Things to do in Sydney this week

Holy smokes – one of Austin’s best pitmasters, Kareem El-Ghayesh of KG BBQ, is coming to Sydney this May for the barbecue-laced collaboration of our dreams. Known as the ‘Egyptian Cowboy’, KG will be teaming up with Sydney’s own Lennox Hastie – from the award-winning Firedoor and Basque-inspired wine bar Gildas – for four massive and delicious events filled with honky-tonk parties, live music, masterclasses, and a hell of a lot of excellent smoked meats. Originally from Cairo, Egypt, KG moved to Texas to master the art of barbecuing, blending traditional smoking techniques with the bold spices and flavours of Egypt and the Middle East. He’s starred on Netflix’s Barbecue Showdown and made waves in the US barbecue scene. Back in 2024, Lennox travelled through Austin hunting smoke, fire and the best meats in the biz. Now, he’s teaming up with one of the world’s most celebrated pitmasters. Hold onto your cowboy (or girl) hats – let’s get into the juicy bits. The low ’n’ slow takeover kicks off on Friday, May 1, with a Honky Tonk dinner featuring a full-blown feast cooked by KG and Lennox at Sydney Brewery Rozelle. Think show-stopping barbecue platters loaded with Central Texas-style smoked brisket, KG’s signature pomegranate and za'atar glazed pork ribs, and smoked lamb chops. It’ll come with a banging line-up of sides like Egyptian mac and cheese, cinnamon and turmeric rice, and traditional Egyptian salad. Plus, enjoy beers created in collaboration with Sydney Brewery,...

First there was Woodstock in 1969; now, there’s Meatstock – with a different kind of smoke in the air, if you know what we mean.  Meatstock, the festival dedicated to all things meat and music, is celebrating its 10th birthday in 2026 and you’re invited. Returning to the Sydney Showground on May 1-2, the ‘steaks’ are high at this two-day meat fest. Get set to feast on succulent smoked meats from Carolina Smoke, Blackmore Fullblood Wagyu MBS9+ and other prime cuts from Enmore restaurant Firepop, Filipino BBQ skewers cooked over charcoal by Hoy Pinoy, Colombian Street Food by Berbeo Bros, and burgers, tacos and meat boxes from Smoky Sue’s to name a few.  This year, the festival is doubling down on its music cred; the Friday line-up includes bangin'  performances by L.A.B, Thundamentals, Tiki Taane and Kylie Auldist while Saturday features The Dreggs, Drax Project, The Bamboos, Karen Lee Andrews, The Slims and Bud Rokesky. Expect high energy, big crowds and awesome live performances on stage.  The action heats up in a Barbecue Championship featuring teams of chefs and pitmasters vying to be the best at their chosen protein, while the World Butcher Wars will see contestants from Australia and around the world displaying their butchery skills in a fast-paced, meat-filled showdown. If you’re a keen backyard chef, pick up everything from cooking equipment to condiments at the expo stalls and catch those cooking demos – while you grab a cold beer, of course. Whether you’re a...

Still scrambling for a thoughtful Mother’s Day gift? You – and your mum – are in luck. The Finders Keepers Sydney Design Market is returning to Carriageworks the weekend before Mother’s Day – May 1-3. It's your one-stop shop for a pressie that feels anything but last-minute. Or you can get a treat (or three!) for yourself. Bringing together more than 150 independent designers, makers and food producers, the market is a treasure trove of one-off pieces, limited runs and small-batch finds you won’t see anywhere else. Come with friends, come with family – heck, even bring your mum, and check out handmade ceramics, statement jewellery or niche beauty. Now in its 18th year, Finders Keepers is the place to discover emerging talent. There are more than 30 new stalls alongside returning favourites, including artist Eleonora Arosio with her beloved three-minute portraits (yes, they book out fast), and the delightful Merchants of Nonsense. There’s also a strong community focus, with Indigenous program recipient Jimawood selling hand-rolled incense from Broome and Regional Program recipient NOA Australia with handmade jewellery from Lakes Entrance. Add in a fresh wave of debut brands like Soluna and Eve (wellbeing and beauty), Bentley Dawn (fashion), Camille’s Creations (ceramics), Natasja Horne (art), Goose & Pebble (accessories), and Makai (jewellery), and you’ve got the ultimate excuse to shop small and shop well. Happy hunting! The Finders Keepers Design Market will be open from...

