Culture…History…and Fun
CultureSydney hosts many different festivals and some of Australia’s largest social and cultural events. These include the Sydney Festival, Australia’s largest arts festival which is a celebration involving both indoor and free outdoor performances throughout January; the Biennale of Sydney, established in 1973; the Big Day Out, a travelling rock music festival which originated in Sydney; the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras along Oxford Street; the Sydney Film Festival
and many other smaller film festivals such as the short film Tropfest and Flickerfest. Australia’s premier prize for portraiture, the Archibald Prize is organised by the Art Gallery of New South Wales. The Sydney Royal Easter Show is held every year at Sydney Olympic Park, the final of Australian Idol takes place on the steps of the Opera House, and Australian Fashion Week takes place in April/May. Also, Sydney’s New Years Eve and Australia Day celebrations are the largest in Australia.
The History of Sydney stretches back to prehistoric times. The area surrounding Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) was home to many Aboriginal tribes for 40,000 years or more. Although urbanisation has destroyed most evidence of these settlements, there are still hundreds of rock carvings in several locations. Sydney is thought to have the finest collection of rock carvings in the world because it is made up predominantly of sandstone, which is a suitable surface for rock carvings.
In the late 1800s, excavations for a canal in Alexandria (south-east of the city) uncovered evidence of Aboriginal settlement in that area estimated to date back at least 7000 years; more recent evidence discovered in caves near Glenbrook in the lower Blue Mountains, west of the city, indicates Aboriginal occupation of that region dating back at least 20,000 years.
