Talks, tours & more
Please note that talks and tours on Sunday 4 November are offered on a drop-in basis until they reach capacity. You cannot book these tours, so we recommend you arrive early to avoid missing out. Talks and Tours may be subject to change - please check closer to the event for possible updates.
10am
Tour led by an experienced State Library volunteer, including a look at the newly opened Michael Crouch Family Galleries & John B Fairfax Learning Centre. Tours will depart from the Mitchell library vestibule.
Tours hosted by Sydney Living Museums interpretation staff giving insight into the history of the site, focusing on the industrial Mint facility and its architectural adaptation into the head office of Sydney Living Museums. Make sure you add your name to the tour list as places are limited.
30 mins
10.15am
Guided tour exploring one of the houses. Maximum 8 people per group. Please note access to this site is by guided tour only.
30 mins
10.30am
Hear stories from the police station. Listen to true tales of courageous cops and rotten robbers.
30 mins
Tours hosted by Sydney Living Museums interpretation staff giving insight into the history of the site, focusing on the industrial Mint facility and its architectural adaptation into the head office of Sydney Living Museums. Make sure you add your name to the tour list as places are limited.
30 mins
11am
Talk by Macquarie Group First Nations Emerging Curator Freja Carmichael on the new exhibition Around and within
An insightful walking tour hosted by HASSELL Associate and project designer Grace Tham, that will illustrate how Baker McKenzie’s vision for their new workplace has been brought to life, and reveal some of the intelligence and innovation embodied in the design of one of Australia’s most beautiful, contemporary and progressive legal workplaces.
30 mins
Tour led by an experienced State Library volunteer, including a look at the newly opened Michael Crouch Family Galleries & John B Fairfax Learning Centre. Tours will depart from the Mitchell library vestibule.
Spotlight talks @ the Library. Learn about the vision and build of the Library’s newly opened Michael Crouch Family Galleries. Avryl Whitnall (Creative Producer) and Rawiya Jenkins (Manger, Exhibitions & Design) from the Library’s exhibition team will discuss the different elements of the project using architectural plans, design elements and construction photos. Talks will be held in the Gallery Room located in the Mitchell Building.
Guided tour exploring one of the houses. Maximum 8 people per group. Please note access to this site is by guided tour only.
30 mins
Tours hosted by Sydney Living Museums interpretation staff giving insight into the history of the site, focusing on the industrial Mint facility and its architectural adaptation into the head office of Sydney Living Museums. Make sure you add your name to the tour list as places are limited.
30 mins
11.30am
An insightful walking tour hosted by HASSELL Associate and project designer Grace Tham, that will illustrate how Baker McKenzie’s vision for their new workplace has been brought to life, and reveal some of the intelligence and innovation embodied in the design of one of Australia’s most beautiful, contemporary and progressive legal workplaces.
30 mins
Bushrangers Behind Bars: Join in a family-friendly mock trial of bushranger John Vane, a member of the Ben Hall gang.
30 mins
Art & Architecture at the MCA. How do contemporary artists consider architecture when creating new site-specific commissions? Take part in a behind-the-scenes tour led by an MCA Artist Educator that will explore the many ways in which artists experiment with ideas of architecture and space. Meet in the foyer, level 1.
45 mins
Tours hosted by Sydney Living Museums interpretation staff giving insight into the history of the site, focusing on the industrial Mint facility and its architectural adaptation into the head office of Sydney Living Museums. Make sure you add your name to the tour list as places are limited.
30 mins
11.45am
Guided tour exploring one of the houses. Maximum 8 people per group. Please note access to this site is by guided tour only.
30 mins
12pm
Tour led by an experienced State Library volunteer, including a look at the newly opened Michael Crouch Family Galleries & John B Fairfax Learning Centre. Tours will depart from the Mitchell library vestibule.
Spotlight talks @ the Library. Learn about the vision and build of the Library’s newly opened Michael Crouch Family Galleries. Avryl Whitnall (Creative Producer) and Rawiya Jenkins (Manger, Exhibitions & