Good morning, Inner Westies. After a longer than expected pause, we’re back—and the Inner West never missed a beat. The calendar for this weekend is jam packed. Lunar New Year celebrations are in full swing, with dragon boat races, cultural performances, and a lineup of community events.

In today’s Inner West Guide:

• NEW Monthly Sustainability Spotlight ♻️ 💡 

• What’s Happening This Weekend 🐲 🎉 

• Gig Guide 🎸 🎵

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.

Grab your morning coffee and join us as we explore the Inner West together.

— Jess Thorning

🏀 City Ford Sydney Learn to Play Basketball Classes 
The City of Sydney Basketball Association and City Ford Sydney run learn to play basketball classes for children over various days and venues. This 9 week program is designed for children ages 5 to 13 and offers a fun and inclusive basketball environment for children of all abilities. Cost $115. Book ahead.
📍 Various locations / Commencing Monday 5 February / See website for days & times

🎨 Terracotta Pot Paint Pouring @ Bunnings Kids will experiment with colours and mixing paints together to pour onto a terracotta pot (fluid paint). Suitable for ages 3 and up. Book your spot in advance. Free.
📍 Bunnings Rozelle / Saturday 8 & Sunday 9 February / 11am, 12pm
📍 Bunnings Alexandria / Saturday 8 February / 11:30am, 1:30pm

🥁 Lunar New Year: Chinese Drumming 
Join a hands-on Chinese drumming workshop and learn the powerful beats behind the Lion Dance, perfect for kids aged 5-12 and an accompanying adult. Free.
📍 Ashfield Library / Saturday 8 February / 10:30am

🦎 Reptile Mania @ Broadway Shopping Centre 
Head to Broadway where your little one can get creative building their very own reptiles! This hands-on activity allows children to explore their imagination while developing fine motor skills. $3 per child, book ahead to secure a spot.
📍 Broadway Shopping Centre / Thursday 8 February / 10am, 11am & 12pm

👶 Learn and Play Baby Group @ Lilyfield 
Are you eager to support your little one to reach their milestones with confidence? The learn and play baby group is back! Join Physiotherapist, Nikita, as she provides you with advice and activities tailored to your baby's development.
📍 Therapies For Kids Lilyfield / Monday 11 February / 10am

🌳 Explorers Play in the Park Playgroup @ Marrickville 
Join Plumtree to connect with other parents and our supportive team while your children play, learn and socialise with their peers. For babies and kids up to 3. Free. RSVP ahead.
📍 Jarvie Park Marrickville / Tuesday 12 February / 9:30am

🎵 Music Together Playgroup @ Marrickvile 
This playgroup offers a relaxed, fun-filled environment where children's development is supported through music. The sessions include singing, playing percussion instruments, dancing, and storytelling. For ages 3 to 5. Free. Weekly Sessions. RSVP ahead for Term 1.
📍 Plumtree Children's Services Marrickville / Tuesday 12 February / 11am

🧱 LEGO Session / Drop in Session @ Haberfield Library 
Enjoy a LEGO session / drop in session. Children should be accompanied by a supervising adult at all times. Runs during school term. No bookings required.
📍 Haberfield Library / Wednesday 13 February / 3pm

📆 Book Ahead

🦄 LEGO Unicorns @ Broadway Shopping Centre 
Using colourful LEGO bricks, kids can unleash their creativity to construct a one-of-a-kind unicorn, complete with a shimmering mane and sparkling tail. All participants will take home their LEGO masterpiece. $3 per child, with all proceeds donated to Glebe Youth Services. Book ahead.
📍 Broadway Shopping Centre / Saturday 15 February / 2pm-4pm

🕶️ Bedazzled Sunglasses @ Broadway Shopping Centre 
Get ready for some sparkly fun where your little one can bedazzle their very own pair of sunglasses! $3 per child, with all proceeds donated to Glebe Youth Services. Book ahead.
📍 Broadway Shopping Centre / Saturday 16 February / 10am, 11am & 12pm

