Spring & Summer Events Guide

Your insider’s guide to the best events, arts, and community fun across Newtown and surrounds this spring and summer

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🩰 Sydney Dance Company’s Continuum

📍 Rosyln Packer Theatre (22 Hickson Rd, Walsh Bay)

📅 Oct 22nd - Nov 1st

Photo: Daniel Boud

From the fleeting beauty of twilight to the elemental force of breath, Continuum is a journey through time and place, where movement echoes with the ebb and flow of life’s narratives. An enchanted new world premiere, Spell from Rafael Bonachela will draw upon his signature choreographic style, to explore the limits of emotional and physical expression. 

Tra Mi Dinh exposes the delicate space between day and night in her work Somewhere between ten and fourteen, where bodies drift and pulse, surrendering to the ever-shifting movement of time and light. Presented in association with Omega Ensemble, Stephen Page’s choreography of Unungkati Yantatja – one with the other calls out to the land, sea and sky, where the Company dancers perform on stage with composer and yidaki player William Barton, connecting us all to the spirit of our creation breath.

Tickets: sydneydancecompany.com

🐳 Whale Watching

📍Captain Cook Cruises

📅 Now until November 2025

Each year, over 20,000 humpback whales make the 3,500km journey from the icy waters of Antarctica to the warm tropics of the Great Barrier Reef - and Sydney is considered one of the best places in Australia to see them. Set sail past the Opera House and Harbour Bridge as you venture into the open ocean for an unforgettable encounter. With a Whale Sighting Guarantee, if you don’t spot a whale, you can enjoy another cruise free of charge. 

Tickets: captaincook.com.au

🎭 The Laramie Project

📍 New Theatre (542 King St)

📅 Oct 7th - Nov 1st

In 1998, in the tight-knit town of Laramie, Wyoming, a young gay man named Matthew Shepard was the victim of a homophobic hate crime. A national media frenzy followed and ten members of the New York-based Tectonic Theatre Project visited Laramie in an attempt to find out what happened and why. They conducted more than 200 interviews with the local community, chronicling the town's trauma. 

The play Kaufman crafted from those transcripts has been hailed as one of the most impactful works of theatre ever produced. Watch an ensemble cast portray more than 60 characters in this shattering depiction of a profoundly moving modern tragedy.

Tickets: newtheatre.org.au

😂 Just For Laughs Festival

📍 Various Venues

📅 Nov 10th - 22nd

Get ready to laugh out loud - the Sydney Just For Laughs Festival 2025 is back, bringing world-class comedy to venues across the city. This year’s lineup features international stars like Eddie Izzard, Reggie Watts, John Bishop and Ashley Gavin, alongside local favourites including Demi Lardner, the Aboriginal Comedy Allstars, and viral duo We Mean Well. From stand-up and improv to live podcasts and gala shows, there’s something to keep everyone in stitches. 

Tickets: justforlaughs.sydney

🎃 Horror Themed Trivia

📍 The Marly (145 King St)

📅 Thurs, Oct 30th, 7pm

Is there a better way to spend Halloween-eve than at a local horror-themed trivia night? We don’t think so. Head down to Marly Bar for an evening of spine-chilling questions that'll test your knowledge of horror's most iconic films. 

The Marly will be transformed with horror theming throughout, and dress ups are highly encouraged - best dressed wins bragging rights (and maybe a prize).

Book your table: marlboroughhotel.com.au

🛍️ The Finders Keepers Market

📍 Carriageworks (245 Wilson St, Eveleigh)

📅 Nov 14th - 16th

Step into the world of creativity at Finders Keepers Sydney Design Market - returning to Carriageworks from 14–16 November. Browse over 200 stallholders showcasing handmade homewares, slow fashion, art, jewellery, ceramics and more. 

Enjoy live music, bars, meet local makers and check out the brand-new Dining Room - a perfect cure for your market munchies. 

There’s also a Low Sensory Hour on Sunday (9–10 am) for a gentler shopping experience. Kids under 13 are free - bring your market crew and support Australia’s designers.

More details: thefinderskeepers.com

🎤 Charlie Collins

📍 Waywards Ballroom (L2/324 King St)

📅 Nov 15th, 7pm

Charlie Collins is an acclaimed Australian singer-songwriter known for her genre-blending sound that fuses country, pop and rock influences. She began her musical journey performing with her siblings, later joining the indie-pop group Tigertown before going solo in 2019.

Collins has just released her third studio album, Nightwriter, delving into themes of personal struggle and redemption, inspired by her own experiences.

Tickets: bankhotel.com.au

🤠 Cowbois

📍 Seymour Centre (Cnr City Rd & Cleveland St)

📅 Nov 20th - Dec 13th

In a sleepy town in the Wild West, the women drift through their days like tumbleweed. Their husbands, swept up in the goldrush, have been missing for almost a year. In fact, the town is almost cut off from outsiders entirely, with only one drunken sheriff for protection. 

That is until handsome bandit Jack Cannon swaggers up to the town’s saloon. Armed with a wink and a gun by his side, Jack’s explosive arrival inspires a gender revolution, and starts a fire under the petticoat of all the town’s inhabitants. Get ready for a whole lot of singing, dancing, and even a climactic shoot-out!

Tickets: seymourcentre.com

😂 Present Laughter

📍 New Theatre (542 King St)

📅 Nov 11th - Dec 13th

Actor Garry Essendine is possibly the most desired man in the world. He is handsome, charming, self-deprecating, self-obsessed, and in the midst of a mid-life crisis. 

Over the course of a few days, he finds his life bombarded by the conflicting desires of others, as an obsessed fan, a starlet, an aspiring playwright and a stage mother cause chaos. 

A fast, furious and extremely funny farce, complete with excruciating misunderstandings, toe-curling narrow escapes and high camp double-entendres, this is Noël Coward at his absolute sparkling best.

Tickets: newtheatre.org.au

🎅🏼 Carols at the House (Sydney Philharmonia Choir)

📍 Sydney Opera House, Concert Hall

📅 Dec 12th (8pm), 13th (8pm), 14th (2pm)

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs brings festive cheer with its family-friendly Carols at the House at the Sydney Opera House on 12 December. 

Conducted by Brett Weymark, the event features singers, musical theatre stars, and an orchestra performing favourites like Joy to the World, Silent Night, and Jingle Bells, plus choral highlights from Bach, Whitacre, Franck, and contemporary Australian composers. Join in the singing or sit back and enjoy this much-loved seasonal tradition that makes Christmas truly magical. 

Tickets: sydneyphilharmonia.com.au

🎞️ SF3 Film Festival

📅 Jan 23rd - 25th, 2026

Experience the world’s most innovative smartphone film festival — SF3 — where creativity meets the big screen! Join us for three unmissable days of groundbreaking cinema: the Gala Finals Screening & Awards (Jan 23, 8:30pm) and SF3 Kids Screening & Awards (Jan 24, 1:30pm) at the Sydney Opera House, then the SF3 Mini & Feature Film Screening (Jan 25, 1:30pm) at Palace Chauvel Cinema. Bold stories. Limitless imagination. Only at SF3.