When Sydney Festival patrons spilled out of evening performances and converged on the event’s Walsh Bay pop-up bar for a post-show drink last year, they were vexed to be forced inside at 10pm.
The NSW government has this year moved to ease restrictions and extend trading hours for the festival’s harbourfront Moonshine Bar as it attempts to revive Sydney’s 24-hour economy and cement the Walsh Bay precinct as an arts and cultural destination to echo London’s West End.
The state government believes Walsh Bay has been held back by excessive regulations, but could become the most exciting performance hub in the southern hemisphere. Credit: Janie Barrett
The bar will be allowed to operate outside and indoors until 2am during the three-week festival under changes to planning conditions – although there were protests from a single noise-averse resident.
Arts, Music and Night-time Economy Minister John Graham said extending the bar’s opening hours would make the area more vibrant. He said Walsh Bay had been constrained by excessive regulations but had the potential to be a performance hub “like the West End in London, but with harbour views”.
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“Walsh Bay is home to Australia’s best theatre, music and dance companies, and now has a metro station around the corner. For one month of the year, during Sydney Festival, our city will now start to see the full potential of Walsh Bay,” Graham said.
The government is forging ahead with plans to reboot Sydney’s nightlife through its “vibrancy” reforms. They include stopping single-neighbour noise complaints from shutting pubs and other licensed venues, and scrapping the rule that prevented people living within five kilometres of a registered club from signing in without first becoming a member.
For the second year, Walsh Bay’s wharves will come alive as the Sydney Festival hub under the temporary moniker The Thirsty Mile, offering free and ticketed music gigs, art installations and theatre shows from this Saturday.
The City of Sydney council in November approved Create NSW’s application to use Pier 2/3, Wharf 4/5, and the harbour in between for performance, dance and music activities, outdoor dining, food trucks and temporary structures, including art displays and signage, for the festival for three years.
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