Treditional Events of Sydney

Chinese New Year Festival - 26th January 2009
The Chinese New Year Festival (The Year of the Ox) will be celebrated on the 26th January 2009. With over 10,000 Chinese residents living in Melbourne it's a huge celebration and continues to grow each year.

If you happen to be in Melbourne why not join in the celebration and experience the Chinese culture, arts, film, festivities and much more. From the colour and electric atmosphere of the parades, to tempting Chinese food, traditional and modern Chinese music, dance, arts, film, martial arts, and more, you name it, the Chinese New Year festival in Melbourne will have it.

Melbourne's Big Day Out - January 16th to February 1st
Every year the people of Melbourne gather in the warm sunshine and enjoy the very best of music. It's Melbourne's music event of the year and the Big Day Out 2009 boasts a line up that's bigger and better than ever. Here's a listing of bands confirmed for the Big Day Out 2009:

First Announcement:
Neil Young, The Arctic Monkeys, The Living End, The Prodigy, Sneaky Sound System, My Morning Jacket, Pendulum Bullet for my Valentine, TV on the Radio, Simian Mobile Disco The Ting Tings, Tiki Taane, Cut Copy, Cog, Youth Group,
The Grates, Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Birds of Tokyo, TZU

Second Announcement:
Serj Tankian, Dropkick Murphys, Black Kids, Hot Chip, Lupe Fiasco, Holy Ghost, Z*Trip, Died Pretty, The Vines, Infusion, Children Collide, Pee Wee Ferris, Sparkadia, The Getaway Plan, Little Red, Mammal Mercy Arms, Ajax, Andee Frost, The Drones

The Australian Open Tennis Championships - 19th January to 1st February
The Australian Open Tennis Championships originally started up in 1905 as the 'Australian Championships'. Today it's known as the 'Australian Open' and it's one of the major sporting events in the Australian Calendar.

The Australian Open Tennis Championship is hosted in six different venues across Australia including: Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne and in New Zealand.

Melbourne Park is the venue for the championships. During the tournament Melbourne Park also showcases an exceptional daily line-up of live entertainment ranging from top music bands, to carnivals, shows, and much more.

Saint Jerome's Laneway Festival - 1st February.
Saint Jerome's Laneway Festival is a rock festival unlike your normal rock festival. It visits the Australian cities of Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne and boasts a massive line up of top rock bands. The festival continues to grow each year and attracts music and cultural lovers from all over, flocking to the many laneway venues...yes laneway venues and alleyways that join Melbourne's great city.

Get up close and experience the talents and sounds of top bands across the city of Melbourne. Saint Jerome's Laneway Festival is a very unique festival that gets raving reviews each year.

Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix - Sunday 29th March.
Experience the thrill and excitement of the Melbourne Grand Prix Formula 1 racing at its best. This is Melbourne's and one of Australia's main sporting events of the year. It takes place at 'The Albert Park' racing circuit. First on the Melbourne Formula 1 schedule is the main race followed by four days of events from kart racing, to all kart-racing categories, and plenty of off-track entertainment too.

From a 2009 Grand Prix Ball, to concerts, carnivals and the adrenaline pumping and heart-stopping racetrack of Albert Park, the 2009 Grand Prix is a sporting event not to miss.

Melbourne International Comedy Festival - 1st to 26th April.
The Melbourne International Comedy Festival brings together the very best comedians and comedy acts from all over the world to Melbourne's stage. This is one of the biggest and funniest comedy festivals in the world. From stand-up shows to theatre, cabaret to street entertainers, film to music and much more, at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival you're assured of sidesplitting comedy and top class entertainment.