The best of the Inner West from 30 October to 1 November

Good morning, Inner Westies.

This weekend brings Halloween across the Inner West, with our new Halloween Guide to help you plan your route, plus street parties, family events, and a packed weekend of celebrations. There’s plenty more on too, with the opening of the Southwest Metro, markets, live music, exhibitions, workshops and family activities.

Grab your morning coffee and let’s explore the Inner West together.

Have a great weekend,
Jess

Note: Please check to confirm details are accurate with venues, event providers, restaurants and pubs by clicking through to their site. Events are occasionally cancelled at the last minute.

This cottage is anything but beige. The kitchen pairs green Verde Guatemala marble with blackbutt cabinetry. The bathrooms have Calacatta Viola marble, black-and-white chevron tiles and Art Deco sconces. There are coffered ceilings, preserved fireplaces and city skyline views. The north-facing courtyard has a pizza oven and a two-level studio. Rozelle village is a stroll away.

📍 3 bed / 2 bath / 291sqm approx.
👉 Listed with The Rubinstein Group

After more than two years of replacement buses, trains are back between Sydenham and Bankstown. The old T3 line closed in September 2024 for a conversion that was meant to take 12 months. Marrickville is now 12 minutes from Gadigal (Town Hall), and Bankstown 28 minutes from Central. Trains run every four minutes in weekday peaks and every 10 minutes on weekends. Dulwich Hill and Hurlstone Park stations have lifts for the first time.

It could be a big moment for businesses near Marrickville, Dulwich Hill and Hurlstone Park stations. Inner West expects hundreds of thousands of visitors in the coming months, with a campaign promoting the area’s food, live music and breweries to people along the line. Opening celebrations run at Dulwich Hill Metro Station on Sunday.

📆 Opens Fri 30 Oct, Opening celebration Sun 1 Nov / 10am – 1pm
📍 Dulwich Hill Metro Station
👉 Find out more

This is our third year putting together an Inner West Halloween guide, and this year’s edition has a new Trick or Treat map. It shows participating homes, spooky displays and street closures for Saturday 31 October, including treat times where supplied. You’ll also find trick-or-treat street tips by suburb, and a huge list of Halloween events.

It’s not too late to add your home. Add your home here.

👉 View the Halloween Guide

HALLOWEEN

🎨 Minis Halloween Craft
Paint a Halloween plaster character in a 30-minute kids’ workshop and take it home.
📆 Sat 31 Oct
📍 Broadway Sydney

🎃 Halloween Trick-Or-Treat
Follow a Halloween trail through the centre, collecting stamps and treats at hidden cauldrons.
📆 Sat 31 Oct / 10am – 4pm
📍 Marrickville Metro

👻 Halloween at Darling Square
Follow a Trick or Treat trail, with face painting and Halloween surprises for families.
📆 Sat 31 Oct / 12pm – 3pm
📍 Darling Square, Haymarket

🍬 Minis Trick or Treat
Follow the centre’s Halloween trail, collect treats from participating retailers and find spooky surprises.
📆 Sat 31 Oct / 1pm – 5pm
📍 Broadway Sydney

🎭 Day of the Dead Lucha Libre: Family Show
Masked luchadores, live mariachi, an Aztec shaman welcome and a costume competition, followed by a piñata fiesta for the kids.
📆 Sat 31 Oct / 2pm
📍 Factory Theatre, Marrickville

🔮 Halloween on Majors Bay Road
Majors Bay Road comes alive with free trick-or-treating, music, roving performers, fortune-telling and kids’ activities.
📆 Sat 31 Oct / 2pm – 7pm
📍 Majors Bay Road, Concord

👻 Kids Halloween Disco
Kids’ disco on the top green welcoming everyone from baby ghosts to longtime haunters.
📆 Sat 31 Oct / 3pm – 6pm
📍 Petersham Bowling Club

🎃 A Nightmare on Smith Street: Trick-or-Treat at the Bookshop
Drop by the bookshop for Halloween trick-or-treating.
📆 Sat 31 Oct / 3pm – 7pm
📍 The Rose Read Bookshop, Summer Hill

👻 Inner West Halloween Festival
A family Halloween festival with costumes, games, crafts, treats and a haunted house.
📆 Sat 31 Oct / 3pm – 7pm
📍 Summer Hill Public School

