Sydney Festival Celebrates Australia's First Day Of Same-Sex Weddings

On 9 January, the first day that same-sex couples can formally marry in Australia, Sydney Festival will host a giant wedding reception for Sydney to celebrate all the couples officiating their love and commitment through marriage. The reception offers the opportunity to bathe in a bright pink swimming pool, entry to dance up a storm in JOF's 10 Minute Dance Parties and the opportunity to play 'wedding singer', or belt out love songs, on the world's first Karaoke Carousel, all free of charge. The 'good time merchant', DJ Charlie Villas, will also play wedding classics all night long.

Black Star Pastry and M. Little Panda Kitchen have responded to the call-out for bakers, creating bespoke wedding cakes for the reception. Black Star will create a five-tier pavlova cake, each tier a different rainbow colour and Annabelle McMillan from M. Little Panda Kitchen has a stunning vegan cake in store. Piper-Heidsieck Champagne will be provided for those in fabulous wedding reception attire. Gelato pioneers Messina have also created the bespoke 'Equality Time' - salted caramel & fior di latte gelato coated in biscuit crumb - for the event, available for a limited run on the night.

After a long and at times divisive debate, Sydney Festival invites all to come and celebrate this moment in Australian history.

The reception takes place from 6-8pm in the Meriton Festival Village in Hyde Park, Sydney Festival's central hub in the city. The Meriton Festival Village comprises the Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent, food and drink from the best in Sydney and the all new Village Sideshow, a fun park of bizarre experiences presented by China Southern Airlines.

Sydney Festival kicks off this Saturday 6th January and continues through to 28th January, spanning central Sydney, Parramatta and Western Sydney.

About Sydney Festival
Every January, Sydney Festival enlivens and transforms Sydney with a city-wide multi-art form cultural celebration. Sydney Festival 2018 takes place 6-28 January and sees Festival Director, Wesley Enoch in his second year with program of over 130 events and performances across theatre, dance, music, circus and art. Inclusive programming, a broad range of free events and accessible pricing policies for the ticketed shows means that Sydney Festival is open to all, welcoming both Sydneysiders and visitors from wherever they live.

Since its launch in 1977, Sydney Festival has presented International Artists such as Björk, Brian Wilson, Grace Jones, Manu Chao, Elvis Costello, AR Rahman, Cate Blanchett, Ralph Fiennes, Robert Lepage, The Flaming Lips, Peter Sellars, Sir Ian McKellen and David Byrne & St. Vincent alongside some of the world's great companies - Wayne McGregor's Random Dance, Cheek by Jowl, Gate Theatre and the Schaubühne Berlin to name only a few. Sydney Festival creates a meeting point for the best in national and international art, building a world class Festival in one of the world's greatest cities.

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