NOVEMBER IS MAKING A CASE FOR GOING OUT.
Newtown’s artists open their studio doors. Photography spreads across Bondi and Paddington. Carriageworks fills with art, design, and the possibility of bringing home something you hadn’t budgeted for.
There’s Japanese cinema, Brooklyn hip-hop, a Sunday with Gilles Peterson, Honey Dijon beside the harbour and a secondhand market giving good clothes another life.
By the end of the month, Kool & The Gang and Sister Sledge ft. Sledgendary are playing under the city skyline.
The days are getting longer. The diary is getting less manageable.
For our third Sydney edit, these are the things we’d make time for.
ART + DESIGN.
LENNOX STREET STUDIOS OPEN WEEKEND | Until 1 November
Start the month somewhere people are actually making things.
Lennox Street Studios opens its Newtown building to the public, with artists showing and selling work across painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography, textiles and more.
There’s something useful about seeing the space behind the finished object. The paint, the tools, the works that haven’t quite resolved themselves yet.
Sunday is your last chance to see it.
30 OCT–01 NOV 2026
Friday 6–9 pm; Saturday and Sunday 10 am–5 pm
Lennox Street Studios
111 Lennox Street, Newtown
Free
EUAN MACLEOD: IN DARKNESS LET ME DWELL | 27 Oct - 21 Nov
Figures, dogs and a rain-streaked landscape give Euan Macleod’s Stalker an uneasy pull. The painting features in In Darkness Let Me Dwell, a new selection of the artist’s work at King Street Gallery on William. Add this Darlinghurst stop to your November gallery rounds.
When: Until 21 November 2026
Where: King Street Gallery on William, Darlinghurst
Hours: Tuesday–Saturday, 10 am–6 pm; Sunday–Monday by appointment
AFFORDABLE ART FAIR | 5–8 November
Buying your first artwork usually starts with looking at a lot of things you don’t want.
Affordable Art Fair brings 75 galleries to Carriageworks, with contemporary works priced up to $10,000 and enough variety to help you figure out what catches your eye.
Ask questions. Find out who made the work. See what stays with you after you’ve walked away.
You don’t need to arrive knowing what you like.
05–08 NOV 2026
Thursday noon–9 pm across separately ticketed First Look and Opening Night sessions; Friday 10 am–9 pm; weekend 10 am–5 pm
Carriageworks
245 Wilson Street, Eveleigh
Ticketed
HEAD ON PHOTO FESTIVAL | 6–29 November
Photographs deserve better than half a second between two advertisements.
Head On brings photography into public spaces and galleries across Bondi, Paddington and the city, with work from Australian and international photographers.
We’d build an afternoon around a couple of locations rather than try to consume the entire programme at once.
Look at the pictures. Read the stories. Let something interrupt the day.
06–29 NOV 2026
Bondi Beach, Bondi Pavilion, Paddington Reservoir Gardens and other venues
Featured exhibitions free; launch and selected activities booked separately
DAVID HOCKNEY: BIGGER & CLOSER | Throughout November
If you missed the October opening, there’s still plenty of time to step into Hockney’s world.
Carriageworks’ immersive presentation moves through six decades of his work, with the artist's narration and music by Nico Muhly.
Give yourself an hour or so. The point is to spend time with how he looks, rather than rush through collecting photographs of projections.
UNTIL 24 JAN 2027
Carriageworks — Bay 17
245 Wilson Street, Eveleigh
Timed entry; from $39.90 plus a $5 transaction booking fee
FILM.
JAPANESE FILM FESTIVAL | 17–29 November
The best part of a film festival is having a reason to book something you know almost nothing about.
The Japanese Film Festival returns to Sydney for its thirtieth anniversary in Australia, with contemporary features, animation and a free retrospective celebrating composer Toru Takemitsu.
The programme includes Hirokazu Koreeda’s live-action Look Back, alongside films from directors including Yoji Yamada and Kiyoshi Kurosawa.
Choose something familiar. Then choose something that isn’t.
17–29 NOV 2026
Palace Norton Street, Palace Moore Park, Palace Central and Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace
Standard screenings $25; concessions available; Special Series retrospective free
FASHION + OBJECTS.
PRESKO | 21 November
Some clothes are just waiting for a better owner.
Presko brings secondhand clothing, accessories, homewares, art and baked goods to Nauti Studios in Forest Lodge for a Saturday spent looking through things with a past.
Lounge space and a relaxed soundtrack let you take your time, rather than attack the racks like a competitive sport.
Bring a tote. Bring someone whose opinion you trust.