All Weekend

🐉 2025 Rhodes Lunar New Year Snake Carnival 
Enjoy cultural performances, dragon dancing, live music, family activities, and fireworks, plus free bike service checks at the Council stall. Visit their website for more information.
📍 Foreshore Park Rhodes / Saturday 10am-9:30pm & Sunday 10am-4pm

🚣 Dragon Boats Festival 
3 exciting days packed with competition, music and entertainment. Enjoy the fierce spectacle of dragon boating taking over Darling Harbour.
📍 Cockle Bay Wharf / Friday 2pm-7:30pm, Saturday & Sunday 8am-6:30pm

🎲 How to Play Mahjong at The Artistry Festival 2025 
Learn this ancient Chinese game of skill and luck in just 45 minutes with an international Mahjong Master from the Mahjong Club Sydney. Cost: $50. Book your spot today.
📍 Tumbalong Park Haymarket / Friday 5pm-9pm, Saturday & Sunday 12pm-9pm

🐲 Lunar New Year at The Artistry 
An unforgettable 3-day celebration of culture, food, music and arts. Country Pavilions with Cultural Parade & Live Traditional & Modern Performances from Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Japan & Pacific.
📍 Tumbalong Park Haymarket / Friday 5pm-10pm, Saturday & Sunday 12pm-10pm

🎥 The Artistry Presents Filmmaking Workshops 
Join the Smart Phone Filmmaking Workshops at The Artistry Festival & explore shooting professional films & documentaries, creating your own animations and making stop-motion masterpieces. No experience needed. Cost: $50.
📍 Tumbalong Park Haymarket / See website for days and times.

🇹🇭 Fascinating Thaitown 2025 
Celebrate the Year of the Snake with traditional Thai performances, dancing, drumming, and authentic cuisine. Don't miss the special Snake and Ladders mural photo opportunity by local artist Gabby Malpas.
📍 Haymarket / Saturday & Sunday / 10am-11:30pm ♿️ 

Friday

🎬 Foreshore Flicks @ Drummoyne Oval 
Pack your picnic blanket for an entertaining evening with food trucks, popcorn, face-painting, games, and a free screening of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (PG).
📍 Drummoyne Oval / Friday 7 February / 5:30pm-9pm ♿️ 

🧶 Social Knitting at Balmain Library 
Get your knit on and BYO knitting to this casual group. Exchange tips and socialise whilst you knit. Everyone is welcome.
📍 Balmain Library / Friday 7 February / 10am ♿️ 

Saturday

🌱 Edible Gardens for Renters Workshop 
This 2½ hour workshop is perfect for balcony, courtyard and small space growing. See website for costs and to book.
📍 Sydney Park Pavilion Alexandria / Saturday 8 February / 10am-12:30pm

🎨 Redfern & Chippendale Street Art & Small Bars Tour 
Join this 3-hour guided tour of Redfern and Chippendale's vibrant street art scene, featuring stops at three hidden bars with one complimentary drink included. See site for costs and details.
📍 Chippendale / Saturday 8 February / 5pm-8pm

🌿 Produce, Plant & Seed Swap 
Join local gardening enthusiasts at the Plant & Seed Swap, where you can share and exchange labeled seeds, cuttings, and fresh produce while exploring our demonstration garden. Must be a resident of Inner West Council. Spots limited.
📍 Inner West Sustainability Hub Summer Hill / Saturday / 11am

✍️ Inner West Writers Group @ Marrickville Library 
Spend your Saturday morning sharing your work with likeminded writing enthusiasts. No bookings required.
📍 Marrickville Library and Pavilion / Saturday 8 February / 10am ♿️ 

🎆 Lunar New Year Jet Pack + Firework Shows 
Watch in awe as aerial lion dancers perform spectacular stunts in vibrant Lunar New Year costumes alongside a playful cartoon snake. Fireworks display at 9pm.
📍 Darling Harbour / Saturday 8 February / 7pm, 7:45pm & 9pm

🥁 Drum Performance by VietSchool Drum Band 
Come and watch traditional drum and band music by Vietnamese Community Language School students. Free.
📍 Ashfield Forecourt and Foyer / Saturday 8 February / 11am ♿️ 

🏮 Lanterns and Tea with Jayanto Tan - Lunar New Year 2025 
Join a tea ceremony with a Minnan folk song and make a colourful Yuan Bao paper lantern to take home, in a workshop led by artist Jayanto Tan. This workshop is free with limited capacity, so registration via the link is essential.
📍 Ashfield Civic Centre / Saturday 8 February / 2pm ♿️ 

Sunday

🏺 Wentworth Park Antique & Collectables Fair 
One of Australia's largest Antique and Collectables fairs, The Collectors Mark hosts 130+ traders bi-monthly, in an air-conditioned venue. Offering a vast range of items from antiquity to 1980s designer pieces, including antiques, collectables, vintage items, fine china, jewellery, and more. Food and coffee available.
📍 Wentworth Park Greyhounds Function Centre, Glebe / Sunday 9 February / 9am-2pm ♿️ 

🎬 Special Preview Screening - The Seed of the Sacred Fig 
See this Oscar nominee before its official cinema release at this exclusive preview screening! It includes a special introduction from director Mohammad Rasoulof, as well as the opportunity to hear from local Iranian Australian leaders about the Woman, Life, Freedom movement in Australia. Grab your tickets before they go.
📍 Dendy Newtown / Sunday 9 February / 2:45pm-5:45pm ♿️ 

🏳️‍🌈 Queer Chinese New Year Celebration - ANTRA 
Celebrate the Queer Chinese diaspora with inspiring speakers, drag performances and community activities at this inclusive Lunar New Year event.
📍 Ashfield Town Hall / Sunday 9 February/ 2pm ♿️ 

Monthly Sustainability Spotlight ♻️ 

Every month, Susie Coates—a passionate sustainability champion from the Inner West—will share actionable insights on reducing environmental impact, as well as a monthly calendar of sustainability events happening across the Inner West. Follow Susie at @sustainability.susie for more insights and tips.

Sustainability Events Calendar 📆 

Check out the February Calendar below. You’ll find a whole range of events, from climate meet-ups to urban food growing to Volunteering.

Local Sustainability and Environment Groups

Below you will find links to groups referred to in the calendar. Click through to see options to join, volunteer or attend talks and courses.

• ACF (Australian Conservation Foundation)

• AAFCS (Asian Australians for Climate Solutions)

• City Farm St Peters

• CABCB (Climate Action Burwood Canada Bay)

• CCBR Climate Change Balmain - Rozelle

• CBZCC (Canada Bay Zero Carbon Community)

• DEA (Doctors for the Environment)

• GLC (Green Living Centre)

• IWCE (Inner West Community Energy)

• IWTL (Inner West Tool Library)

• Newtown Climate

• Pocket City Farms 

• Parents for Climate

Don’t forget to follow Susie at @sustainability.susie on Instagram.

• An Inspector Calls | Genesian Theatre Rozelle

• The Laugh Inn Comedy Club | The Newtown Hotel

• Three Sisters | Flight Path Theatre Marrickville

• Titanique | The Grand Electric Redfern

• Wally | KXT on Broadway

• Afternote: In the Shade of Cinema | The Japan Foundation Chippendale

• Balgo Horizons | Stories & Places Across Time | Art Leven Redfern

• Barbara Licha Art Exhibition | Polish Club Ashfield

• Beasties Exhibition | The Bearded Tit Redfern

• Brett Stone: 'Tis the gift to be simple | Utopia Art Sydney Waterloo

• Celebrate LNY 2025 with Australian Chinese Painting Society | The Shop Gallery Glebe