🦇 Spookydale: Annandale Halloween Trail
Trick-or-treat past decorated homes, with two street closures for trick-or-treaters and a flash mob.
📆 Sat 31 Oct / 3pm – 7pm
📍 Annandale

🕸 Halloween at the Flour Mill
A relaxed Halloween afternoon with trick-or-treating, face painting, a craft activity and a best-dressed competition.
📆 Sat 31 Oct / 4pm – 6pm
📍 Flour Mill of Summer Hill

🍭 Halloween on Renwick Street
Neighbourhood trick-or-treating with music, a Rotary barbecue, face painting and family activities.
📆 Sat 31 Oct / 4pm – 8pm
📍 Renwick Street, Drummoyne

🎃 Halloween Street Party
A family celebration with costumes, music, games, a barbecue and more.
📆 Sat 31 Oct / 4:30pm – 7:30pm
📍 Newtown Neighbourhood Centre

NON-HALLOWEEN THINGS TO DO

🚌 Sydney Bus Museum Open Day
See heritage buses at the Leichhardt Tramshed, with rides to and from the city included.
📆 Sun 1 Nov / 10am – 4pm
📍 Sydney Bus Museum, Leichhardt

🧵 Fabric Wallets: Youth Sewing Workshop (ages 14–18)
Make a fabric wallet from scratch using supplied materials in this sewing workshop.
📆 Sun 1 Nov / 11am – 2pm
📍 Marrickville Library and Pavilion

🖨️ Homeschool Makertime: 3D Printing (ages 8–12)
Explore 3D printing, CAD and STEM skills in a two-hour makerspace session for homeschoolers.
📆 Mon 2 Nov / 10:30am – 12:30pm
📍 Darling Square Library, Haymarket

🧪 Kids Fun Lab (ages 2+)
Drop-in craft and play, plus a free coffee for the first 20 grown-ups.
📆 Tue 3 Nov / 10am – 12pm
📍 Ashfield Mall

🏉 Oztag Pop-Up at Wentworth Park (ages 13–18)
Friendly after-school matches with snacks, every Wednesday in November.
📆 Wed 4 Nov / 3pm – 5pm
📍 Wentworth Park, Glebe

📸 After School: Scrapbooking for Kids (ages 5–12)
Bring your own photos and make a scrapbook to take home.
📆 Wed 4 Nov / 3:45pm – 4:45pm
📍 Leichhardt Library

🫧 Sensory Play (ages 2–3)
A free, hands-on sensory play session for two- and three-year-olds.
📆 Thu 5 Nov / 10am – 11am
📍 Marrickville Metro

🍼 Bump, Baby & Beyond: A Motherhood Event
Hear expert-led conversations and browse baby and motherhood brands at this two-day event.
📆 Thu 5 and Fri 6 Nov
📍 iComply Studio, Alexandria

💼 Summer Jobs CV Sessions (ages 16–25)
Learn to create or update a resume for job applications in this three-week workshop.
📆 Thu 5 Nov / 3pm – 5pm
📍 Robyn Kemmis Reserve Community Space, Glebe

👉 View the Kids Eat Free Guide

ALL WEEKEND

🎷 Sydney International Women’s Jazz Festival
Jazz performances take place across Inner West venues during the festival’s final weekend.
📆 Fri 30 – Sat 31 Oct / Various times
📍 Various Inner West venues

🎨 Open Studio Weekend
Forty artists open their studio doors, with hundreds of artworks to view and buy directly from the artist. Free and all ages.
📆 Fri 30 Oct – Sun 1 Nov / Various times
📍 Lennox Street Studios, Newtown

FRIDAY

🎤 Heaps Mad
Locals perform poetry, music, dance and more at a Mental Health Month open mic.
📆 Fri 30 Oct / 12pm – 5pm
📍 Marrickville Pavilion

⚡ Electric Nation: Halloween Edition
An open-air waterfront festival from sunset to 11:30pm, with Topic, Bag Raiders, Yolanda Be Cool, KLP and Tom Budin.
📆 Fri 30 Oct / 5pm – 11:30pm
📍 Tumbalong Park, Darling Harbour

💃 Contact Improvisation Dance Class
Two simultaneous classes cover contact improvisation fundamentals for beginners and open sessions for established dancers.
📆 Fri 30 Oct / 6pm – 8:30pm
📍 Erskineville Anglican Church