It seems that across time, the pursuit of creative expression has often been, in itself, an act of rebellion and self-sacrifice. Writers and artists rarely live lives of stability or wealth, and yet, in humanity’s most uncertain and desperate moments, it is to poetry, theatre and art that we turn to make sense of the world. The relentless act of writing, of shaping and sharing one’s perspective on life, still carries a quiet defiance, even in a technological age where everyone has a keyboard and an opinion. It is perhaps for this reason that My Brilliant Career continues to resonate today. Since its publication in 1901, the novel has been adapted across multiple forms, including film and stage, with a television adaptation currently in development by Netflix. Now, it’s on at Sydney Theatre Company’s Roslyn Packer Theatre. What is the premise of My Brilliant Career? This award-winning iteration of My Brilliant Career, which debuted at Melbourne Theatre Company in 2024, is a musical theatre adaptation with a book by Sheridan Harbridge and Dean Bryant, music by Mathew Frank, and lyrics by Bryant. It follows Sybylla Melvyn (Kala Gare, SIX the musical), a fiercely independent young woman growing up in rural Australia in the 1800s. Chafing against the limitations placed on her as a woman – particularly the expectation that she should marry for security – Sybylla dreams instead of becoming a writer and forging a life of her own making. As she navigates family hardship, social...

Love, for all its risks, is rarely framed as something unsettling or dangerous. Desire, hope and care are often gathered together in pursuit of joy. Though sometimes what emerges is darker: love can shift your sense of self, clouded by danger, deceit and dread. The River, directed by Margaret Thanos, explores the space between desire and deceit in an evocative introspection on love. Written by Tony Award-winning playwright Jez Butterworth, the production forces the audience to confront not only what love reveals, but what it conceals. What is the premise of The River? The Man (Ewen Leslie) and The Woman (Miranda Otto) spend a weekend together at his remote cabin by a river. He is eager to share a particular fishing expedition with her – one that can only happen at night, with no moon. As the play unfolds, what begins as ripples of a tender, romantic escape becomes more uncertain – an estuary sifting through contradiction, manipulation and honesty. The production never fully decides what it wants to be – a romance, a tragedy, or something in between. While these questions linger, Thanos’s creative vision allows the ambiguities to become an asset, giving the audience space to remain in the uneasy territory between desire and distrust, where each confession feels both revelatory and suspect. Rather than resolving its tensions, the production lets them pool and deepen, leaving the audience suspended – albeit a little too long – in its murky emotional currents. Who are the cast...

If the end of Sydney Observatory’s summer music series has left a hole in your Friday schedule, the 2026 Biennale of Sydney is here to fill it. From 6pm every Friday night for the next couple of months, the Biennale’s Art After Dark program will transform White Bay Power Station into a boundary-blending live music venue – with an impressive line-up of acts set to light up the cavernous industrial space (along with bars serving local pours and food stalls serving up your Friday night feed).Curated by Naarm/ Melbourne-based outfit Liquid Architecture, the first three events will feature the likes of Tujiko Noriko, Mara Schwerdtfeger, Ruhail Qaisar, Marcus Whale, Liam Keenan and Allara Briggs-Pattison. Next up, the Inner West Council will present three more nights of live music, with Body Type, Yes Boone and BOY SODA bringing home-grown talent to the historic Rozelle site. The final three nights, curated by Vivid Sydney, will include ambient techno trio Purelink, French-Senegalese singer-songwriter anaiis, and the festival’s closing night party on Friday, June 12, which promises to be a multi-stage celebration of global music (with extended hours until 11pm). Beyond the Friday night fun (and the art, obvs), the three-month festival will also operate Memory Lane Food Markets every Saturday, Africa Day celebrations, six new performance commissions, guided tours of White Bay’s historic spaces, Family Days, youth and education programs, and access initiatives. Art After Dark will...

