The cultural life of Sydney is dynamic and multicultural. Many of the individual cultures that make up the Sydney mosaic are centred on the cultural, artistic, ethnic, linguistic and religious communities formed by waves of immigration. Sydney is a major global city with a vibrant scene of musical, theatrical, visual, literary and other artistic activity.
Arts and entertainment Performing arts
The Sydney Festival, held each year in January, is Sydney's and Australia's biggest performing arts festival, incorporating classical and contemporary music, theatre, visual arts, and new media.
The Sydney Theatre Company shows a regular roster of Australian (by authors such as noted playwright David Williamson), classic, and international plays. Their productions occasionally incorporate the return to the live stage of famous Australian screen actors such as Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Geoffrey Rush, etc. The Wharf Theatre, the Sydney Theatre, the Drama Theatre of the Opera House and the Belvoir Street Theatre (the home of Company B) are some of the main live theatre venues. The Bell Shakespeare Company, directed by John Bell, specialises in Shakespearean drama, with forays into modern plays such as Heiner Müller's 'Titus Andronicus'.
Sydney has several independent theatres for productions throughout the city centre including the Capitol Theatre (est. 1928, 2,000 seats), the Lyric Theatre (2,000 seats), the Theatre Royal (Est. 1827, 1,200 seats) and the State Theatre (est. 1929, 2,000 seats but stage not big enough for large productions).
From the 1940s to the 1970s the Sydney Push, an intellectual subculture of authors and activists questioning of authority, including Germaine Greer, was active.
The Sydney Dance Company under the leadership of Graeme Murphy has put on contemporary productions since the late 20th century. The Australian Ballet, whose headquarters are in Melbourne, performs regularly in Sydney.
Every May at the anniversary of the Concordia German Club, which was founded in 1883 and every Christmas the Concordia German Choir performs at the German Club in Tempe. The Choir specializes in German folk songs.
Music
'O! Sydney I Love You''' was the winner of a song writing competition organized by The Sun newspaper. Emily Harris studio dance recorded the song in 1927.National Film and Sound Archive: Does your town have its own song? Sydney was recorded by Maurice Chenoweth around the same time. My City of Sydney was performed by Tommy Leonetti on Channel 9 during the 1970s as the station shut down for the evening.
The Sydney Symphony is internationally renowned and regularly performs in the Concert Hall (2,600 seats) of the Sydney Opera House under Chief Conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy (until 2013) and, as of 2014, David Robertson. City Recital Hall is dedicated mainly to chamber music and chamber orchestra concerts, featuring many famous international artists as well as concert series by local groups such as the Australian Chamber Orchestra and Sydney's foremost Baroque orchestra, the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra.
Opera Australia, as at 2015 the world's third-busiest opera company, has its headquarters in Sydney and performs a busy program of mainly classical and occasionally contemporary operas at the Opera Theatre of the Sydney Opera House.
New experimental and avant-garde music is performed by Ensemble Offspring, Halcyon, The Noise and others, at the recently refurbished Carriageworks and many small inner-city cafes, warehouses, theatres etc. Liquid Architecture, What Is Music and The NOW now are annual festivals and ongoing series of contemporary music and sound art.
Jazz and alternative music (such as Sydney-based The Necks) are played at The Basement and Jazz at 72, and formerly at the now defunct Harbourside Brasserie. The Sound Lounge (SIMA), Jazzgroove, 505The Guardian, 19th march 2022: "Farewell to 505, curtains close on one of Australia's most important and Red Rattler host regular jazz and alternative music events.
Many well-known Australian rock bands and solo artists began their careers in Sydney. Various Sydney inductees into the ARIA Hall of Fame include Johnny O'Keefe, Col Joye (& The Joy Boys), Billy Thorpe (the original Aztecs formed in Sydney), The Easybeats, Sherbet, Richard Clapton, John Paul Young, AC/DC, Radio Birdman, Midnight Oil, Rose Tattoo, Mental As Anything, INXS, Icehouse and Divinyls.
Other notable acts include early rockers Lonnie Lee & the Leemen, Dig Richards & The R'Jays and Johnny Rebb & The Rebels, surf group The Atlantics, beat groups Ray Brown & The Whispers, The Missing Links and The Throb. The 1970s saw "progressive" acts like Tamam Shud, Tully and Blackfeather emerge, followed by glam groups Hush & Ted Mulry Gang.
Sydney is famous for its alternative rock scene, with such names as The Celibate Rifles, indie rockers The Clouds, The Vines, Longreef and The Crystal Set, to electronic music pioneers Severed Heads, Single Gun Theory, The Lab, Itch-E and Scratch-E and local favourites Sneaky Sound System. Sydney is the original home of the now national alternative rock festival the Big Day Out, which began in Sydney in 1992 featuring local bands such as You Am I and The Clouds and international groups like Nirvana.
Other notable bands from the Sydney music scene are Angelspit, Wolfmother, Thy Art Is Murder, and 5 Seconds of Summer.
