Sydney Koreatown Festival 2014

The festival has been established to celebrate ‘Lunar New Year’ in the heart of Sydney to share Korean culture and value with anyone who visits the festival. Come and see the variety of Korean Culture! 

Click to Enlarge Events Program:

This is a unique Sydney street festival to celebrate Lunar New Year in the heart of Pitt ST which is located in the CBD. 

The “LUNAR NEW YEAR FESTIVAL,” organised by Sydney Town Hall every year, is an Australian representative festival which attracts over 100,000 participants during the festival period alone. 

You can find additional information at the official Facebook page: www.facebook.com/sydneykoreatownfestival/info

Australia Day in Sutherland Shire: Triple the Fun for Everyone

AUSTRALIA Day in the shire just keeps getting bigger and this year residents have a choice of three locations to gather and celebrate the national day on Sunday, January 26.

Sutherland Shire Council's popular program of free entertainment at Cronulla Park and Parc Menai has been expanded to include a new satellite site in Cooper Street Reserve, Engadine.

"It gives everyone plenty of choice to celebrate our national day with family and friends," Sutherland Shire mayor Steve Simpson said.

The council is distributing the full Australia Day program in the Our Shire newsletter, delivered to homes throughout January, but here are the highlights of the entertainment on offer on the day:

Cronulla Park, 1pm to 9pm.

Kate Ceberano, Mark Vincent and Mental as Anything will perform on the big stage in Cronulla Park.

Brendan Jones — "Jonesy" from 101.7 WSFM — is MC for Cronulla's event with the entertainment kicking off at 1pm including The Voice contest Alex Gibson, Robbie Miller, The Villains, shire favourite Mark Vincent and Greedy Smith, with it all culminating in a performance by Kate Ceberano before the fireworks finale at 9pm.

There will also be a barbecue from Cronulla Rotary and Aussie-themed merchandise will be on sale to support the event charity, Dandelion Support Network.

Parc Menai, 4pm to 9pm.

The live entertainment will start in the park at 4pm with the program including the Smurfs stage show, Australiana Bill and the Bronzed Aussies, Robbie Miller, The Villains and finishing with The Voice contestant and shire local, Tim Moxley, before the fireworks spectacular at 9pm.

To sustain the crowds there will be food stalls and a traditional Aussie barbecue by Sutherland Rotary. There will also be amusement rides.

Cooper Street Reserve, Engadine, 1pm to 9pm.

For the first time, Engadine gets its own Australia Day gathering in the family-friendly location of Cooper Street Reserve. There will be amusement rides, a barbecue by Engadine Rotary and a big screen streaming all the live stage entertainment from Cronulla.

Celebrate Australia Day: The True Meaning of Australia Day

Yet, from the desert the prophets come. Not the desert run by BHP/Billington and Essington ''I am work'' Lewis. Not the desert run by The Big Three financed by The Big Four. It's the desert that is suburbia. We are all, almost without exception, from THAT desert. And our prophets are born underneath the dull steel of a Hills Hoist. We are not just a mining pit with a pretty coastline. There's a bit more to us than that.

Our nation barely knows the words to its own national anthem. That fact makes my heart swell with pride. I love to see the horrified, furtive glances and inept, bad mime and mumbling that occurs if we ever get to that dreaded second verse. My magnificent and future Nobel Prize winning prime ministerial five-year-old daughter, Lotte May Muldoon, knows Advance Australia Fair better than 90 something per cent of the Australian population. I love that and her.

I love that if the weather is fine, our beaches will be filled. I love that a cricket ground will be packed. ON A WORK DAY.

I like that we happily shoot and eat our national symbol, the kangaroo (Sorry vegans, but I do). It speaks to our rural and indigenous past. I like that huge swathes of the city hate that.

I like that the tension between the city and the country is not that tense.

We're still finding out who the hell we are. We are a teenage nation. Which, of course brings me to the JJJ Hottest 100. Somehow, that strange and often wonderful station, has become part of our ''national identity''. No-one knows how or why. Anyone over the age of 12 gripes about JJJ, and will happily tell you when ''the glory days of JJJ'' were (I'm one of them. For mine it was when they went from JJ to JJJ. That first bit. THAT was good, weird times. But hey, you've got yours too) and you will hear JJJ across this nation on that day. It will be ubiquitous. And yes I think BBQ too. I think cricket with arguments about LBW and classic catches. It's hard not to. It'll be happening (almost) everywhere.