Thought-provoking. Boundary-pushing. Unapologetically disruptive. The elusive yet world-famous street artist Banksy has another exhibition coming to Sydney. If you missed the chance to see The Art of Banksy: Without Limits at Sydney Town Hall in 2024, you’re in luck. Banksy Limitless opens at The Rocks (155 George Street) on April 1, 2026 for a limited season, following a sold-out run in London.  This new showcase features more than 250 works, large-scale installations, sculptures, digital displays – plus an impressive state-of-the-art hologram experience. Visitors can uncover untold stories behind iconic works including Cinderella at Dismaland, London Zoo and Ice Cream Van, while immersive rooms and bold visual storytelling invite audiences to step inside Banksy’s provocative universe. Renowned for his sharp wit and unflinching social commentary, Banksy continues to challenge perspectives on politics, culture and human rights. In keeping with his humanitarian ethos, a portion of proceeds from Banksy Limitless will support the M.V. Louise Michel, an independent high-speed lifeboat rescuing migrants in distress. So much more than a traditional exhibition, Banksy Limitless is a powerful, multi-sensory experience that will pull you in. Don't miss it.  Ticket prices are from $42 for adults, $30 for children. Get your tickets here. Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Sydney newsletter for more news, travel inspo and activity ideas, straight to your inbox....

Anastasia (1997) was among the first musical films I knew in its entirety. While many children frolicked to Timon and Pumbaa’s playful anthem in The Lion King, I was instead reenacting “Once Upon a December” in my living room, captivated by a heroine whose quiet determination carried her through danger and uncertainty. At the time, I could not have anticipated how deeply this film would shape my relationship with musical theatre. “Journey to the Past” soon became a staple audition piece, and Anya’s unwavering belief in her own worth quietly informed my own developing sense of confidence.  What I did not yet understand, however, was the historical context behind the story: the execution of the Russian imperial family in 1918 and the long-standing myth that Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov survived. The 1997 animated film leans fully into fantasy, using magic and spectacle to distance itself from historical reality. The stage musical, which premiered on Broadway in 2017 with a book by Terrence McNally and music and lyrics by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, takes a different approach, removing the supernatural elements in favour of a more realistic political setting. This creative decision has lingered uneasily over the production since its premiere, inviting criticism for its revisionist narrative – a species of theatrical “fake news,” further undermined by the musical’s questionable commitment to American accents. In performance, now at Sydney Lyric Theatre, this shift...

As the nights grow colder and my toddler at home seems permanently on the brink of the next illness, the effort it takes to leave the house can feel outsized. There is comfort in staying put, wrapped in something soft, conserving energy for the long nights ahead. What tempts me out anyway is the possibility that a show might meet me where I am (usually tired, frayed, vulnerable) and change my mood or shift my mindset. Gutenberg! The Musical!, now showing at Hayes Theatre, does exactly that, reminding me how deeply restorative it can be to laugh, to be surprised, and to feel briefly, gloriously lighter. What is the premise of Gutenberg! The Musical!? Gutenberg! The Musical! centres on two hopelessly enthusiastic writers, Bud (Ryan Gonzalez, In The Heights) and Doug (Stephen Anderson, Titanique), who have created a loose, logistically impossible musical about the life of Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of the printing press, and are desperate to get it produced. The premise is gleefully meta: the audience is positioned as a room full of potential Broadway producers invited to a showcase, while the two performers play not only themselves but every role in their historically questionable show. Armed with nothing but baseball caps to signify characters and an unwavering belief in their own genius, Bud and Doug’s earnest ambition drives the comedy, as the musical becomes less about Gutenberg himself and more about the absurd, scrappy devotion of theatre-makers willing to do...

ANZAC Day marks the anniversary of the first day the Australian and New Zealand troops saw military action in Gallipoli back in 1915. In recent times it’s become a day of commemorating and remembering all Australians who have served in war. What time is the Sydney ANZAC Day dawn service?  The annual dawn service held at Martin Place begins with the Catafalque Party and Band, followed by the ceremony from 4.20am by the Cenotaph. What time is the ANZAC Day march in Sydney? At 9am there is a march led by war veterans and their descendants, which will take place down Elizabeth Street. What time is the ANZAC Day commemoration service in Sydney? A commemoration service is held from 12.30 at the ANZAC Memorial in Hyde Park by the Pool of Remembrance. What time is the ANZAC Day sunset service in Sydney? The sunset service takes place at the Cenotaph at 5pm. It is a shorter service to conclude the official commemorations, with the accompaniment of the NSW Ambulance Service Band. Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Sydney newsletter for more news, things to do and travel inspo, straight to your inbox.RECOMMENDED: These are the best places to play two-up in Sydney.And these are Sydney's best pubs.