Six Unmissable Late-Night Events at Sydney Solstice

Some of Sydney’s brightest artists, musicians, chefs and venues have teamed up for a collective shaking off of the lockdown shackles, launching a new winter event to reinvigorate after-dark culture. Running June 8 to 20, Sydney Solstice will take over the CBD, Darling Harbour, Oxford Street and Newtown as we count down towards the winter solstice.

From all-night dance parties and the return of live music, to midnight dumplings, we unpack the events to discover in laneways, basements and rooftops across the city.

Midnight Feast at Mr Wong
Hungry night owls will want to flock to Mr Wong for late-night dim sum on what is technically the early morning of June 11. While a room brimming with barbequed ducks has replaced all evidence of the space’s previous life as Tank nightclub, Mr Wong will also pay tribute to its forebear by hosting DJs from midnight to 3am, spinning tunes from the club’s heyday.

Metro Theatre’s 7 Day Weekend
The iconic Metro Theatre will throw open its doors for the first time since April 2020 with a seven-night program of live music that canters from British India to The Getaway Plan to Camp Cope in what promises to be an exuberant display of making up for lost time. LGBTQIA+ party starters Heaps Gay also feature in the mix, warming up the Metro’s dance floor on June 13 ahead of its inaugural Pride Month line-up the following weekend.

Harry’s Altar Danceteria
Over the fortnight of the festival, Surry Hills Harry’s will host ten events to “celebrate the pagan ritual of dance,” under the banner of Altar Danceteria. With an aim to showcase some of the city’s best acts, parties and party-acts in “the spirit of rave with a fresh lemony-zest, plastering the walls with throwbacks to 0055 numbers and fluro posters and handbills,” guests include Phondupe (Live), Stereogamous, Here To Hell Deejays, Finer Things ft. Clutch For Love, Extra Spicy x Champain Lyf ft Niku Day Party and more. There will also be installations from Babekuhl – The Altar and The White Light of Night as well as NFT art from Serwah Attufah.

The Ivy
Merivale is hosting a number of events at its refreshed and supercharged Ivy, including Boogie, a new dance party for the Pool Club rooftop. Here, Alex Preston will take to the decks on June 12, delivering an all-night party of uplifting disco. The same night also marks the return of Poof Doof featuring Sneaky Sound System. Dance fiends can kick off the weekend early on June 10 with Stace Cadet at Ivy Thursdays, then return on Monday to close out the long weekend.

Wanna Dance
For a very Covid-safe adaptation of the all-night dance party, head to Wanna Dance – an interactive dance floor and art installation at Haymarket’s Parker Lane created by City People and Studio Chris Fox. From June 8 to 26, three seemingly run-of-the-mill exhaust vents will surprise passers-by with lights and music as they walk beneath them. Gather some mates and unleash your best box step, cabbage patch and body rolls in the laneway each evening until midnight. There’ll be six nights of curated dance demos, too – swaying from contemporary to hip-hop – and DJ-curated a mix of C-pop, K-pop and other globe-travelling tracks.

YCK Laneways: Night Over Light

The three-block circuit of small bars that is York, Clarence and Kent streets has joined forces to form new precinct YCK Laneways. It has curated a mix of free and ticketed events for Sydney Solstice. On June 12 and 19, hop between Papa Gede’s and The Barber Shop, where dance and disco DJ sets will be running into the wee hours. On June 18, croon along to live jazz at cocktail lounge The Swinging Cat until late.

This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with the NSW Government via Destination NSW.