Sydney has a prominent indie or lo-fi scene which features many rising, internationally touring bands such as Royal Headache, Circle Pit, Electric Flu and Raw Prawn. While not as widespread as Melbourne's 'scene', Sydney tends to have a mass of tight-knit groups of bands that will tour together, most of which are on the same record label(s).
Film
Sydney is Australia's centre for commercial film and media. Many of the landmarks in Sydney have been referenced, shown and been the setting for countless films and television programs. Many films have been set in the city, including Finding Nemo, which was set in Sydney Harbour. The city was used as downtown Angel Grove in 20th Century Fox's Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995). The Matrix was also filmed in Sydney.
The international Sydney Film Festival takes place each year in June at various venues in the CBD.
Other film festivals in Sydney include the renowned short film festivals Tropfest and Flickerfest.
Children's entertainment A large portion of Australia's children's entertainment originates in Sydney including highly successful musical groups The Wiggles and Hi-5 and television programs Play School, Bananas in Pyjamas, Saturday Disney, Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, Mr. Squiggle and many others.
Museums and galleries
History and culture
Sydney has a long and rich history, which is reflected in its many history museums and historic sites. The Museum of Sydney is built on the remains of the first Government House, and gives an overview of the city's development from before British colonisation to the present day. Other historic sites and living history museums with a focus on Sydney's convict and colonial past include Fort Denison, Elizabeth Bay House, Hyde Park Barracks, the Rocks Discovery Museum, the Justice and Police Museum, Susannah Place, and Sydney Mint. Many of these sites are managed by Museums of History NSW, which also hosts the annual Sydney Open festival in November in which buildings of historic or aesthetic value around the city are opened to the public.
As Sydney is a coastal city, several museums focus on the city's maritime history. In Darling Harbour, the federally funded Australian National Maritime Museum tells the broad story of the nation's connection with the sea. The nearby Sydney Heritage Fleet also operates several historic vessels including the 19th century barque James Craig.
There are also several military history museums in Sydney, including regimental museums associated with local units. These include the New South Wales Lancers Memorial Museum in Parramatta, the Australian Army Military Police Museum and Museum of Military Engineering in Holsworthy Barracks, and the Army Museum of New South Wales in Victoria Barracks, Paddington.
Several museums are dedicated to the city's culture and diverse communities. Qtopia Sydney, opened in the former Darlinghurst Police Station in 2024, focuses on the history of the city's LGBTQI+ community. Also in Darlinghurst, the Sydney Jewish Museum tells the story of The Holocaust and the history of Australia's Jewish community. In Chinatown there is also the Museum of Chinese in Australia (MOCA) which shares the Chinese-Australian story.
Outside central Sydney, there are museums in Sydney's suburbs that showcase local history and art. Notable examples include the Camden Museum and Fairfield City Museum and Gallery in Sydney's west, the Hawkesbury Regional Museum in the city's northwest, and Manly Art Gallery and Museum in the city's north.
Several of the city's universities operate their own museums focused on art and history. On the campus of the University of Sydney, the Chau Chak Wing Museum combines the collections of the former Nicholson and Macleay Museums, housing displays on archaeology, ancient history and natural history. There are also museums and galleries on the grounds of Macquarie University in North Ryde with exhibits on art, history, biology and numismatics.
Science and technology The city's first museum, the Australian Museum, was established in 1827 and is the oldest natural history museum in Australia. It conducts research and houses exhibits on natural history, Indigenous culture, and ethnography.
Another significant museum dedicated to science is the Powerhouse Museum, which houses a range of exhibits on applied arts and technology. It operates across several sites including its main building in Ultimo, the Sydney Observatory, a conservation centre in Castle Hill, and a new site in Parramatta.
In addition, there are several specialty museums dedicated to the history of technology. The Sydney Bus Museum in Leichhardt and the Sydney Tramway Museum in Loftus focus on the city's public transport systems, while the Museum of Fire in Penrith houses exhibits on firefighting and the state's fire service.
Visual arts Sydney has been home to many visual artists, from the lush pastoralism of Lloyd Rees depictions of Sydney Harbour to Jeffrey Smart's portraits of bleak urban alienation, from the psychedelic visions of Brett Whiteley to a plethora of contemporary artists.
The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), alongside major collections of Australian colonial and 20th-century art and some works by European masters, has the largest and most important collection of Aboriginal art anywhere in the world. The Archibald Prize for portraiture (Australia's most prestigious art prize), the Sulman Prize for subject/genre painting and the Wynne Prize for landscape painting are awarded each year by the trustees of the AGNSW.
The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) at West Circular Quay is Australia's foremost contemporary art museum, featuring a mixture of exhibitions from the museum's permanent collection and visiting shows by major international artists. The Biennale of Sydney is an important festival dedicated to the contemporary visual arts, held bi-annually at the MCA and at various other venues around the city and often spilling into the streets. Another visual arts festival held at the MCA each spring is Primavera, a festival focusing on young, up-and-coming Australian artists.
A huge wrap-around mural by renowned American artist Sol LeWitt can be seen in the foyer of Australia Square Tower on the corner of George, Bond and Pitt Streets. Outside the tower, facing George Street, there is a large abstract steel sculpture by American sculptor Alexander Calder.