What’s On This Weekend In Sydney
Lizzie Scorer
Contributor | Urban List, Sydney, NSW
Eloise Luke
Deputy Editor (Local Markets) | Urban List
Looking for the best things to do in Sydney/Eora this weekend? There's never a shortage of exciting activities in Sydney to keep your calendar full.
Whether you want to scratch that clothes-shopping itch, settle in with a spritz, look for foodie feed, check out cool art or groove to DJ beats—we reckon you'll find something here to keep you occupied.
Here's what's on this weekend in Sydney.
Weekend in Wisteria
Parramatta Park | Saturday 19 - Sunday 20 September
Image credit: image xx | Supplied
Parramatta Park's purple tunnels are back for their annual two-day takeover, with more than 18,000 spring florals joining the wisteria this year. Running from 10am to 4pm both days, the free festival brings live music, roving entertainment, family activities and community stalls to Wistaria Gardens, plus food and drink on-site.
The vines themselves have history: descended from cuttings brought over from Japan in 1906, they were originally planted to create a calming space for patients at the former Parramatta Lunatic Asylum. These days they're better known for a bloom window of just two to three weeks and a perfume that fills the whole garden, so this is very much a bring-a-picnic-blanket-now situation.
Parking is limited within the park, so walking, cycling or public transport is the way to go. Entry is via Byrnes Avenue.
L’Antica Pizzeria Da Michele Festa di San Gennaro
50 Pitt Street, Sydney CBD | Saturday 19 September
Image credit: L’Antica Pizzeria Da Michele | Supplied
Forget flying to Naples for your Eat Pray Love moment. Sydney's about to get its own carb-loaded pilgrimage with L'Antica Pizzeria Da Michele throwing a one-day-only Festa di San Gennaro, on Saturday 19 September to honour the patron saint of Naples. And, it’s the kind of feast that would make Julia Roberts put down her journal and pick up a fork.
Running from midday to 10pm, the CBD pizzeria will celebrate the Neapolitan festival with live Italian music, a one-off San Gennaro Pizza ($28) topped with slow-cooked tomato ragout, Provola, Neapolitan salami and Pecorino, and a Bloody Gennaro ($18), its take on a Bloody Mary.
Vin-Cenzo’s First Birthday Block Party
174 Liverpool Street, Darlinghurst | Sunday 20 September
Image credit: Vin-Cenzo's | Supplied
Vin-Cenzo's is turning one on Sunday 20 September. But instead of candles and a quiet toast, Darlinghurst's popular produce-led Italian is throwing the neighbourhood a proper old-school block party.
Things kick off with a sit-down lunch from 12:30pm to 3pm, pairing Vin-Cenzo’s with Melbourne institution Tipo 00 and Sydney wine whiz Giorgio De Maria. Expect vitello tonnato, tagliolini al nero and veal saltimbocca, finished with Tipo 00’s cult Tipomisu ($140, tickets via SevenRooms).
From 3pm, the party spills onto Liverpool Street, where you can drop by for free, no booking required. Tuck into a melanzana a la Norma panini or nduja sfincione, grab a glass from De Maria’s wine list and settle in for the afternoon.
Lotus Residency at Pearl
Pearl Dining, Circular Quay | From Friday 11 September
Image credit: Kera Wong
When Lotus The Galeries closed its doors for good on 12 April, it left a dumpling-shaped hole in Sydney's heart. Fortunately, on Friday September 11, the restaurant's most-missed hits relocated to Pearl Dining in Circular Quay, where Lotus Dining Group Executive Chef Steve Wu has built them a new harbourside home.
Duck lovers can tuck into Lotus Beer wok-fried duck, duck san choy bao and the duck fried rice with mustard seed. The dumpling lineup includes pork xiao long bao, prawn and pork siu mai and spicy chilli prawn dumplings, served in two-piece portions for sharing. And, the delicious, delicious lobster comes with a choice of nine sauces.
The Big Design Market
Carriageworks | Friday 18-Sunday 20 September
Image credit: The Big Design Market | Supplied
The Big Design Market returns to Carriageworks this weekend, and brings more than 230 independent designers and makers together for its annual Sydney takeover. Expect handmade ceramics, limited-edition art prints and Australian-made fashion, jewellery and homewares, with a lineup mixing fresh faces and long-time favourites. There’s also a colourful new installation from guest artist Em Hatton to explore between stalls.
Shopping is hungry work, so there’s a full food and drink lineup from local names, including specialty coffee, natural wine, handcrafted pies, pho, bagels and artisan ice cream.
Twenty O'Nine South American Open Fire Food Festival
Sunday, 20 September | Fraser Park, Marrickville
Image credit: Twenty O Nine Festival | Supplied
Sydney's biggest gaucho food festival is back for 2026, and it's promising to be bigger and hotter than ever. Twenty O'Nine takes over Fraser Park for one day only, bringing open-fire South American cooking, live music and culture to Marrickville.