Do we CARE about Australia Day? Of course not. It's a bit of artificial holiday to make us think we're a nation. We have fun, we're good at that. But do we reflect on our strengths and weaknesses? About where we're headed and where we'd like to go? Do we ponder? Do we furrow our brows? Do our poets battle with the tyranny of the blank page? Do our souls expand towards a new unseen horizon sparkling with the tincture of hope?

Nup. We get on the piss. And sometimes kiss. And sometimes biff. We can, quite effortlessly become the Disney version of Australia. The worst part of us is a drunken nationalism that is like a pack of wolves seeking prey. The best part is planting trees and welcoming newcomers to this miracle of a nation that we are almost embarrassed to share, because it's THAT good. In this nation, we tend to be allowed to ''go about our business'', whatever that may be.

I've lived in this nation my entire life and I still have no idea what it is. I also hugely struggle with even typing the word ''we''. Do I love it? This place that I plant my feet? This place I potter around and bump into other lost souls seeking comfort and joy, unfussed about the concepts of ''identity'' and ''belonging'' ? This place of incomparable beauty hidden from the world, yet profoundly connected? This land of the brutal, weary, yet strangely innocent smile?

Why yes I do. Thanks for asking.

Happy Australia Day.

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Win Tickets To Bruce Springsteen Sydney Concert 2014

The legendary Bruce Springsteen – rock and folk music legend, singer/songwriter, multi-award winning artist, best known for his heartland rock and soulful lyrics, and the E Street band will be making their upcoming 2014 tour in Australia.

Bruce will be debuting in Sydney at the Allphones Arena on the 19th of February.

To celebrate, between December 2013 and January 2014, when you make a booking at Metro Hotel on Pitt using the promo code BRUCE, you will go into the draw to win either 2 tickets to the Bruce Springsteen concert at the Allphones Arena, or one of 5 Bruce Springsteen Greatest Hits CDs.

The lucky winners will be drawn on the 3rd of February.

Don't wait! Make your bookings now for the chance to win: http://www.metrohotels.com.au/special/339

Metro Hotel on Pitt details: http://www.metrohotels.com.au/sydney-hotels/metro-hotel-on-pitt-3

WANTED: Nanny for Prince George for Tour Down Under

THE Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are on the lookout for a nanny to look after baby George on their trip to New Zealand and Australia in April, Britain's Daily Mail newspaper has reported. 

Proud mum and dad William and Kate, with their baby Prince George

The royal couple's current nanny, Jessie Webb - who looked after Prince William when he was a child and came out of retirement to tend George - has reached the end of her contract. 

Mrs Webb, 71, took the job on the condition that she would work only for three months, the newspaper reported. "Mrs Webb is still at Kensington Palace and William and Kate are keen to retain her services, but they are discreetly looking for extra help for the month-long trip this spring," the paper said. 


The Duke and Duchess did not hire a maternity nurse after George's birth last July. Instead the couple moved into the Middleton family home in Berkshire so that Kate's mother, Carole, could help out.

When they moved to Kensington Palace last September, they persuaded Mrs Webb to join their household.

It had been rumoured that Carole Middleton could join the tour Downunder to help look after George. However, aides insist that will not be the case and the couple will instead hire a new nanny. 

Prospective candidates would need to be experienced, discreet, trained in paediatric first aid and demonstrate an ability to cope in stressful situations, Janine Bayley of nanny recruitment agency Rock mybaby.co.nz said. 

"We have placed nannies and babysitters for some high profile families including Hollywood actors while visiting in New Zealand," Mrs Bayley said. "We find their expectations just the same as other families, although we do encourage the nannies not to become star struck. 

"At the end of the day, parents want someone who is responsive to their child's needs, able to provide a quality, educational environment and someone who knows how to have fun. Regardless of where we are in society, we just want the very best for our children." 

The royal entourage may include a housekeeper and Kate's personal hairdresser, Amanda Cook Tucker. 

Royal Nannying: Five keys to success 

• Mum is the word. Discretion will be vital as the ravenous media look to exploit any means to find fresh angles on the visit. The nanny should be occasionally seen, but certainly never heard.
• Sleep is over-rated. With near constant travel and a packed diary of obligations to fulfil, the royal couple will be constantly on the move. The nanny can expect to be on call 24/7.
• Say cheese. Photo ops for baby George will be par for the course and there's every chance the nanny will get caught in the lens at some point. A constant smile would be a good idea.
• Keep calm and carry on. George soils his nappy while meeting John Key? No drama. It's just another day at the office. Hand me the wipes.
• A way with children. It may seem obvious, but if wee George isn't taken with his nanny that is going to be one long trip from Kensington Palace and back.