• Consuelo Cavaniglia: seeing through you | Chau Chak Wing Museum Camperdown

• Planetary Network by Georgia Freebody | Five Dock Library

• Under the Water and Above by Natasha Allen | Concord Library

• Instrumental: Collections from Science | Chau Chak Wing Museum Camperdown

• Kerameikos the potters' quarter | Chau Chak Wing Museum Camperdown

• Micro:Macro – models of insight and inspiration | Chau Chak Wing Museum Camperdown

• Stockpile | Chrissie Cotter Gallery Camperdown

• Student Life: Max Dupain at the University of Sydney | Chau Chak Wing Museum Camperdown

• The trace is not a presence ... | Chau Chak Wing Museum Camperdown

• Union Made: Art from the University of Sydney Union | Chau Chak Wing Museum Camperdown

• XSWL: xiào sǐ wǒle" | White Rabbit Gallery Chippendale

🍕 Teddy’s x Pizza Cattiva Launch Party!

Head to Teddys for an epic pizza launch party this Friday 7 February from 5pm. They will be serving pizza every Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 5pm-10pm at Teddy’s.

📍 Teddy’s Enmore (upstairs at Warren View Hotel) - check out their website to make a booking

Friday

• Botany View Hotel Newtown | Newtown Sound 002 + Kryver, Len Lennox, Sunstalkersss | 8pm

• Butchers Brew Bar Dulwich Hill | The Jam Sandwiches | 8pm

• Factory Theatre Marrickville | Karen Lee Andrews + Jade MacRae | 7:30pm

• Foundry 616 Ultimo | Dale Barlow + Andrew Dickeson Quartet | 8:30pm

• Goodspace @ The Lord Gladstone Chippendale | Good Ramen + Media Puzzle, Meow Meow & The Smackouts | 6:30pm

• Hopsters Brewery Enmore | Frecko + Lorna | 7pm

• The Lady Hampshire Camperdown | Cosmic Caravan + House of Her | 8pm

• The Lansdowne Chippendale | Phantastic Ferniture + Bridge Dog, Georgia Mulligan | 7pm

• The Lansdowne Chippendale | The Postcards + Kingdom Calm, Lily B | 8pm

• LazyBones Marrickville | One Spirit Africa + Cuban Social Club | 7pm

• Local Edition Glebe | Nazri - For a Percussion Trio & Contemporary Dancer + Shervin Mirzeinali, Niki Johnson, Maharshi Raval, Sohrab Kolahdooz | 8pm

• Manning Bar Camperdown | God is An Astronaut + Solkyri, Treebeard | 8pm

• Miss Celie's Ashfield | Bernice Tesara & Nana Koizumi Present Mirrored Standars | 7pm

• Pyrmont Bridge Hotel | Coogee Bay Road Band | 9pm

• Red Rattler Theatre Marrickville | Offbeat Queer Party + Annabelle Gaspar, Nick Spurway, frakktalz | 9pm

• Trocadero Room Enmore | Lemonise + Memory Motel, Tayita | 8pm

• The Vanguard Newtown | Rachael Fahim + Missy Lancaster | 7pm

• Vic on the Park Marrickville | Telopia + Jacob Turl | 9pm

• Waywards @ The Bank Hotel Newtown | Dog Trumpet + Roy Molloy | 8pm

Saturday

• Bald Rock Hotel Rozelle | Side Show | 7:30pm

• Balmain Bowling Club | Finn | 5pm

• The Bridge Hotel Rozelle | Texas Heat | 8pm

• Butchers Brew Bar Dulwich Hill | Dave Tice & Phil King | 3pm

• Butchers Brew Bar Dulwich Hill | Lujza | 8pm

• Camelot Lounge Marrickville | The Soul Movers | 7pm

• The Chippo Hotel Chippendale | Big Smoke vs Steel City Beatdown + Raging Patience, Mocked, Dethorned, Grip Down, King Hit, Iron Bark | 7:30pm

