 mark for an hour or so, which feels pretty worth it to us, and you can book online through your location (which can be found using the aforementioned map). Forget Saturday nights and 79 tequila shots. No Lights...

Tuesday nights get a bad rap – and fair enough. Mondays hold the promise of the week, and Wednesdays get that hump-day energy hit. But Tuesdays? They can feel a bit meh. Not in the Inner West, though – because once a month on a Tuesday, the Enmore Comedy Club goes down at the Enmore Theatre, and it’s about as much fun as $25 can get you. Held in an intimate space inside the iconic entertainment venue, the Enmore Comedy Club features a rotating line-up of six or so comedians – usually a mix of local Sydney talent, joke-slingers from across the country, and even the odd big-name international act. We love so many things about this night, like how you can watch fab comedians and have a good ol’ belly laugh for less than the price of a pub meal. We also dig that every ticket comes with a complimentary boozy drink. And the show’s super fast-paced, so you don’t have to worry about committing to a full hour of just one comic. It’s an excellent date idea – and we know because we’ve done it a bunch of times. You get to see if your sense of humour aligns, enjoy a drink or two and support the arts? How good. It’s also a fun and cheap night out with your mates – and something a little different from the usual dinner catch-up (though we love those too – and with Enmore and Newtown right there, you’ve got some of Sydney’s best restaurants at your fingertips). This is one of our fave ways to spend a Tuesday night in Sydney – get around it. Get your tickets here. Weather not looking so...

There’s always a lot going on at Sydney’s favourite house. So much so that it can be hard to keep track – with new headliners dropping every other week, and huge events taking over the various venues seemingly out of nowhere.  Keen to go to a show under the sails over the next few months? We’ve rounded up a few top picks in the Sydney Opera House winter to spring season:  Badu Gili: Healing Spirit, a stunning illumination of the sails This dynamic projection will light up the Eastern Bennelong sails with First Nations artwork five times a night, every night until Friday, December 12. Backstage tours, a peek behind the curtain Explore the inner workings of Australia's most famous buildings on one of these expert-led tours. Dates: DailyTickets: From $48 The Play That Goes Wrong, a beloved piece of slapstick theatre Celebrating ten years of dominating the West End, this slapstick masterwork is bringing big giggles to the Drama Theatre this winter.Dates: Thursday, July 24 - Sunday, August 3 Tickets: From $89 Emily Sun and Slava Grigoryan, an intimate classical performance Internationally acclaimed violinist Emily Sun and multi-ARIA-winning guitarist Slava Grigoryan will perform a magical, serene showcase of mesmerising classical pieces as part of the Opera House’s intimate Utzon Music series.  Dates: Sunday, August 3Tickets: From $69.90 + booking fee.  Generations and Dynasties, a celebration of First Nations storytelling These intimate events (held in the Utzon room, a...