21 brilliant things to do in Sydney this June

Hotel Indigo Sydney Potts Point is offering a Vivid Sydney stay package from $390 per room, per night for the festival running 22 May to 13 June 2026. The package includes an overnight stay, two CINCiN cocktails, a complimentary mini Kodak digital camera, free parking and late check-out.

Set just behind the Coca-Cola sign in Potts Point, the hotel is a handy base for exploring Vivid Sydney, with the city lights and projections only a short walk or one train stop away. Guests in a Harbour View Room can also upgrade for terrace views across to the city and Harbour Bridge.

Celebrate 10 years of La La Land with a live-to-film concert experience featuring a full orchestra and jazz ensemble, bringing Damien Chazelle’s Oscar-winning musical to life in spectacular style.

The show follows the film’s beloved story of a pianist and aspiring actress chasing their dreams in the city of stars, with every soaring theme, intimate piano moment and vibrant jazz number performed alongside the screening. Sydney audiences can catch it at Darling Harbour Theatre on May 30th, 31st and June 1.

Harry Potter: The Exhibition is now open in Sydney, inviting fans to relive iconic moments from the films and the wider wizarding universe through immersive galleries, original props and costumes. Visitors can brew potions, test their Quidditch skills, pot a Mandrake, conjure a Patronus and come face to face with magical beasts, while exploring detailed spaces inspired by Hagrid’s Hut and the Great Hall.

With photo opportunities throughout, exclusive merchandise and an audio guide packed with behind-the-scenes stories, it’s a richly layered experience for lifelong fans and first- time witches and wizards alike. The exhibition has already thrilled millions worldwide, and now Sydney gets a turn to step inside the magic.

Getting to the snow from Sydney is about to become much easier, with the Snowy Mountains Bus Service adding more than 800 extra services this winter. Running daily from June 6 to October 4, the service connects key alpine hubs including Cooma, Berridale and Jindabyne with Perisher, Thredbo and the Skitube at Bullocks Flat.

The boost comes after passenger journeys surged to 145,000 last year, up from 93,000 the year before, showing that more travellers are choosing public transport over driving in alpine conditions. It’s a timely upgrade for skiers and snowboarders looking for a safer, simpler way to reach the slopes.

La Ronde turns The Grand Electric into a lavish, boundary-blurring world of circus, cabaret and comedy from the creators of Blanc de Blanc and LIMBO. This 15+ spectacle blends live music, twisted humour and world-class circus acts into a 90-minute night of theatrical excess, with early bird tickets offering 10% off a limited allocation.

Guests can choose from general admission or VIP experiences, including Moët Champagne Tables and Ringside seating, for a more immersive view of the action. With strobe lighting, theatrical haze and mild nudity in the mix, it’s pitched as a bold, provocative experience for anyone chasing something a little more daring than a standard night out.

A long-awaited sports complex has opened in West Ryde, bringing 33 new courts to the growing Ryde community. The Bennelong Sports Centre, built on the former Marsden High School site, transforms a vacant campus into a major sporting hub designed to serve one of Sydney’s fastest-growing areas.

Delivered in just over a year, the project includes a 5,000-square-metre indoor stadium with four multipurpose courts, plus 29 outdoor netball courts that make it one of the largest court clusters in metropolitan Sydney. It’s a major boost for local sport, giving players, clubs and families a purpose-built space to train, compete and connect.

Sydney road-trippers now have another reason to head south, with the Grand Pacific Drive ranked Australia’s second most pet-friendly road trip. Stretching 140km from the Royal National Park through Wollongong and Kiama to Nowra, the scenic NSW route scored 78.8 out of 100 in a new analysis that weighed everything from vet access and safety to pet-friendly cafes, beaches and overall travel experience.

Landing just behind Western Australia’s Cape to Cape route, the result puts one of the state’s most iconic coastal drives firmly on the map for travellers who want to bring their furry companions along for the journey.