Expect a full day of entertainment for the whole family, alongside the sights, sounds and flavours that have made the festival a drawcard in previous years.
Armenian Film Festival Australia
Sydney | Friday 11–Sunday 27 September
Image credit: Amenian Film Festival | Supplied
Armenian Film Festival Australia (AFFA) marks its 10th anniversary this year with a national program screening across the country. One to spotlight on the Sydney program is Outliving Shakespeare.
Set in a derelict Soviet-era retirement home, the film follows a group of elderly residents rehearsing an original play, "Shakespeare's Sins". It's a thought-provoking look at the loneliness that comes with ageing, and the community the troupe builds along the way.
$15 Thursday Smash Burgers At Chophouse Sydney
Chophouse Sydney, CBD | Thursdays throughout September, lunch only
Image credit: Chophouse Sydney | Supplied
Matt Moran's CBD steakhouse Chophouse Sydney is trading white tablecloths for a $15 smash burger this September, running every Thursday lunch throughout the month. It's the first time Chophouse has done a takeaway burger, cooked fresh on the Terrace flat grill and built with a house-made beef patty, American cheese, onion and the restaurant's signature burger sauce on an AP Bakery bun. Grab it to go for an easy desk lunch or take a seat on the Terrace, with the option to go double or add bacon for $5 each, and pair it with a $10 draught or $15 glass of wine if you're staying to dine in. Walk-ins only, available 3, 10, 17 and 24 September.
UNO Social Club Returns To Sydney For One Night Only
Island Radio, Redfern | Friday 18 September, 6pm–9pm
Image credit: UNO | Supplied
UNO Social Club is back in Sydney, this time hosted by UNO superfan Sopha Dopha at Island Radio in Redfern. It follows a month-long Sydney activation earlier this year, promising a night of gameplay, music and the usual UNO chaos. It's free to attend, but spots are limited so you'll want to get in quick.
Harbourside Cinema transforms Pier One's Sunset Suite into Sydney's most exclusive movie night
Available until the end of September, running 6pm–11pm nightly.
Image credit: Pier One | Supplied
Settle in for your own private cinema beneath the stars, complete with build-your-own Yo-Chi, customisable popcorn and uninterrupted water views. From chick flicks and rom-coms to nostalgic favourites and adventure classics, every movie night is yours to curate.
Welcoming up to eight guests, it's made for celebrations, group gatherings and unforgettable date nights on the harbour, with additional guests welcome from 6pm–11pm for $50 per person. The full PIER BAR food and drinks menu is available throughout, with orders taken via QR code or pre-ordered straight to your room.
Book online
Cake & Cocktails At Black Star Pastry
Black Star Pastry, Newtown | From Saturday 22 August
Image credit: Black Star Pastry | Supplied
Black Star Pastry is taking its Newtown store into the evening with a new Cake & Cocktail experience launching this Saturday. Signature slices like the Strawberry Watermelon Cake and Chocolate Oasis Cake are paired with bespoke cocktails built to match, available as a $99 guided Flight Experience across three cakes and three cocktails, or as $35 Signature Pairings if you'd rather pick your own adventure. There's a snack menu to go with it too, from mini Japanese Chicken Pies to yuzu salt popcorn, so you can make a proper night of it.
Express Lunch & Glow At Status Co
Barangaroo | Monday to Wednesday, ongoing
Image credit: Banksia Bakehouse | Supplied
Barangaroo salon and bar Status Co has teamed up with Banksia Bakehouse to launch Express Lunch & Glow. The offer pairs a blow-dry with a Banksia Bakehouse lunchbox, delivered straight to your chair, with the option to add a glass of bubbles.
"We're surrounded by people who want to make the most of their lunch hour, so we thought, why should you have to choose between lunch and a blow-dry?" says Status Co owner Renee Schembri. "It's our version of the long lunch."
Available 11.30am–2.30pm, Monday to Wednesday, at Status Co, Tower 1, Shop 8, 100 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo. $90.
Woodfired Harbour Sauna At Barangaroo
Barangaroo | Now until Sunday 28 September
Image credit: Cedar & Salt Sauna | Supplied
Cedar & Salt Sauna has set up a Nordic-inspired woodfired sauna right on Sydney Harbour, and it might just be the best way to get through the rest of winter. The timber-crafted sauna is built for shared sessions, so round up a few mates or make it a corporate wellness outing, and settle in for 10 to 15 minutes of heat before cooling off with a plunge at nearby Marrinawi Cove. Repeat the cycle a few times and you'll walk away with all the benefits of proper hot-and-cold contrast therapy, plus a solid dose of harbour views along the way.
