January 26th is just around the corner which means it’s time to start preparing for a fun-filled Australia Day. Australia Day offers us an opportunity to get outside with family and friends and celebrate everything we love about this beautiful country. Here is a list of fun activities you can do to celebrate Australia Day in a true Aussie way.
HAVE FUN AND GET ACTIVE
Show your support for Australian wheelchair racers as they race against international rivals from USA, Canada, Japan, UK and New Zealand in the GIO Oz Day 10K athletic event. Supported by GIO Insurance, the race is celebrating its 25 Years in action this Australia Day! Starting from Circular Quay at 9.30 am following a free breakfast, it’s a great way to start the day so head down for all of the action.
Why not take to the Sydney waters in the Great Sydney Swim? Choose from the 2.2km swim for the experienced swimmers or the 750m course for those that feel more up for a casual dip. There’s even a kids’ 300m event where kids can swim alongside some of open water’s best swimmers and sports stars.
Join in the fun and colourful 5km walk, skip, hop or run aimed at raising funds for the 23,000 Aussies currently living with multiple sclerosis. Held across Canberra, Melbourne, Hobart and Sydney, participants turn up in a white t-shirt only to be showered with rainbow dust at different points throughout the race. The result is both bright and exhilarating.
THROW A REAL AUSSIE BBQ
There will be thousands of BBQs being fired up in backyards across the country, so why not join in the fun. Invite your friends and loved ones around and throw a few snags, steaks and shrimps on the barbie. And whilst the food is sizzling, there’s nothing more true blue than organising a game of backyard cricket with Triple J’s Hottest 100 Countdown pumping from the stereo.
HEAD TO THE DARLING HARBOUR
If you’ve never experienced Australia Day in the heart of Sydney, trust us when we say, you must head to the Darling Harbour festival. There’s something for everyone from listening to the tunes of Indigenous blues and colonial rock, to having a laugh with Playschool’s Luke Carroll emceeing on the children’s stage. There’s even the excitement of the Big Issue Street Football festival held on a floating pitch! Rounding out the day is a stunning fireworks display to rival the annual New Year’s Eve celebrations.
CELEBRATE WITH THE SOUNDS OF MUSIC
It wouldn’t be summer in Sydney without the Sydney Festival’s Symphony in the Domain on Australia day. This year music and planets collide when Simone Young conducts Gustav Holst’s ‘The Planets’. Bring a hamper, a blanket and settle in for a free concert under the stars.
Why not catch all the sounds and sensations of a collection of great Aussie artists and acts in one street festival. Soak up the music of Cloud Control, The Bamboos, Tijuana Cartel and more as you dance the day away down by the Rocks at this essential Australia Day festival.
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