After my first three weeks in Sydney, it is time to celebrate Lunar New Year and Australia Day!

Every year on 26 January, Australians around the country celebrate Australia Day. This date officially marks the date in 1788 that the First Fleet, lead by Captain Arthur Phillip, landed in Sydney Cove and raised the British Union Jack formally starting the colony. Australia Day has developed into a day to celebrate everything about Australia and its history and culture. This year I got to spend Australia Day in Sydney.

The Year of The Rat

Before we get to Australia Day we need to discuss Lunar New Year which happened to be the day before Australia Day this year. In the Lunar Calendar, 2020 is the Year of the Rat which means there were a lot of rat statues around Sydney for the weeks leading up to, and including, Lunar New Year.

Sydney has a large Asian community due to its close proximity to Asia. This means that they have really good Asian food and large celebrations for Asian holidays, particularly Lunar New Year. The celebrations included decorative lanterns, lion dancing, and street festivals.

Lion Dancing
Lion Dancing at World Square

I personally attended some lion dancing shows which were quite impressive and noisy. The noise comes from the ancient believe that it would scare off evil spirits. There was also a massive street festival with delicious food from all kinds of vendors, people selling crafts and other gifts, and stages with performances of all kinds including singing, dancing, and plays by school kids.

Australia Day in Sydney

Naturally Australia Day celebrations in Sydney center around the world famous harbour. There is an annual ferry race that ends under the iconic Harbour Bridge. The HMAS Canberra, one of the largest ships in the Royal Australian Navy, is parked in the Sydney Harbour and is the centerpiece of the Salute to Australia. This also includes a 21 gun salute from land, and a fly over by the RAAF jets. From the deck of the HMAS Canberra, a school choir sings the national anthem and the Governor gives a speech.

Once the Salute to Australia has concluded, the smaller boats in the harbour take center stage and put on a show for the crowd. The tug boats put on a choreographed “ballet”, sailboats and yachts have a parade, and there are even jet skis. While all this is going on there are thousands of people lining both sides of the harbour cheering and enjoying the warm, sunny weather.

After the sun has gone down, there is a concert on the steps of the Opera House. The conclusion of the day was a spectacular firework display over the harbour.

  • Australia Day in Sydney
    The HMAS Canberra in the Sydney Harbour for Australia Day 2020
  • Australia Day in Sydney
  • Australia Day in Sydney
    RAAF jets fly over the Sydney Opera House as part of Australia Day 2020 celebrations.
  • Australia Day in Sydney
  • Australia Day in Sydney
    Sydney Opera House on Australia Day 2020
  • Australia Day in Sydney
  • Australia Day in Sydney
  • Australia Day in Sydney
  • Australia Day in Sydney

Celebrating

Cantina OK! hidden down an alley in the Sydney CBD is the smallest bar I’ve ever seen.

An Aussie tradition is to have a barbecue with friends and family on Australia Day. Since my friends and I didn’t have a place to have a barbecue, we decided to organize our own bar crawl instead. We visited eight different bars over the course of about twelve hours including the smallest bar I have ever seen.

All in all it was a wonderful day full of beautiful weather, incredible pageantry & traditions, cold drinks, and wonderful friends. I would highly recommend spending Australia Day in Sydney.