21 NOV 2026 | 10 AM–4 PM
Nauti Studios
189B St Johns Road, Forest Lodge
Pay-what-you-want RSVP
MUSIC.
TALIB KWELI | 8 November
Brooklyn comes to Oxford Street.
Talib Kweli headlines at Oxford Art Factory, bringing a catalogue built on close attention to words and the rhythm that carries them.
This room is a good place to hear it.
For the hip-hop listeners who like to leave a gig with something still turning over in their heads.
08 NOV 2026 | LISTED TIME 7 PM
Oxford Art Factory
38–46 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst
18+
ECCA VANDAL | 12–13 November
This one should loosen up the week.
Ecca Vandal brings Looking For People to Unfollow to Oxford Art Factory, with the original Friday allocation exhausted and a Thursday show added.
Her music has the force of punk and the curiosity to go elsewhere. The room probably won’t stay still for long.
If you’re choosing one louder night this month, start here.
12–13 NOV 2026 | LISTED TIME 7 PM EACH NIGHT
Oxford Art Factory — Main Room
38–46 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst
18+; check the added Thursday date for availability
MELANIE.C AT BERESFORD SUNDAYS | 15 November
Sporty Spice is taking over Sunday afternoon. Melanie C headlines a free DJ set at the Beresford on 15 November, with two DJ stages and drag performances running from day to night. The party celebrates the launch of Absolut TABASCO and starts downstairs at midday, with upstairs opening at 1 pm. Melanie’s exact afternoon set time is still to be announced. Free entry, 18+, with limited upstairs capacity—get in early.
When: Sunday 15 November, from 12 pm
Where: The Beresford, Surry Hills
Price: Free
MEN I TRUST | 20–21 November
For a different sort of volume.
Men I Trust bring their Equus tour to the Enmore with Jack J supporting, letting the basslines and Emma Proulx’s vocals do the work.
Friday has sold out. Saturday was still on sale when we checked.
The sort of show to go to with somebody you don’t need to talk over the music to.
20–21 NOV 2026
Doors 7 pm; Jack J 8 pm; Men I Trust 9 pm
Enmore Theatre
118–132 Enmore Road, Newtown
NIGHTLIFE.
SUMMER DANCE: GILLES PETERSON | 15 November
A Sunday afternoon in the hands of someone who knows what to play next.
Gilles Peterson returns for Summer Dance at Liberty Hall’s Coach Bay, with a day party moving through soulful records, global rhythms and the places they meet.
Arrive while there’s still daylight. Give the afternoon enough room to become an evening.
15 NOV 2026 | DOORS 3 PM
Liberty Hall Courts
Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park
18+
MARCEL DETTMANN & GERD JANSON | 20 November
Friday starts late.
Marcel Dettmann and Gerd Janson share the booth at Oxford Art Factory for a back-to-back session presented by Astral People and CLBR.
Between Dettmann’s techno and Janson’s house-and-disco instincts, there should be plenty to keep the conversation moving without a microphone.
Put the phone away for a while. See where the records go.
20 NOV 2026 | FROM 11 PM
Oxford Art Factory — Main Room
38–46 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst
18+
HARBOURLIFE | 21 November
Sydney occasionally makes its case very efficiently.
A dance floor at Fleet Steps, the harbour behind it, Honey Dijon on the programme.
Harbourlife returns with Max Dean back-to-back with Luke Dean, HoneyLuv, Jordan Brando and more, taking Saturday from afternoon into night.
You’ll want sunscreen before you want anything else.
21 NOV 2026 | 2–10 PM
Fleet Steps, Mrs Macquaries Point
Mrs Macquaries Road, Sydney
18+
MARKETS + THINGS TO FIND.
HEAD ON PHOTOBOOK & ZINE MARKET | 8 November
A photograph changes when it becomes part of a book.
Head On’s market brings photographers, publishers, editors and bookstores to Bondi Pavilion for an afternoon of photobooks and zines you can buy directly from their makers.
Pick something up. Look at how the images move across the pages. Ask how it came together.
This is a particularly good reason to take a bag to Bondi.
08 NOV 2026 | NOON–5 PM
Bondi Pavilion
Queen Elizabeth Drive, Bondi Beach
Free entry
THE FINDERS KEEPERS | 13–15 November
November is early enough to buy a present without treating it like an emergency.
The Finders Keepers returns to Carriageworks with independent designers and makers working across ceramics, clothing, jewellery, prints and objects.
There’s food, a bar, and music, but the real pleasure is asking the person behind the stall about the thing in your hand.
