Things to do in Sydney today

If you’ve ever heard talk of secret tunnels and winding labyrinths from World War II that lie forgotten beneath Sydney city, you’re not alone. Well, it turns out, the rumours are true. And the best bit? We can see them with our own eyes – illuminated by a wild light show, laser beams and electronic music. Yes. This is real life. After a successful debut last year, Dark Spectrum has taken this historical subterranean network again as part of Vivid Sydney 2024. (Check out our ultimate guide to Vivid 2024 over here.) Running until Saturday, June 15, this wild and immersive light show will take visitors through 1km of the tunnel system, where they will be taken through eight underground rooms that will each be decked out in a vibrant variety of lights, robots, animations and laser shows that have to be seen to be believed.  Curated by Mandylights, Sony Music, Vivid Sydney and Culture Creative, this experience will let you wander through secret passageways lit with pulsing lights, and run your fingers through an interactive LED light show that promises to be "an immersive playground of light and sound". Each of the eight rooms will have a different theme and corresponding colour reflecting a different aspect of the human experience, and you’ll get to sink into a series of light pieces that roll in time with synchronised electronic music beats. How do you get to Dark Spectrum? The entrance to the secret Dark Spectrum tunnels below Wynyard is hidden in plain sight in one of Sydney’

Winter in Sydney can be pretty darn sparkly, with major thanks to Vivid – the annual multidisciplinary festival that lights up the city for a few weeks every year. One particularly glittery feature of the Vivid Sydney 2024 program is Lightscape – an immersive light show that is illuminating the Royal Botanic Garden until Saturday, June 15. (Lightscape is a paid-entry event, and we reckon the ticket price is well worth it, but if you're looking for free things to do at Vivid, head over here.)Originally created by a group of artists more than a decade ago, Lightscape has transformed spaces around the world into sell-out immersive experiences. And though some Sydneysiders were up in arms about having to pay to access the Botanic Garden (generally a free-to-access public space) during last year's season, once you’ve experienced Lightscape in the flesh, you’ll understand the reasoning. As the sun begins to set over Sydney Harbour, you'll wander under larger-than-life flowers, and tree canopies will come alive with light. Follow the 1.8km illuminated trail as your surroundings morph from one luminous delight into another. Food and drinks are available to purchase along the route, or you can hold out and head to one of the many excellent restaurants that Circular Quay has to offer. Tickets start at $30 for adults ($18 for kids aged 3-12), and the entrance for Lightscape is located at the Queen Elizabeth II Gates, which are right next to the Sydney Opera House forecourt. You can book

The premiere of Jane Harrison’s Stolen marks the second production of this poignant play from Sydney Theatre Company in less than twenty years. The performance, directed by Ian Michael, stays true to Harrison’s work while evolving the play for a new generation. However this generation, albeit more cognisant of the truth of Stolen Generations, may be unaware of the extent of the hurt and trauma, which Michael effectively centres on here.  The play focuses on the lives of five Indigenous children who have been forcibly removed and sent to live in a children’s home. Each child's life diverges as teenagers and young adults, as they begin to cope with the aftermath of being removed from their families and their culture in their own way.  This production takes a powerfully eerie approach, opening with a focus on Renée Mulder's simple but effective set design, featuring an oversized filing cabinet and a single  dingy, institutional iron bed. The abnormally large size of these props creates a nightmarish spectacle. This effect is amplified when each character enters against a backdrop of silence, which is abruptly broken as they plead to the audience for any information about their parents. This gut-wrenching opening scene is an incredibly impactful choice.However, it also sets a high bar for the remainder of the play to keep pace with, and the chilling opening is also heavily relied on for expressing the extent of the horror and cruelty these children experience. This production emp

If you’re interested in starting an art collection, but you’re short on expertise and funds to fling around, then this is exactly where you ought to get started. After two successful events in 2022 and 2023, the Affordable Art Fair will make its much-anticipated return to the Royal Randwick Racecourse from Thursday, June 13, to Sunday, June 16.  The world’s biggest art fair organiser made their initial splash in the Harbour City in 2022, welcoming close to 10,000 visitors and generating millions of dollars’ worth of art sales for galleries. This weekend will feature almost double the offering of its Sydney debut – with more than 50 of the nation’s best boutique galleries (and more from around the world) converging  to showcase thousands of original works under $10,000. Alongside a kaleidoscope of artworks, the Fair’s extended program will provide immersive experiences for visitors including live artist demonstrations, free interactive workshops and a scrumptious selection of culinary delights and tasty tipples. Enjoy a glass of old-fashioned lemonade and a slice of lemon meringue pie while West Australian artist Nell Symonds creates lemon-inspired masterpieces before your eyes, or head to the Monopoly Café: an oversized Monopoly board created by Blue Mountains-based artist Ben Tankard. This year’s gallery line-up has been carefully curated to bring the best artwork to Sydney, with highlights including Auckland’s LIMN Gallery, Manyung Gallery Group from Victoria and Mooree’s Y

More than ten years since its premiere, this spectacularly saucy cabaret show – from the talented people who brought us the brilliantly outrageous Blanc de Blanc – is back on the Sydney stage. Popping up at The Grand Electric, Limbo The Return will feature a seductive mix of cabaret, circus and acrobatics, performed with a heart-pounding soundtrack and reality-altering lighting. The international cast features Bulgarian aerialist Maria Moncheva (Harry Potter – Germany), slack rope daredevil David Marco and fire-eating singer Clara Fable.The creators of the show originally put together an internationally renowned show Strut & Fret, which gained fans across the world (including Madonna, who went to see it twice during its London season). The follow up show – Limbo Unhinged – played at the Sydney Opera House back in 2018, and Sydney-based fans will finally be able to reconnect with the spellbinding cabaret-style performance. With the same creative team at the helm, audiences can expect a similar calibre at Limbo The Return: with wildly-impressive acrobatics, titillating circus performances and an ecstatic soundtrack. Composed by New York’s Jank maestro Sxip Shirey, the live music – described by Creative Director Scott Maidment as “a New Orleans brass bands meets the Beastie Boys on the way through Berlin, looking for a house party,” – is one of the main drawcards of this year’s show.  Set in an imaginary space between heaven and hell (hence the name), Limbo The Return has been e