Electronic pop pioneers Purity Ring are heading back to Australia this June for their first local tour in a decade, bringing their ethereal live show to Sydney on 13 June alongside dates in Brisbane, Melbourne and Dark Mofo. The tour arrives with new single “lemonlime”, a shimmering, glitch-haze track lifted from their self- titled album sessions and the final release from this era. Written as the first song for the record, it carries the album’s themes of survival, care and searching for goodness through hardship, wrapping dappled percussion and twinkling synths into a sad but dreamy reflection on rest, illness and resilience.

Paddington institution Saint Peter has landed at number 10 in Food & Wine’s 2026 Tastemaker Awards, giving Sydney a place in the world’s top 10 restaurants. The recognition is a major nod to Josh Niland’s boundary-pushing seafood cooking, which has helped turn Saint Peter into one of Australia’s most talked-about dining rooms. For a city better known internationally for its harbour views, it’s another reminder that Sydney’s food scene can compete on the global stage.

The Wilton at Bingara Gorge has officially opened in Sydney’s south-west, welcoming its first guests on Friday, May 15. Set beside the rolling greens of Bingara Gorge Golf Course, the Feros Group-led venue is positioned as both a local hangout and a destination worth the trip, adding a major new dining and entertainment option to Wollondilly Shire. Backed by Metro Property Development as part of the wider $50 million Bingara Gorge Country Club precinct, the pavilion-style space brings together casual dining, live entertainment and family-friendly appeal in a setting designed to make the most of its natural surrounds.

Mind Games – Art Alive! brings a vivid, multi-sensory playground to Sydney with more than 11 immersive rooms and 75 interactive exhibits created by 17 visionary artists. Light, sound and motion twist perception at every turn, from illusion-filled spaces and a mesmerizing Moon Room to a pink train that flips expectations on their head.

The experience blends science, creativity and film-style magic, while a First Nations installation adds a living, ever- changing burst of colour and rhythm. With VIVID specials running from 22 May to 13 June, including weekday family bundle discounts and Thursday night ticket offers with a complimentary drink, it’s a playful, photo-friendly outing for curious minds and culture lovers alike.

Australia’s largest mental health and fitness event, The Push-Up Challenge, is back for 2026, with registrations now open for the June event. Celebrating its 10th year, the challenge will see more than 200,000 Australians complete 3,307 push-ups across 24 days, with each rep honouring a life lost to suicide in 2024.

It’s a free event, with optional fundraising supporting Lifeline, headspace or The Push For Better Foundation. The challenge is designed to spark conversation around mental health while giving participants a fun, shared goal to tackle with friends, schools, sports clubs and community groups.

Marie Kondo is returning to Australia and New Zealand in June 2026 with a new live on-stage conversation inspired by her personal book Letter from Japan. Moving beyond the tidying methods that made her famous, Kondo will share a more personal perspective shaped by motherhood, culture and a renewed understanding of what truly sparks joy.

The event promises an intimate look at home, identity and intentional living, giving fans a chance to hear directly from one of the world’s most recognisable lifestyle voices.

Australian Rock Collective are hitting the road this June with a full performance of Eagles’ Hotel California, plus a set of the band’s greatest hits, and they’re bringing that all-star energy to Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House on Thursday, 18 June.

Featuring Kram, Darren Middleton, Mark Wilson and Davey Lane, ARC blend the enthusiasm of lifelong fans with the chops of some of Australia’s most celebrated rock musicians. With 33 ARIA Awards between them, this promises to be a big, precise and loose-sounding celebration of one of the great albums of the 1970s.

Berry’s live music scene is set to come alive across multiple venues on Thursday, May 21 and Sunday, May 24, as the next edition of A Day Well Spent brings a fresh mix of touring acts and local talent to the village. Part of the Extend the Weekend campaign, the program is designed to keep visitors in town longer while supporting local businesses beyond the usual peak periods.

Curated by South Coast collective Holy Pavlova, the lineup spans guitar-driven indie rock, alt-pop and electronic-leaning sounds, with artists including Cheeky Leash, Joe Mungovan, GRXCE, Club Camèl, Electric Ginger, Jimmy Vann, Freya Staer, Sam Allen, Ziggy McNeill and Jack Willis.