🕯️ BestieFest Halloween
A Halloween night for women, femmes and thems with live local music, art stalls and tarot readings. Ticket sales support the charity Relove.
📆 Fri 30 Oct / 6pm
📍 Kiss My Brass, Marrickville

📖 Julie Janson: My Kaathi Sister
Julie Janson discusses her first poetry collection, My Kaathi Sister, with Mark Tredinnick.
📆 Fri 30 Oct / 6:30pm – 8pm
📍 Gleebooks, Glebe

🎸 Friday on Our Minds: A Young Music Tribute Night
Burwood celebrates the songwriting Young family of AC/DC and The Easybeats fame, with tribute band Dirty Deeds, Nova Bloom and an AC/DC medley from the Adult Glee Club Choir.
📆 Fri 30 Oct / 7pm – 9pm
📍 Ford Lane, Burwood

💄 Blood and Glitter: Visions of Horror
Drag performers and DJs bring horror-themed acts to Waywards Ballroom for Halloween.
📆 Fri 30 Oct / 7pm
📍 Waywards Ballroom, Newtown

🧛 The Night Before Halloween Party
Six DJs spin spooky and indie-sleaze hits alongside a Huni Boy drag show, with free entry.
📆 Fri 30 Oct / 8pm
📍 The Trocadero Room, Enmore

SATURDAY

🍎 New: Balmain Farmers & Artisan Market
A new market launches with 45-plus indoor and outdoor stalls of fresh produce, eggs, honey, bread, salami, hot food, art, craft, jewellery and fashion. Free entry.
📆 Sat 31 Oct / 9am – 2pm
📍 St Andrew’s Congregational Church, Balmain

🔧 Repair and Reuse Day
Bring broken items to the repair workshops, then catch reuse activities, recycling demonstrations and a FOGO information stall.
📆 Sat 31 Oct / 9am – 2:30pm
📍 Concord Community Centre

🌸 Burwood Spring Market
A free market with more than 40 stalls of fashion, jewellery, homewares and food, plus puppet shows, giant bubbles and a petting farm.
📆 Sat 31 Oct / 10am – 4pm
📍 Burwood Park

🚣 Different Strokes Open Day
Try dragon boating and meet the coaches at this open day on Iron Cove.
📆 Sat 31 Oct / 10:30am – 12pm
📍 Different Strokes Dragon Boat Club, Lilyfield

👚 Tramsheds Clothes Swap
Clear out your wardrobe and pick up something new at this clothes swap. Bring up to five pieces. Free for City of Sydney residents; bookings essential.
📆 Sat 31 Oct / 10:45am – 1pm
📍 Harold Park Community Hall, Tramsheds, Forest Lodge

🕸️ Harryween
Happy Birthday Tattoo hosts a Halloween celebration with a Misfits cover band, live DJs, games, vintage clothing, food and drinks.
📆 Sat 31 Oct / 12pm – late
📍 Happy Birthday Tattoo, Marrickville

💃 Fiesta del Sol Sydney Halloween Takeover with Magic Juan
Latin music, dancing, food and live performances feature in this Halloween takeover.
📆 Sat 31 Oct / 2pm – 11:30pm
📍 Tumbalong Park, Darling Harbour

🎾 Halloween Mexicano
A Halloween padel session where the winner takes home a Batch Brewing bar tab and there is trick-or-treat candy for everyone. No costume required.
📆 Sat 31 Oct / 2pm – 4pm
📍 Sidewall Padel, Marrickville

🛝 Stranger Something: Stranger Playdate
A social playdate where you dress as your childhood self and swap something personal with someone you meet.
📆 Sat 31 Oct / 2pm – 4pm
📍 Victoria Park, Camperdown

🛍️ Homebush Village Markets
Food stalls, local makers, unique finds and sweet treats.
📆 Sat 31 Oct / 4pm – 9pm
📍 The Crescent, Homebush

🎬 SF3 Film Festival: Mini & Feature Film Screening
Short and feature films shot entirely on smartphones screen at this festival.
📆 Sat 31 Oct / 7pm – 10:30pm
📍 White Bay Power Station, Rozelle

