11 January 2010

Sydney Festival 2010: Festival First Night, Sydney (9 Jan 2010)

Sydney City Streets and Parks


Gozleme never miss a gig!

Being able to wander through the city streets without traffic is a liberating experience and the Festival First Night gives everyone this chance. I've been to the last two and found this year to be a lot easier to walk around and it felt less congested and had fewer bottlenecks. I think it was because the stages were located and designed less to be dead end streets and positioned where streets converged like the corner of Chifley Tower which allowed more access points. There also seemed to be more large screens and speakers set up so you didn't need to actually be in front of the stage to see or hear anything which should be commended — I think an improvement from previous years.

I managed to see all the areas except The Domain which was at capacity by 9.30 pm when I walked by — I only arrived late between 9 pm til 11 pm. I did however spot the ubiquitous Gozleme food stand which never seem to miss a gig — I should really buy shares in this stall. Next to them were the humorously named The Sauerkraut Sisters hehe. The cute looking Lemon Bar served flavoured ice tea from a huge tank and was quite refreshing. The helium balloon with trapeze artist floating near St Mary's Cathedral was quite mesmerizing to watch.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:
PROS: Free entertainment
CONS: Crowded
MUST TRY: Arriving earlier next time

Emmy's Turkish Gozleme and The Sauerkraut Sisters

Lemon Bar

Hyde Park

Hyde Park stage

Chifley Tower

Phillip Street heading towards Chifley Tower


Outdoor dining area in front of St Mary's Cathedral

9 comments:

Joanie said...

I once attended a food festival in Hyde Park too. Very cool. Your blog reminds me of Sydney so much and telling me I should be back so soon.


Keep it up Simon!

Iron Chef Shellie said...

looks like a funky festival!

YaYa said...

What a magical night, Sydney sure can turn on the charm when it wants to, perfect weather and gozleme, what else could you ask for?

joey@forkingaroundsydney said...

Looked great, especially Chifley Plaza; a shame I had a dinner date, because it was a beautiful night also. Thanks for the photos.

Tina said...

Wow - I didn't realise The Domain was packed out that early. I suppose I was one of the lucky ones ;) And I'd had gozleme twice that day - brunch at Glebe Markets, then supper at The Domain! Sign me up for their IPO!

Simon Leong said...

hi joanie, yes you should come back! sydney awaits your reply :-)

hi iron chef shellie, lights, camera, action. it has it all!

hi yaya, perfect weather indeed and gozlemes by the metre :-)

hi joey, hopefully next time you'll get to see it up close and personal

hi tina, you certainly were. hope Al Green was good. i think everyone went for him. can never have enough gozleme i guess :-)

Johan Donald said...

Sydney festival looks like a fantastic events!! Thanks for nice pics.
Sydney Harbour attractions

Julian Davis said...

Sydney festival is a great event conducted in sydney..I am planning to attend this festival soon.Thanks for sharing the details through your blog..

I liked your blog and following your blog now..
Sydney Harbour Things To Do

Simon Leong said...

hi Johan Donald, it's a pretty cool free event indeed. thanks for reading my blog :-)

hi Julian Davis, thanks for following my blog and i hope you get to check out the event next year — don't forget your sensible walking shoes :-)

Simon Food Favourites Map

View Simon Food Favourites in a larger map Key: BLUE - Location visit and review PINK - Simon Favourites and places offering something special

Small Bars in Sydney map


View Small Bars in Sydney in a larger map