Festival First Night hailed a success

The opening night of the Sydney Festival has been hailed a success by its director, with tens of thousands of people cramming into the CBD to party.

Last Saturday evening around 250,000 people turned out to Festival First Night to see free events in Martin Place, Hyde Park, the Domain and Chifley Square.

Festival Director, Lindy Hume, said the event was a huge success.

“We are very happy,” she said.

“It was a beautiful night in the city.”

As crowds gathered into Hyde Park in the early afternoon, fake snow was pumped into the air while Lah Lah’s Musical Wonderland captured the attention of the kids in the crowd.

As night fell and temperatures did too, more people crammed into the CBD to see a variety of acts including singer songwriter Paul Kelly and folk singer Emmylou Harris.

Hip-hop group Arrested Development rocked Martin Place, with crowds at maximum capacity, to end the night with a bang.

Ms Hume said she wanted this year’s opening night to be a place for people to easily move through the city and take in all the performances.

“We really wanted a mellow, very relaxed, and chilled out evening,” she said.

“We specifically wanted to give the Domain a more mellow vibe, that contrasted beautifully with the high energy of Martin Place and the more theatricality of Hyde Park.”

Ms Hume said the evening ran smoothly with overwhelmingly positive feedback.

“In the four years of the event, we’ve got the most feedback on this year’s; that it was a lovely, well-run, very informal, chilled out event.”

Acting Premier, Carmel Tebbutt, congratulated Ms Hume on the success of the event.

“The night went virtually without any incident, a great success, a great tribute to Lindy Hume, the festival director,” she said last Sunday.

Geoff Mitchell from Surry Hills said the opening night was a great way for people to get together in summer and celebrate the city with friends.

“Although this year’s opening night didn’t have many acts I knew, the Festival is a great way for Sydney to express itself culturally,” he said.

“It was so nice to sit down in Hyde Park and see some great performers for free among friends.”

The festival runs until January 30 and is expected to attract more than a million people to the city.

By Sophie Cousins