Jazz Sundays At The Apollo
19 Bronte Road, Bondi Junction | (Note: check venue address) — Every Sunday, 16 August – 25 October
Image credit: Apollo | Supplied
Apollo's monthly jazz lunch has had a promotion, now running every Sunday from August 16 through to October 25. Renamed Jazz Sundays, it brings live jazz and a long lunch to Potts Point from 12 to 4pm each week. Guests can go for the Jazz Sundays menu at $95 per person, complete with a curated off-menu cocktail on arrival and Apollo favourites like signature saganaki and slow-cooked lamb shoulder, or stick with the à la carte and banquet menus. Perfect for a lazy Sunday with friends, or a family lunch that runs long.
Darlo Sake Nights At Itadakimasu Onigiri & Bar
Darlinghurst | Every Thursday, 5–6pm
Image credit: Itadakimasu | Instagram
Darlo Sake Nights at Itadakimasu Onigiri & Bar (from the team behind cult sandwich shop Sandoitchi) runs a guided tasting through three rotating sakes, led by a sake sommelier who'll talk you through the stories and flavours behind each pour. Food comes along for the ride too, with crispy chicken karaage, onigiri, fresh salad and a special soup rounding out the $49 introductory offer. It's the Japanese equivalent of a Friday knock-off drink, just moved a day earlier and done properly.
Brassaï: Secret Paris At Heide Museum Of Modern Art
Heide Museum of Modern Art | Until 15 November 2026
Heide Museum of Modern Art has unveiled Brassaï: Secret Paris, the most comprehensive survey of the Hungarian-born French photographer's work ever seen in Australia, and his first solo exhibition in the country in over five decades.
Co-curated by Heide Artistic Director Lesley Harding, Philippe Ribeyrolles (manager and curator of the Estate Brassaï and the artist's nephew), and French photography curator Emmanuelle de l'Ecotais, the exhibition brings together more than 150 original vintage prints capturing Paris in the 1930s. Expect Brassaï's atmospheric night photography, his experiments with Surrealism, hallmark images of early Parisian graffiti, and intimate portraits from his inner circle, including decades of photographs made in Pablo Picasso's studio, alongside Salvador Dalí, Henry Miller and cabaret singer Kiki de Montparnasse.
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Aria Snack Bar
Aria Restaurant Sydney, 1 Macquarie Street, Sydney CBD | Daily
Image credit: Aria Restaurant Sydney | Supplied
Sydney Harbour’s refined waterfront restaurant, Aria, has introduced a bougie-on-a-budget bar menu perfect for late-night dining. Highlights include a $26 Wagyu smash burger with Section 28 cheese and beer onions, $12 tuna tartare with white soy and chives, plus a $45 cheese platter with four premium Australian cheeses and seasonal pairings. Walk-ins are welcome any time, or book online daily from 8pm.
Mechelle Bounpraseuth ສູ້ສູ້ Sou Sou
Art Gallery NSW, Naala Nura Building Lower Level 2 | Until February 2027
Image credit: Art Gallery Of NSW | Installation view of the exhibition Mechelle Bounpraseuth: ສູ້ສູ້ Sou Sou at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, artworks © the artist
Ceramic Indomie, Sriracha and mangosteens are taking over the Art Gallery of NSW and best believe you'll want to mark this one down in your calendar. In Sou Sou (a Lao phrase of encouragement that kind of means 'keep going', 'stay strong' or 'you can do it'), Mechelle Bounpraseuth scales up a stack of everyday pantry staples and fruit into glossy, hand-built forms with an exhibition that leans hard into the rituals around her family table, pulling from Lao heritage to frame food as something deeper than sustenance.
This one is definitely an all-ages affair where visitors can gather on floor mats, leave offerings at a fruit shrine, or add to shelves of reimagined canned goods—a cool way of showcasing how these small acts echo how culture gets passed down, held and reshaped.
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Main image credit: No Flowers Mahjong
Moussaka Thursdays At Etheus
Bondi Pavilion, Shop 4 Queen Elizabeth Drive, Bondi Beach
Image credit: Etheus | Supplied
Anchored around Etheus' claypot moussaka—a generous serving of slow-cooked ground beef, eggplant, and potato baked over open flame—Moussaka Thursdays at Etheus are worth booking in for an end of week feast.
Alongside the main event, you'll be able to indulge in Greek-style sides like their grilled pita with oregano and Greek olive oil, fava split pea with pickled onion and sumac, taramosalata whipped with cod's roe and dill, and a maroulosalata of iceberg, lemon dressing and kefalotiri.
Duke’s After Hours: Adult Happy Meal
109 Cronulla Street, Cronulla | Sundays
Image credit: Duke's Providore | Instagram
Forget sad Sunday scaries—Duke’s After Hours is giving Sydneysiders something much better to look forward to. Available on Sunday nights only for $50pp, the venue’s limited-edition “Adult Happy Meal” bundles together a three-course Italian feast and a glass of wine for a fraction of what you’d normally expect to pay.