The Good Food & Wine Show returns to ICC Sydney from June 19 to 21 with two new additions to its 2026 program: Baker’s Alley, a dedicated bakery precinct, and a hands-on Cooking School. Now in its more than two-decade run, the show remains Australia’s longest-running and most awarded consumer food event, drawing more than 90,000 visitors across its national calendar each year.

This year’s confirmed talent includes Miguel Maestre, Kirsten Tibballs, Brendan Pang, Nat Thaipun, Vincent Yeow Lim, Jane de Graaff and George Georgievski, giving food lovers plenty to taste, learn and watch across the three-day event.

Qtopia Sydney is set to paint Oxford Street purple for Pride Fest 2026, the city’s Queer Arts and Culture Festival, with more than 300 events across 1–30 June 2026. For the first time, the festival will stretch well beyond Qtopia itself to take over the wider Oxford Street precinct, with events spread across venues including The Loading Dock Theatre, The BWYASSS Substation, The Eternity Playhouse and Ginger’s at the Oxford.

The program spans queer theatre, drag, comedy, cabaret, book launches, panels, workshops, dance, film, parties and more, making it the biggest edition yet. Opening night gets a lift with the inaugural Pride Fest Gala on 2 June, while headline acts include Skank Sinatra and Juicy Riot.

Avatar: Forms of Vishnu will open at the Art Gallery of New South Wales on 20 June 2026, presenting the gallery’s largest South and Southeast Asian art exhibition in more than 20 years and the first in Australia devoted to Vishnu.

Spanning more than 200 works across sculpture, textiles, painting, photography and installation, the show traces how artists have reimagined Vishnu and his avatars over 15 centuries. Contemporary Australian and Indian artists including Gitanjali Das, Jumaadi, Desmond Lazaro, Nalini Malani, Pushpamala N, Kalam Patua, Sumakshi Singh and Gulammohammed Sheikh sit alongside historical masterpieces, creating a rich mix of past and present. It’s a major, visually striking exhibition built around storytelling, devotion and transformation.

Sydney Theatre Company’s An Iliad turns Homer’s ancient war story into a stark, human solo performance, with award-winning star David Wenham returning as the Poet at Wharf 1 Theatre. Running until 21 June 2026, the production reframes the Trojan War as an urgent reflection on violence, conflict and the stories humanity keeps repeating.

With an approximate 100-minute run time, it offers an intimate, stripped-back theatrical experience that puts the focus on storytelling and performance. This is a powerful night out for audiences who want something intellectually charged, emotionally immediate and unmistakably Sydney Theatre Company.

The 2026 HSBC Spanish & Latin American Film Festival returns to Sydney from 18 June to 12 July, bringing a vibrant mix of contemporary cinema from Spain and Latin America to Palace screens across the city.

This year’s first reveal includes everything from award-winning drama and a rom-com to a historical epic and salsa documentary, with standout title Nothing Between Us pairing Gael García Bernal and Natalia Oreiro in an intimate love story set against a corporate conference in Mexico. The festival centrepiece is Sundays, Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s acclaimed family drama about a teenager choosing a cloistered religious life, fresh from major wins at San Sebastián, the Goya Awards and the Feroz Awards.

South Eveleigh is giving Sydney book lovers a new reason to gather, with the third instalment of its monthly Book Club at BrewDog South Eveleigh. Created in collaboration with Pia and Evafrom To Be Read Book Club, the event brings readers together over drinks, curated nibbles and guided conversation in a relaxed, social setting.

It’s designed to be welcoming for solo attendees too, with easy conversation starters and a low-pressure format that suits any reading pace. The 2026 series has already featured The Mushroom Tapes by Helen Garner and The Names by Florence Knapp, with the next monthly pick revealed at the end of each session. Limited spots are available, making early bookings a smart move for anyone keen to join Sydney’s most sociable book club.