Sunday’s low-sensory hour offers a quieter start before general opening.
13–15 NOV 2026
Friday 4–9 pm; Saturday and Sunday 10 am–5 pm
Sunday low-sensory hour 9–10 am
Carriageworks, 245 Wilson Street, Eveleigh
$7 daily or $10 weekend pass, plus fees; children under 13 free
ROZELLE’S VINYL RECORDS FAIR | 14 November
A Saturday for anyone who still likes to flip a record.
Rozelle’s Vinyl Records Fair brings records, CDs, music posters, and memorabilia to the grounds of Rozelle Public School. Browse the crates, talk to the sellers and leave room for a discovery you weren’t looking for.
Live music, DJs, and food run alongside the stalls. Give yourself time to look properly.
14 NOV 2026 | 9 AM–3 PM
Rozelle Public School
663 Darling Street, Rozelle
Free entry; purchases and food extra
SABOTAGE MOTORCYCLES × VIVA MOTO SWAP MEET | 22 November
An early Sunday in Marrickville, starting with motorcycles.
Sabotage Motorcycles and Viva Moto host a swap meet for parts, gear and the people who know what they’re looking at. There’s coffee, Thai barbecue, and plenty of time to talk machines and what it takes to keep them on the road.
You don’t need to be selling to come along. Visitor entry is free; book ahead if you want a seller site.
22 NOV 2026 | 8 AM–2 PM
Viva Moto
30 Shirlow Street, Marrickville
Free visitor entry; seller sites $20, booking required
CITY.
SYDNEY OPEN | 1 November
For anyone who has ever walked past a building and wondered what was upstairs.
Sydney Open gives you a day inside spaces that are usually closed to the public, from heritage interiors to contemporary architecture.
Choose a few buildings instead of turning the city into an obstacle course.
Sydney offers more than the view from the pavement.
01 NOV 2026 | 10 AM–5 PM
Participating buildings across the Sydney CBD
Adult $55; concessions and other ticket categories available
FORMA: KOOL & THE GANG + SISTER SLEDGE FT. SLEDGENDARY | 27 November
Song catalogues can fill an entire evening.
Kool & The Gang and Sister Sledge ft. Sledgendary share an outdoor bill at Tumbalong Park, with Wrong Way Up also announced.
It’s part of FORMA, Finely Tuned’s new concert series bringing music, food and outdoor gatherings to Darling Harbour from late November.
Pick your people. Find a patch of evening sky. Let the bassline do the rest.
27 NOV 2026
Tumbalong Park
Harbour Street, Darling Harbour
All ages; minors with a parent or guardian
Check the ticket for entry and performance times.
ALSO ON OUR RADAR | Not everything needs an essay.
HANAKO MURAKAMI: RADIANT FORCE
Throughout November at the Japan Foundation Gallery, Chippendale. An exhibition returning to photography’s experimental beginnings through light, chemistry and physical materials. Free.
Exhibition Details
JAZZ: NOW — GHOSTS BETWEEN STREAMS II
26 November, 7–10 pm, Oxford Art Factory. Tom Avgenicos, Delay 45, strings and visual work, alongside Sabine Tapia and a screening of Chloe Kim’s Music For 50 Musicians.
Tickets
GOOD FOOD & WINE SHOW: CHRISTMAS EDITION
20–22 November, ICC Sydney. Producers, wine, cooking demonstrations and the beginning of the annual discussion about what everybody is bringing to lunch.
Details + Tickets
NORTH SYDNEY STREETS: KIRRIBILLI
28 November, 9 am–3 pm. Streets close to traffic for outdoor dining, performances and a Saturday built around local businesses. Free entry.
Details
KEEP LOOKING.
This is our November edit. The calendar keeps going.
For more exhibitions, gigs, screenings, markets, fashion, food and nights worth leaving the house for, visit the BASE-CAST What’s On Sydney Calendar.
We’ll keep adding things as we find them.
VIEW THE FULL SYDNEY CALENDAR →
All times are Sydney local time. Check the organiser’s latest information and ticket availability before heading out.
SOMETHING WE MISSED?
Probably.
If you’re an artist, gallery, musician, label, promoter, venue, designer, filmmaker, restaurant or independent business doing something interesting in Sydney, send it our way.
Tell us what’s happening, where, when, and why we should come.
Open studios, Japanese cinema, Brooklyn hip-hop and dancing beside the harbour. Our third Sydney edit brings together 25 reasons to head out this November, from independent markets and photography to live music, food and late-night plans.