The menu starts with a cacio e pepe croquette before moving onto pan-fried lasagne layered with slow-cooked ragù, finishing with a praline tiramisu for dessert. To wash it all down, you’ll score a glass of either Mario Primo Chianti or Rosetta Toscana Bianco, making this one of the city’s most tempting end-of-week treats.
Harbourside Cinema By Pier One
Pier One Sydney Harbour, Walsh Bay | Until Wednesday 30 September
Image credit: Pier One | Supplied
Movie night just got a harbour-view upgrade. Pier One Sydney Harbour is turning its Sunset Balcony Suite into a private open-air cinema this winter, complete with blankets, waterfront views and a custom movie-night trolley.
Launching from 11 May, Harbourside Cinema lets guests choose their own film before settling in beneath the Harbour Bridge with frozen yoghurt, popcorn and an outdoor screen overlooking Luna Park and Walsh Bay. There’s also an optional comfort-food menu featuring things like gourmet hot dogs, loaded fries, cheeseboards and Wagyu burgers if you're leaning into the full night-in energy.
The experience is designed for date nights, celebrations and group hangs, with room for up to eight guests.
Cronulla Street Photobooth
1-7 Cronulla Street, Cronulla
Image credit: Cronulla Street Photobooth | Instagram
If you've got a special moment coming up, or are just keen to have a spontaneous day our, Cronulla Street Photobooth is ready and waiting to immortalise your day in film. This vintage-inspired booth is a recent addition to the local area, and well worth the potential lines. It's just $8 for three photos and two strips (pocket money, really), and a great way to add a bit of whimsy to your weekend.
Attenzione! Sunday Jazz & Dine Night
180 Redfern Street, Redfern | Sundays
Image credit: Attenzione! | Instagram
For a swish night out in Redfern backed by the soothing sounds of sax, dip into Attenzione! Food & Wine. The crew rounds out the week with a Jazz & Dine Night every Sunday. Think pizza fritta, sauce-slicked pasta and a top-tier wine list with the mood set by The Square, playing two sets at 6pm and 8pm. Walk-ins are welcome, but bookings are recommended.
Macquarie Ice Rink
Corner of Herring Road and Waterloo Road, North Ryde | Open daily
Image credit: Macquarie Ice Rink | Supplied
With the heat dialled all the way up this summer, Macquarie Ice Rink’s re-opening couldn’t have come at a better time. An inner-city institution since 1981, the Olympic-sized rink spent most of 2025 undergoing a multi-million-dollar glow-up—and now it’s officially back. Expect a pristine new ice surface, slick tech upgrades and modern amenities.
They also have a disco session every Friday and Saturday night from 8.30pm to 10.30pm. Including skate hire, all session tickets are $32 for adults, $29 for students, $28 for children under 16 years and $12 for children under 5 years with a paying adult.
The Grifter Brewing Co. Happy Hour
1/391–397 Enmore Road, Marrickville | Wednesdays–Fridays, 4pm–6pm
Image credit: The Grifter Brewing Co. | Instagram
Dialling up the summer vibes, The Grifter Brewing Co. has rolled out a sunny happy hour to celebrate the expansion of their solar power setup. The Marrickville legends are slinging $7 cold schooners and $10 chilled wines at their tasting bar from Wednesday to Friday between 4pm and 6pm.
Arms Length Bar’s Weekend Specials
7 Kellett Street, Potts Point | Friday–Sunday, 12pm until late
Image credit: Arms Length Bar | Instagram
Arms Length is bringing special after special, including their Sunday $2 Oysters and discounted Lo Fi wines to amplify those end-of-week afternoons. Seated outdoors among fairy-light wrapped branches, share as many freshly shucked oysters as your heart desires while your wallet stays happy.
The bar is also hosting DJ nights every Friday and Saturday from 6pm until late, where you can sip on happy hour drinks from 4pm and get up to groove soon after. This spot gets busy, so keep an eye on their What's On page and book yourself a spot this weekend.
China Heights Exhibitions
Level 3, 16/28 Foster Street, Surry Hills | Wednesday–Saturdays, 12pm–5pm
Image credit: China Heights Gallery | Website
China Heights is a contemporary and independent art gallery set on bringing fresh creativity to the streets of Sydney. With a rotating exhibition program constantly in progress, you can enter for free to admire and be inspired by the newest artworks displayed.
There's also a catalogue of artworks available for purchase to anyone wanting to bring a piece of the gallery home. Whether it's a creative interest or a search for quality home decor, this gallery should be the next stop on your list.
Main image credit: No Flowers Mahjong
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