September in Sydney: top events in your city this month
There are well over a thousand events on around Sydney this month. These are the forty-odd we'd actually message the group chat about.
Every pick below links to its live page on Keen, with dates, prices and the ticket link. The links retire once an event is done, so if one of them tells you it's been and gone, that's the truth doing its job. For the always-current version, what's on in Sydney is rebuilt from the catalogue nightly.
The big nights
Night at The Barracks: Boy & Bear
The Barracks Precinct, North Head, Manly · Friday 11 September
One of the country's most loved indie-folk bands, outdoors at dusk on North Head. The series is the story of Sydney's late September; this is the night to start with.
Night at The Barracks: Ben Folds and a Piano
The Barracks Precinct, North Head, Manly · Saturday 26 September
Exactly what it says: Ben Folds, a piano, and the harbour behind him. Pnau on the 25th and Katie Noonan singing Jeff Buckley's Grace on the 27th round out the same weekend up there.
Jason Derulo
Afterpay Arena, Sydney Olympic Park · Saturday 19 September
Talk Dirty, Wiggle, Savage Love and the rest of a catalogue with billions of streams behind it. A Saturday arena night that requires no persuading of anyone.
Electric Callboy
Afterpay Arena, Sydney Olympic Park · Thursday 10 September
German electronicore at full arena volume, with Ice Nine Kills bringing theatrical horror to the undercard. Loud, absurd and a guaranteed story.
Julian Lage
City Recital Hall · Thursday 17 September
A guitar virtuoso marking ten years of World's Fair, solo on one of the city's best-sounding stages. The quiet-brilliance pick of the month.
Clementine Douglas
Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst · Wednesday 23 September · 18+
The voice behind some of the biggest dance records of recent years, up close in a small room. See her here before the venues get bigger.
Aaradhna
The Metro Theatre · Friday 25 September · 18+
One of Aotearoa's most celebrated soul voices, live at the Metro. Slow-burn songs that land twice as hard in the room.
Petit Biscuit
Manning Bar, Sydney University · Friday 25 September, 9pm to late · 18+
The Sunset Lover producer's first Australian shows in seven years, this time behind the decks. For the mates whose 2017 playlists never really ended.
On stage
Disney's The Lion King
Capitol Theatre, Haymarket · all month
The spectacle that converts even the musical-sceptic mate within the first five minutes. If someone in the group has been saying "we should go" since it opened, September is the month to call it.
My Fair Lady
Sydney Opera House, Joan Sutherland Theatre · from 10 September
The beloved musical in the big room at the Opera House. A properly grand night out at the most Sydney address there is.
Fiddler on the Roof
Theatre Royal Sydney · all month
Direct from a record-breaking, triple-Olivier-winning London season. The revival everyone who has seen it will not shut up about, affectionately.
The Book of Everything
Belvoir St Theatre, Surry Hills · until 20 September
One of Belvoir's most cherished productions, back after acclaimed seasons here and in New York. Closes on the 20th, so this one is a this-fortnight decision.
The Elevator
Ensemble Theatre, Kirribilli · from 18 September
A world premiere office satire by Eloise Snape: Margot is back from mat leave and not messing around. For everyone who has ever hit reply-all in anger.
Current
Neilson Studio, Sydney Dance Company, Dawes Point · sessions through September
Three world premieres plus a Rafael Bonachela work, danced in the round and close enough to hear the breathing. Contemporary dance with nowhere to hide, for them or you.
Galleries and museums
Treasures of the Viking Age: The Galloway Hoard
Australian National Maritime Museum · until 11 October
Over five kilograms of silver and gold buried around AD 900 and found by metal detectorists in 2014. Real treasure, real mystery, and a very easy sell to any group chat.
Harry Potter: The Exhibition
Fever Pavilion, Sydney Olympic Park · sessions all month
Authentic film props, behind-the-scenes detail and hands-on surprises. You already know which of your mates needs this; book it before they book it for you.
Body Worlds: The Anatomy of Happiness
The Rocks · from 17 September
The famous real-anatomy exhibition arrives in Sydney for the first time, asking where joy actually lives in the body. Guaranteed conversation for the entire walk home.
Tony Albert: Not a Souvenir
Museum of Contemporary Art, The Rocks · until 19 October
Smashing stereotypes one souvenir at a time: bold, funny and fearless work from one of Australia's most influential contemporary artists.
Connections: MCA x Tate
Museum of Contemporary Art, The Rocks · all month
Thirty-three Australian artists telling recent and ancient histories, and the MCA runs two-for-one entry on Thursday nights. That is a date night for ten dollars a head.
Margaret Olley: Australian Intimiste
National Art School, Darlinghurst · until 25 October Free
A free, warm wander through one of Australia's best-loved painters, at the school she came from.