💀 Day of the Dead Lucha Libre: Adult Show (18+)
The 18+ version of the masked wrestling show, with live mariachi, a Day of the Dead altar and street food, then a tequila party.
📆 Sat 31 Oct / 7pm
📍 Factory Theatre, Marrickville

🤠 Camp Saddle Club: Halloween Edition
A queer camp Halloween night of line dancing, DJs and performers.
📆 Sat 31 Oct / 7:30pm – 11:30pm
📍 Marrickville Bowling Club

📜 The Shakesbeer Sessions: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Pub Shakespeare Company stages a 90-minute, interactive take on A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with sing-alongs, live music and audience participation.
📆 Sat 31 Oct / 7:30pm – 9:30pm
📍 Chuck and Son’s Brewing Co., St Peters

🎭 Birdcage XXL & Dumpster Dive Halloween
Two party crews take over every room of The Imperial until 3am.
📆 Sat 31 Oct / 9pm
📍 The Imperial, Erskineville

SUNDAY

🧺 Flour Mill Markets
Local makers, food, handmade goods and live music at the Flour Mill’s community markets.
📆 Sun 1 Nov / 9am – 1pm
📍 Flour Mill of Summer Hill

🖌️ Screen Printing for Beginners
Learn to expose artwork onto a screen with emulsion and UV light, then print it on fabric or paper.
📆 Sun 1 Nov / 10am – 4pm
📍 Bobbin and Ink, Stanmore

🃏 The Hobby Hangout XL – Sydney
Trading-card marketplace with 500-plus vendors, free-play zones, card breaks, talks and special guests.
📆 Sun 1 Nov / 10:30am – 5:30pm
📍 Carriageworks, Eveleigh

🎶 Sunday Sessions: Carmon at Ashfield Aquatic Centre
Local musician Carmon plays an acoustic set poolside.
📆 Sun 1 Nov / 12pm – 2pm
📍 Ashfield Aquatic Centre

🏺 Ceramics: Beginner Wheel Throwing (Sunday Afternoons)
A directed six-week course introduces beginners to ceramics, posture, centring and wheel throwing.
📆 Sun 1 Nov / 1:30pm – 4pm
📍 Pine Street Creative Arts Centre, Chippendale

🧵 Crafty Queers
Bring a project to this monthly craft social, with sewing machines on hand.
📆 Sun 1 Nov / 2pm – 5pm
📍 Reverse Garbage, Marrickville

🌻 Spring Harmony Gathering
Female vocal trio The Third Voice welcomes spring with original songs and Afro-Cuban chants, joined by local choirs Mooncatchers Women’s Choir and Perfect 5th.
📆 Sun 1 Nov / 2pm – 4:30pm
📍 Annandale Neighbourhood Centre

📰 Splinter Journal Issue Five Launch
Readings from the literary journal’s fifth issue, plus a Q&A with the editor.
📆 Sun 1 Nov / 3:30pm – 5pm
📍 Gleebooks, Glebe

🏏 Sydney Thunder at Drummoyne Oval
Sydney Thunder, Brisbane Heat, Sydney Sixers and Hobart Hurricanes meet in a WBBL double-header.
📆 Sun 1 Nov / 3:40pm – 10:30pm
📍 Drummoyne Oval

✍️ Zine Making
Fold, cut and assemble a small self-published zine in this creative workshop.
📆 Sun 1 Nov / 4pm – 5:30pm
📍 Little BIG House, Summer Hill

COMING UP

🚲 Free Bike Tune-Ups at Glebe Foreshore
Get your bike checked and tuned up at no cost, plus advice on riding the shared paths.
📆 Tue 3 & Thu 5 Nov / Various times
📍 Glebe Foreshore

🎭 AGENT X by Magickal Ms. G
Magickal Ms. G and her 10-piece band blend jazz, blues, neo-soul and Dravidian rhythms in a multidisciplinary performance.
📆 Wed 4 – Sat 7 Nov / 7pm – 8:30pm nightly
📍 PACT Centre for Emerging Artists, Erskineville

💃 Let’s Kick Up Our Heels!
A women in business networking night includes food, drinks and line dancing, hosted by the Balmain Rozelle Chamber of Commerce.
📆 Thu 5 Nov / 6pm – 9:30pm
📍 The Balmain

✂ Cut X Paste Chippendale
Beginner-friendly collage workshop with conversation and a range of materials.
📆 Thu 5 Nov / 6:30pm – 8:30pm
📍 The Chippo Hotel, Chippendale

Ravenswood, a Federation-era house at 16 Darley Street, Marrickville, is being demolished to make way for three two-storey terraces. Inner West Council says a private certifier approved the work as complying development under the NSW Government's low- and mid-rise housing policy. Council was not the consent authority and says the case highlights its concerns about the state planning rules.

