5 Reasons to Travel to Sydney This Fall

Summer travel season has ended, kids are back in school, the heat is winding down, and the changing leaves of fall and doldrums of winter are right around the corner … for the Northern Hemisphere.

If you don’t want to face reality and instead relive your spring and summer days, it’s time to head down under to Sydney, Australia — which is just gearing up for its stunning spring season. There’s never a shortage of things to do in Oz, but the next few months have a lot of new surprises in store for sun-chasing northerners. 

Here are some of the best events that Sydney and the rest of New South Wales have to offer this fall (spring).

50th Birthday of Sydney Opera House

Nothing symbolizes Sydney quite like the Jørn Oberg Utzon-designed Sydney Opera House that lords over the Sydney Harbour with its shining, bright white concrete shells. The UNESCO World Heritage Site was completed in 1973, marking 2023 as its 50th birthday. The festivities run from the beginning of September to the first week of November and feature loads of musical performances, plays, dance recitals, talks, and more. Multiple events are ticketed, but there is plenty of free entertainment as well. Join in on the fun at one of the world’s greatest architectural marvels during this golden jubilee celebration.

Volume – A Festival of Sound and Vision 

From Sept. 22-Oct. 8, the stunning Art Gallery of New South Wales will transform into a live music venue for a first-of-its-kind festival. For 17 days, Volume takes over the museum each night and brings fans of art, music, and film together for a wholly unique experience. Headlined by Grammy Award-winning multidisciplinary artist Solange Knowles, the festival will feature more than 50 performances that are both free and ticketed. The festival will also show off the newly expanded Art Gallery, first opened in December 2022 by Tokyo architects Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa of SANAA architecture firm.

Negroni Month 

While the official Negroni Week was Sept. 18-24, one hotel group in Sydney has decided to expand the festivities for the whole month of September. Ovolo Hotels  partnered with the World’s Best Bars to bring the city a global Negroni extravaganza. Participating bars include famed spots like Locale Firenze, Galaxy Bar in Dubai, Tropic City in Bangkok, 28 Hong Kong Street in Singapore, and many more. Each Negroni will tantalize taste buds with unique spices and very surprising ingredients. For the full lineup, head to Ovolo Woolloomooloo Hotel, housed on the historic Woolloomooloo Wharf in Sydney that’s carved out of an old wool storehouse.

SXSW Sydney 

For the first time, Sydney is hosting their own South by Southwest, an annual festival that combines the worlds of film, music, interactive media, tech innovation, games, and more. The original festival takes place every year in Austin, Texas, but has begun to expand its global reach with Sydney being its latest incarnation. From Oct. 15-22, SXSW Sydney will showcase cutting edge performances and demonstrations that will place Australia and Asia at the center of the tech, media, and entertainment universe. 

Fall Activities

If you want a little more adventure in and around Sydney, there’s no shortage of activities to keep you busy. Bridge climb up and down the Sydney Harbour Bridge, or go quad biking on the untouched Worimi Sand Dunes, considered to be the largest coastal moving sand mass in the Southern Hemisphere. You can even sip Champagne and shuck your own out-of-this-world oysters atop white tablecloths while wearing waders in the middle of the Hawkesbury River.