MEDIA RELEASE JANUARY, 2012 SYDNEY FESTIVAL 2012 FAST FACTS THIS IS OUR CITY IN SUMMER JANUARY 7-29 www.sydneyfestival.org.au Exuberant, exciting and forever effervescent – the best time to experience Sydney is in January, when the city is in full celebratory mode. Sydney Festival is Australia’s most attended annual cultural event, presenting the biggest and best of the world’s performing and visual arts, all coming together in an avalanche of artistic activity. • Sydney Festival is Our City In Summer. • The Festival is a celebration on a massive scale and is a natural promotion of the city of Sydney – both are synonymous with energy, style, spectacle and sophistication . • For three weeks every January, the Festival presents a broad array of theatre, music, dance, film and talks, attracting up to 1 million enthusiastic locals and visitors . • Sydney Festival has an impressive free program of small and large scale events including Festival First Night , a free outdoor event in the city centre attracting around 200,000 people. • The Festival is well-loved for its free outdoor events including The Domain Concerts (on the 2 nd and 3rd Saturdays) with up to 60,000 people each week; and the Ferrython, where four Sydney ferries race past Sydney Opera House and back to the finish line under the Harbour Bridge. • The Festival uses more than 30 venues across the city including Sydney Opera House, Seymour Centre and Sydney Theatre as well as parks, laneways and even street corners. • In any given year the Festival presents more than 1500 artists from Australia and around the globe. • There’s no rest for Festival devotees! Although many Festival shows have relatively short seasons – ranging from one night to three weeks – it’s assured that there is something on every night . • The Festival has two annual outdoor late-night venues. Honda Festival Garden in Hyde Park is the perfect place to relax, have a drink and bite to eat, enjoy free live music and soak up the atmosphere of Sydney’s glorious summer evenings. Just a short stroll away is the more upbeat live music and DJs at Keystone Festival Bar in Hyde Park Barracks. Both venues are a great way to experience the festival ‘buzz’ . • In 2012, Sydney Festival is heading west with Sydney Festival Parramatta – a 10 day program of free and ticketed events across multiple venues in the heartland of Greater Sydney • Started in 1977, Sydney Festival is now Australia’s largest summer festival. • Sydney Festival 2011 contributed $50.2 million to the NSW economy . Media releases www.sydneyfestival.org.au/2012/Media/ Key images https://picasaweb.google.com/sydney.festival.publicity/AASydneyFestivalSelection?authuser=0&a uthkey=Gv1sRgCNf8u67dkJbs-AE&feat=directlink MEDIA ENQUIRIES Sarah Wilson, Publicity Manager (02) 8248 6523 / 0405 364 643 [email protected] Charlotte Greig, Publicist (02) 8248 6532 / 0404 111 919 [email protected] Jane Davis, Publicist (02) 8248 6524 / 0411 562 131 [email protected] Page 1 / 1 .