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Sydney Festival Off to a Flying Start

SYDNEY'S FESTIVAL VILLAGE BIGGER THAN EVER

Sydney Festival Village turns Hyde Park into a stage, with live acts into the night and a Stonehenge bouncy castle for kids.

It takes a village to raise a child, and at the Sydney Festival's village in Hyde Park that proverb has been taken quite literally.

Hundreds of children and quite a few adults wasted no time leaping on Sacrilege, the life-size bouncy castle replica of Stonehenge.

Festival director Lieven Bertels said artists Jeff Koons and Carsten Holler explored playfulness in their art but ''nobody took it to heart as much as Jeremy Deller with this one''.

A Turner Prize-winning artist, Deller invites people to jump, run and cartwheel on his artwork, and his depiction of one of Britain's ancient monuments is far from the reverential treatment it usually suffers.

''We still don't know what it was,'' Bertels said. ''It's a place of worship most likely but he does this and gives it the title of Sacrilege.''

Bertels said the squishy Stonehenge was an ideal symbol of the festival: ''We do very serious stuff and we are also perhaps the most playful of the Australian festivals.''

Sacrilege is part of the greatly expanded Festival Village, which has tripled in size with two circus tents - the Spiegeltent and Circus Ronaldo tent - providing the stage for contemporary music acts such as Amanda Palmer and the circus and cabaret shows Limbo and Scotch & Soda.

The latter are strictly adults only, especially if contortionist Philipp Tigris's jaw-dropping feats of flexibility are any guide as demonstrated to passers-by in Hyde Park on Wednesday.

''That's what I can do with an easy warm-up,'' said Tigris, who performs in Limbo. ''I only had a couple of minutes to warm up so this is the basic stuff.''

Tigris said he took up contortionism aged seven, much to his parent's displeasure. ''My family are doctors. My mum is a physiotherapist but maybe that's why I did it,'' he said.

''When mum and dad say don't do that, of course you do it.''

Arctic Monkeys - Touring Australia May 2014

Frontier Touring is thrilled to confirm that Sheffield Arctic Monkeys will be landing in Australia next May to embark on their biggest tour of our shores to date!

Arctic Monkeys first burst onto the music scene in 2006 with their Award-winning debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not.  The album became the fastest-selling debut album in British music history. 

In the years since their debut, the band have received two Grammy Award nominations, five Brit Awards, headlined the iconic Glastonbury Festival twice and taken to the world stage in front of billions as part of the London Olympic Games opening ceremony. Originally one of the ‘best new bands to watch’, Arctic Monkeys have well and truly cemented themselves now as one of the most important British bands of their time.

The band were last Down Under in 2011 for Falls and Southbound Festivals as well as a handful of Australian headline shows; in 2014 they will return for their most extensive run of tour dates including two New Zealand shows and five Australian shows in celebration of their fifth studio album AM (out now through Domino Records/EMI).

On the charts, AM was the band’s fifth consecutive UK #1 debut, making them the first artist signed to an independent label to achieve this. Closer to home, the album shot straight to the #1 spot on both the ARIA Album Chart and New Zealand’s Official Album Chart.

As well as success on the charts, AM was also heralded by critics  across the globe as Arctic Monkeys’ best album to date and was nominated for the 2013 Mercury Music Prize just two days after its release.

If the demand for their latest album is anything to go by, these tickets won’t last long. Be quick to see Arctic Monkeys; one of the greatest live bands to emerge in recent years.

TOUR DATES*:
Tue 6 May - Sydney Entertainment Centre
Wed 7 May - Brisbane Entertainment Centre
Fri 9 May - Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne
Sat 10 May - Adelaide Entertainment Theatre, SA
Tue 13 May - Perth Arena , WA
*Ticketek is selling for the above venues only.

The The Syd Ent Centre Site for More Info

Indian Tourists Flocking to Australia, Says Report

Melbourne: Indian tourists are flocking to see beauty of Australia taking the total number of overseas travellers from the region to over 134,000 from January to October this year, a report said.

According to latest data of Tourism Australia, a total of 134,000 visitors from India visited Australia during October this year, an increase of 9.5 per cent as compared to the same period previous year.

According to its Tourism Forecast Committee report released earlier this year, visitor arrivals from India were predicted to rise by 7.5 per cent and 7.6 per cent to 1,63,800 in 2012-13 and 176,300 in 2013-14 respectively.

"Markets expected to experience strongest gains in visitor volumes in 2012?13 are China (15.9 per cent), Malaysia (13.9 per cent), Singapore (12.5 per cent) and India (7.5 per cent)," it said.

"This revision represents a difference of 6500 more visitors in aggregate. In the longer term to 2021-22, average annual growth of 7.2 per cent to 306,100 visitors is expected," the report cited while note trends from Indian tourists.

