Sydney Festival First Night 2011 & Why I Love Sydney

I think everyone holds a special place in their hearts for the city they grew up in: A certain street on which you learned to drive; A restaurant in which you and your friends used to hang out; A particular park where you had your first (or hundredth) kiss; All of these familiar places can remind you of happier times, evoke poignant and meaningful moments, or major and life-changing events in your life.

I've spent my whole life in Sydney, and though that's not a terribly long life (yet), I've been lucky enough to have some fantastic (and not-so-fantastic) experiences on her streets. Among the places that I'll remember always is the tourist shop in Chinatown, where after 17 hours of wearing a corset and Victorian-style boots (anime convention - don't ask), I bought a pair of black, fleece-lined slippers, hoping desperately that no one would notice I was wearing them while sipping cocktails at Adria bar. Another place is the Paddy's Markets at Haymarket, where my friends and I would meet when school finished early on Tuesdays and buy band t-shirts.

Well, after today I can add another venue to my mental list, because Hyde Park has become significant to my memories of an awesome day spent in the city with FoxyRoxy.

From the 8th to the 30th of January, Sydney is holding the annual Sydney Festival, which attracts hundreds of thousands of people from all over Australia, and a growing number of international visitors. The Sydney Festival has been running since 1977, and is a celebration of Sydney and what it has to offer. Every year on the first day of the festival, a free event called Festival First Night is held as a sort of opening ceremony, and this year was spectacular.

First Night is a cultural extravaganza held from 3pm til 11pm, chiefly at Hyde Park (although there were events at Martin Place, Macquarie St, The Domain, Chifley Square, and Cathedral Square). During the day there were a lot of family-friendly events and entertainment including cupcake decorating sessions (hosted by Sparkle Cupcakes), Ukulele play-alongs with Ali Mills and the Ukeladies, and a performance by Lah Lah's Musical Wonderland. After 6PM, the venue was transformed for a little more adult entertainment (can anyone say Cabaret? =]).

When Roxy and I arrived around 2:30PM, we headed straight for the food and drink area. I was particularly curious about what sort of food would be offered at a festival that celebrated the culture and diversity of Sydney - and I wanted to blog about what we ate. This is a food blog, amongst other things ;)

There was a healthy variety of cuisines available, from German at The Sauerkraut Sisters and Italian at Bella Pasta, to Caribbean at OMG Food and Creole at Piros Cuban Kitchen, but the stall that we immediately went for was Dim Sum Station in a search for BBQ Pork Buns and Chive Dumplings.

Prawn, Chive and Vegetarian Dumplings - $10 for 6

BBQ Pork, Roast Duck and Red Bean Paste Buns, $10 for 4

I had the buns, and all of them had a wonderfully fluffy, light, and slightly sticky exterior. The BBQ Pork Buns were full of soft, tender pork and onion that had a slight crunch to it. The roasted duck was slightly flaky and its rich taste was complimented by the sweet hoy sin sauce. Carrot and onion gave some contrast to the texture of the filling. Finally, the Red Bean Paste Bun was filled with a dense, sweet paste that was slightly sickly - I could only have a bite before I put it down.

Roxy enjoyed her dumplings, but did note that the prawn dumplings were a bit stingy on the actual prawns: one or two small prawns to a dumpling, and the rest was filler.

Sponsors! Their's, not mine :)

After we ate, we explored the park a bit and watched the cupcake decorating, but to be honest most everything was aimed at families. On the other side of the park there was a screening of Sydney in the 1920s and 1930s, which was interesting, but eventually we decided to roam the CBD for a while.

Amazing Reni Reproduction at Pitt St Mall - Love Sydney!

We wandered along Pitt and George Streets for a while, checking out the buskers lining the walk, when we felt the cravings for caffeine start. On we trekked, our destination: La Renaissance Pattisserie for some coffee and macarons.

Coffee and Blackcurrant Macarons - $2.50 each

Cappuccino $3.50

The macarons were delicious as always, crispy on the outside, chewy and flavoursome on the inside. The coffee was deliciously rich, although lacking a little in foam (for a cappuccino).

We mosied on back to Hyde Park around 6pm, wanting to catch the cabaret acts, and we were not disappointed:

Eddie Perfect

Imogen Kelly as a sexy caterpillar...

And as a sexy butterfly!

Eddie Perfect performed snippets from his satire show Misanthropology, and he was hilARious. With song titles such as "Self-Righteous Cyclist", "Neanderthal Love", and "Too Bloody Long", he had the crowd rolling.

Imogen Kelly is Australia's Queen of Burlesque, and I am a big fan. When she performed her first number, it was pretty family friendly, and portrayed the transformation of a caterpillar to a butterfly. It was sensual and steamy, but in a PG-rated way.

Circa

The acrobatic performance of Circa was nothing short of astounding, with their flexibility (the guy doing the splits got a lot of sympathetic groans from the men folk), their originality (there was an act where they transferred a singlet from one person to the other without using their hands) and their attitude (the female performer hula-hooping and throwing hoops at the photographers was one particular event I won't forget).

The Festival First Night was the epitome of summer in Sydney, and we really enjoyed ourselves. It was a showcase of Sydney's cultural aspects, including performance, music, visual art and food. Although you may have missed it, there are still shows you can purchase tickets for here.

Is it any wonder that I love Sydney?