• Crowbar Leichhardt | (hed) P.E. + Heartline, The Weight of Silence | 8pm

• Factory Floor @ The Factory Marrickville | The Hush + The Grand Union, Bad Drip | 8pm

• The Lady Hampshire Camperdown | Astrovan + Cactus Lane, Skirtless | 7pm

• The Lansdowne Chippendale | Phantastic Ferniture + Bridge Dog, Georgia Mulligan | 7pm

• Lazy Thinking Dulwich Hill | Grids & Dots + Boyfriend Material, Last Motel | 7pm

• Local Edition Glebe | Nazri - For a Percussion Trio & Contemporary Dancer + Shervin Mirzeinali, Niki Johnson, Maharshi Raval, Sohrab Kolahdooz | 8pm

• Manning Bar Camperdown | Moodymann + Carl Craig, Luca Lozano & Mr. Ho, Adi Toohey | 6pm

• Marrickville Bowling Club | The Grooveyard + The On and Ons, Van Ruin | 7:30pm

• Miss Celie's Ashfield | Callum Eggins Quartet | 4pm

• Miss Celie's Ashfield | The Mighty Bullfrog | 7:30pm

• MoshPit Bar Erskineville | The Night Packers + The Flippers, South American Smoko | 2:30pm

• MoshPit Bar Erskineville | Inebrious Bastard + Cream Soda, Blood Trails, Mourners, Sacred | 7pm

• Pyrmont Bridge Hotel | Lazy Crows | 5pm

• Pyrmont Bridge Hotel | The Specialities | 9pm

• Red Rattler Theatre Marrickville | Rock Against Racism Presents: Hear Us Roar + Rubber Necker, Operation Ibis, Whateva, The OzSkas, Sunstalkersss, Meshky, Wicked Envy | 4pm

• Sappho Books, Cafe & Bar Glebe | Liam Elwing + The Midwives | 7:30pm

• The Townie Newtown | Upside Down Miss Jane | 9pm

• The Vanguard Newtown | Florian + Maver Cool, Diva Cup Djs | 7pm

Sunday

• Bald Rock Hotel Rozelle | Blackwater Irish Band | 2pm

• Balmain Bowling Club | Jack Derwin | 3pm

• Butchers Brew Bar Dulwich Hill | 8 Ball Aitken + Taya Chani | 7pm

• Church St Studios Camperdown | Elias Bartholomeo | 8pm

• Gasoline Pony Marrickville | Huknee Puknee + Suburban Bukowkis | 5pm

• Lazy Thinking Dulwich Hill | Another Blue Day + Daily Toll, Command D, gi, Aura Hunting, Mara, Ilex, Land Systems, Sanguine | 2pm

• Local Edition Glebe | Nazri - For a Percussion Trio & Contemporary Dancer + Shervin Mirzeinali, Niki Johnson, Maharshi Raval, Sohrab Kolahdooz | 8pm

• Miss Celie's Ashfield | Genevieve Brown Trio | 4pm

• Miss Celie's Ashfield | Drey Rollan | 7:30pm

• The Old Fitzroy Hotel | A Street Party Named Fitz + The Buoys, Murray Cook and the Soul Movers, Elliott Hammond | 12pm

• Palomino Lounge Enmore | Boyfriend Material | 7:30pm

• Petersham Bowlo | Hard-Ons + Raising Ravens | 6pm

• Pyrmont Bridge Hotel | Blues Collective | 3pm

• Pyrmont Bridge Hotel | Johnny G Trio | 7pm

• St Stephens Uniting Church | Liminal Space + BoNo | 6:30pm

• Union Hotel Newtown | Connor Britton + Flux State, Michael J Brady | 4pm

Thank You!

Thanks for reading. Please feel free to reply with any feedback.

Reminder: 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 and specials can change.

Have a fun weekend!

Jess