Inner West Council has adopted its Affordable Housing Policy and accompanying needs assessment. It sets out how the council will approach affordable housing, with planning staff authorised to make minor technical changes.

Inner West Council is seeking feedback on draft plans for Lewisham Town Centre, including proposed street and public-space changes around the station precinct. Feedback closes Monday 23 November, with an in-person session at 12 Victoria Street on 11 November.

👉 Find out more

A new Route 444 will link Balmain East Wharf and Leichhardt Marketplace via Rozelle from Monday 16 November. It will run every hour between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Saturday, adding 54 weekly services and restoring a direct connection to the ferry wharf.

👉 Find out more

☕ Coffee Tasting Experience
Compare the same beans brewed by French press and V60.
📆 Fri 30 Oct / 9am – 10am
📍 The Grounds Coffee Factory, South Eveleigh

🎃 Halloween Food and Drink Specials at Hay St Market
Limited-edition Halloween food and drink specials are available at Hay St traders through Saturday 31 October.
📆 Fri 30 – Sat 31 Oct / Various times
📍 Hay St Market, Haymarket

🥪 Hennys Deli Grand Opening
Hennys Deli opens its Rozelle shop with $15 sandwiches all day, and the first 100 customers get a free coffee and cookie with any sandwich. See venue for terms and conditions.
📆 Sat 31 Oct / 9am – 2:30pm
📍 Hennys Deli, 618 Darling Street, Rozelle

🍖 Saturday Ukrainian BBQ Lunch at Kyiv Social
A Ukrainian BBQ platter for three includes slow-cooked pork knuckle, smoked ribs, sausage and traditional sides.
📆 Sat 31 Oct / Lunch
📍 Kyiv Social, Chippendale

🍽️ The Grounds' Famous Sunday Roast Is Back!
Sunday roast at The Potting Shed, with a different weekly menu and limited servings.
📆 Sun 1 Nov / From 11am until sold out
📍 The Potting Shed, Alexandria

🍾 Bottomless Rosé & Oysters
Two hours of Studio Rosé and fresh oysters, with live DJ entertainment above Cockle Bay.
📆 Fri 30 Oct / 5:30pm – 7:30pm
📍 Café del Mar Sydney, Darling Harbour

🎲 Halloween Music Bingo
Free bingo with horror-punk and graveyard anthems, prizes and costumes encouraged.
📆 Sat 31 Oct / 4pm
📍 Crowbar, Leichhardt

🔥 Burn-O-Ween
A burner-inspired Halloween party with DJs, costumes and interactive performances.
📆 Sat 31 Oct / 7pm – 2am
📍 The Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale

🕺 Halloween at the Marly
A costumed Halloween party with DJs into the early hours. 18+.
📆 Sat 31 Oct / 9pm
📍 Marlborough Hotel, Newtown

🕹 Sunday Funday: Free Play Arcade
Every arcade game except pinball is on free play, with no cover charge. Kids welcome.
📆 Sun 1 Nov / 1pm – 7pm
📍 Astro's Arcade Bar, Newtown

COMING UP

🍻 Inner West Ale Trail Festival
13 breweries team up with local producers for exclusive brews, plus food specials, DJs, a free Ben Lee gig and free festival swag for collecting beer stamps. Free entry; family and dog-friendly.
📆 Fri 6 – Sun 15 Nov
📍 Breweries across Marrickville, St Peters, Newtown, Enmore and Rozelle

🎸 Made in the Inner West: Ben Lee Brewery Gigs
Ben Lee plays three free mini gigs with local artists across Heaps Normal, Sauce and Mixtape, then a full-band finale at Young Henrys. Limited capacity, first in.
📆 Sat 7 Nov / Various times
📍 Heaps Normal, Sauce and Mixtape, Marrickville and Young Henrys, Newtown

GET YOUR EVENT ON THE LIST 🎸

Our deadline is the close of business on Wednesday for each Friday edition.