Sydney Solstice, The New Winter Festival Hitting Sydney This Year!

Sydney Solstice, The New Winter Festival Hitting Sydney This Year!

Credit: Urban List

By Tim Piccione

If we’re looking for signs of nightlife and a return to normality in Sydney, then the brand new Sydney Solstice festival is a shiny bright star on the horizon.

Dreamt up by the NSW Government and Destination NSW in a continued effort to revive local tourism after the hardships of 2020, the 13-day winter festival kicks off on Tuesday 8 June, wrapping up just before the actual winter solstice on Monday 21 June. 

The new festival will hero a smorgasbord of Sydney’s food, music, art, and nightlife culture. Popping up across the city in four key precincts, including the CBD, Darling Harbour and surrounds, Oxford Street and surrounds, and Newtown and surrounds, it'll be your opp to embrace the winter chill with our very best eateries, bars, pubs, and more. 

The solstice marks the onset of winter with the shortest day on the calendar. Fittingly, the new festival is here to remind us that while our summer months are blessed with gorgeous weather, magnificent beaches, and long days in beer gardens, Sydney is still vibrant and full of excitement in the winter months.

With Vivid Sydney returning in 2021 a little later this August, Sydney Solstice is slotting in as motivation to get out and about even when the sun sets earlier. Instead of binging everything Netflix has to offer, you can go out and see some comedy, check out local art, tear up the dancefloor at a gig, learn something at an immersive workshop, and indulge in some incredible culinary experiences—all while supporting the businesses that make this city great.

From discounted national flights to the NSW Government’s Dine & Discover and Sydney hotels voucher programs, more than ever, 2021 is the year we’re being encouraged to visit our own backyard and to put our dollars where they’ll make a real impact.

While we’re still waiting for participating venues and details on line-ups, Destination NSW is currently accepting expressions of interest, and we’ll keep you up to date as more information comes out.

THE DETAILS

What: Sydney Solstice
When: Tuesday 8 June – Sunday 20 June
Where: Various locations throughout Sydney