Avatar: Forms of Vishnu
Art Gallery of NSW · until 5 October
Fifteen centuries of South and Southeast Asian art tracing Vishnu's many forms, for the price of a coffee. Closes early October; go while it's quiet.
Comedy and close to it
Bill Bailey: Vaudevillean
State Theatre · from 28 September
Bill Bailey's rambling, musical brand of stand-up in the fanciest room in town. The safest possible pick for a mixed crew.
Aaron Chen: Technology
State Theatre · from 8 September
Sharp, deadpan and somehow both shambolic and precise. Sydney's own, home for a run at the State.
Happy Endings Comedy Club Fridays
Potts Point · Friday nights
A New York-style cellar club with a fresh lineup every week. The reliable "we're all free Friday, what do we do" answer.
Rugby League The Musical
The Bridge Hotel, Rozelle · 28 September to 3 October · 18+
The season review and grand final preview, sung. Perfectly timed for finals week, and funnier the more of the season you have suffered through.
Food and drink
Love Tilly Group x R U OK? All-Star Chef Dinner
Fabbrica, Darlinghurst · Tuesday 8 September
An all-star kitchen lineup cooking their greatest hits for charity. A Tuesday dinner you can feel actively good about.
Twenty O' Nine Fest
Fraser Park, Marrickville · Sunday 20 September
A full day of South American open-fire cooking, music and culture. Come hungry, leave smelling of woodsmoke, no regrets on either count.
Keira Crawl
Keira Street, Wollongong · Saturday 12 September · 18+ Free
Ten venues in one afternoon down the coast: food, cocktails and even an escape room along the way. Free entry, and the train back is part of the experience.
Markets
The Big Design Market
Carriageworks, Eveleigh · 18 to 20 September
More than 200 independent makers under one very good roof. Go with a mate who has opinions; leave with things you did not know you needed.
Paddington Markets
Oxford St, Paddington · Saturdays Free
The Saturday institution: makers, vintage and very good people-watching. "Meet at Paddington Markets at 11" is a complete plan on its own.
Barangaroo Markets
Watermans Quay, Barangaroo · regularly through the month Free
Food and makers' stalls by the water. An easy add-on to any harbour walk that needs a destination.
Free, all of it
Festival of the Winds
Bondi Beach · Sunday 13 September, 11am to 4pm Free
Giant kites over Bondi, with music and food all day. One of the great free Sydney Sundays; text the group chat now, thank us on the 14th.
Unlock The Rocks Art & Culture Month
The Rocks · all September Free
Free music, comedy, workshops and performance taking over the city's oldest laneways all month. The strongest possible answer to "let's do something but spend nothing".
Spring Sessions
State Library of NSW forecourt · from 16 September Free
Live music outdoors at sunset with a pop-up bar, on the Macquarie Street forecourt. After-work drinks with an actual reason to be there.
Rituals at Machine Hall
Machine Hall, CBD · Sunday 13 September Free
Light, sound, crafts and a panel before the dance floor opens: an immersive celebration of ritual across cultures, free in one of the city's most striking rooms.
Late ones
Green Velvet at The Point
Mrs Macquaries Point · Saturday 26 September, 4pm to 10pm · 18+
A Chicago house legend on a floating stage over the harbour. La La Land at sunset over Sydney Harbour is not a sentence you get to live every month.
In The Garden feat. Danny Rampling
Slip Inn Garden · Saturday 26 September · 18+
A founding father of UK house playing classics in a garden terrace. Same night as Green Velvet, so the 26th is a choose-your-legend situation.
Something different
The Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy
Albert Palais, Leichhardt · from 19 September · 18+
Four of Poe's most famous tales staged around you over ninety minutes, themed cocktail in hand. Halloween warm-up sorted a month early.
Sydney's Theatre of Magic
Paradox Sydney · sessions all month
Close-up, world-class illusions in an intimate hotel theatre with magic-themed cocktails. The reliable jaw-dropper for visitors and locals alike.
Twilight Garden Tour
Royal Botanic Garden · evenings from 16 September
Ecologist-led torchlight tours after the gates shut: possums, night-blooming flowers and a garden most people never see. Twenty dollars for a genuinely different evening.
The part where you actually go
That's the list. The gap between reading it and standing in one of those rooms is the same as ever: someone has to pick a date and make the call.
That's the job Keen does. The quickest way in is Find a time: pick two or three dates that could work, add an idea or two from this page, and drop one link in the group chat. Everyone answers from their browser, no app and no account needed. You see which date wins, tap once, and it's a real plan with RSVPs and a chat of its own.
And once your mates are on Keen too, it starts doing the noticing for you: everyone marks the nights they're free, and when yours line up, Keen tells you, along with what's on that actually suits the crew.
September's forty best excuses are above. Pick one, name a night, and send the message.
Start closer in. See what's on in the next few days, pick a night, send the link.
What's on in Sydney this weekendGet Keen free on the App Store or Google Play.
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