It said that average length of stay rose 20 per cent to 66 nights per trip while total nights in hotels, motels and guest houses and serviced apartments rose 17.2 per cent to 0.5 million compared with same period in 2011-12.

"Visitor expenditure is fore casted to rise 19.8 per cent in 2012-13 to USD 867 million.

In the longer term to 2021-22, average annual growth of 10.9 per cent is forecast to USD 2 billion, representing an upward revision of USD 354 million,"?the?report predicted.

Last year, Tourism Australia had launched India 2020 Strategic Plan which was developed to maximise India`s tourism potential and set a foundation for the future, when long haul leisure travel by Indians becomes more common.

Ten FREE Events at Sydney Festival

You don’t need to miss out on Sydney Festival if the pennies are short after Christmas. Here are ten free events that measure up!

Sydney Festival looks great this year! But what excites us most at artsHub are the number of free events spread across the city and extending to the Festival's new hub at Parramatta. There is something for everyone - as the saying goes - from jumping castles to kookie interactive film noir and roof top jamming sessions. 

Here is our list of top ten FREE events to put in your diary this January. 

1. Christian Boltanski @ Carriageworks

16 tonnes of scaffolding with a random  filmscript moving through it, this interactive installation will captive the imagination of all ages. Chance is his first major installation to be presented in Australla, a work that was originally created for the French Pavilion at the 2011 Venice Biennale. At Carriageworks from 10 January through 23 March.

2. Climbing the walls with Leandro Erlich @ Darling Harbour

Argentinian artist Leandro Erlich is known for his ability to skew architectural perspective in his interactive installations. Known internationally, he comes to Darling Harbour during the festival turning what appears to be a standard 19thc dock-side building on its end, giant mirrors allowing anyone to have the ability to defy gravity. It is the ultimate selfie opp! Merchants Store will be at Darling Harbour 9-23 January.

3. Stonehenge in Hyde Park

Always wanted to visit Stonehenge? Well Sydney Festival brings you the next best thing, Sacrilege (pictured top). As the spiel goes this timeless monument has had ‘an irreverent makeover’. The work of Turner Prize winning artist Jeremy Deller, this giant jumping castle allows you to physically collide with history. Open 9 – 26 January.

4. Roman Ondak in Parramatta

Presented by Kaldor Public Art Projects at Parramatta Town Hall, this trio of performative art works by Slovakian artist Roman Ondak will include Measuring the Universe, previously presented in New York and London, Terrace a new work for Parramatta, and Swap, which featured in last year’s popular 13 Rooms at Pier 2/3. Be part of contemporary art from 10 – 24 January.

5. Festival Village in Hyde Park

Running throughout Sydney Festival Hyde Park will be transformed into the Festival Village, a hub for beverages, food and entertainment including the location of the infamous Spiegeltent, with nightly performance. From 8-26 January (closed Mondays), entry near the Archibald Fountain.

6. Concerts under the stars at the Domain

And the cornerstone of each Sydney Festival is the Domain concert series. Mark the dates for your diary now: 11 January is that night of popular smorgasbords both on and off stage as thousands gather with their picnic hampers under the stars; And on 26 January be prepared to enter an interstellar zone with Symphony in The Domain, with Gustav Holst’s The Planets and readings by the Bell Shakespeare company.

7. Interactive cinema at Artspace

Sydney artist Alex Davies loves to mess with your mind. ‘Step into The  Very Near Future and you’ll find yourself in th ebacklot with the cast and crew of a film noir in the making. From 16 January – 16 February (closed Mondays).

8. Pop 2014 – the street party of the year.

Street theatre, music, amazing food – it is a recipe for the coolest street party – including performances by jazz legend Ambrose Akinmusire, the soul sounds of Bella Kalolo, blues-infused funk of Ben Capalan to funk in Prince Alfred Park with Lee Fields & The Expressions. Head to Parramatta on 10 January to be part of it.

9. Donny Benet in the Spielgeltent

Donny Benet is claimed ‘the poster boy of Italo funk disco’. Mixing late nights in The Spielgeltent on 10, 17 and 24 January, it is the perfect place to drop in to keep the mood going after catching a spot of theatre during the Festival.

10. Make those summer lights last at Paradiso Lates

And more for the late night dwellers – check out the Paradiso Terrace Bar at Sydney Town Hall for after-hours entertainment. With a rolling schedule of free bands and DJs you can get down at the top, skyline and projections adding to the party buzz. Check the festival night for specific performances.

And remember to visit the Festival site to stay in touch with the latest new.

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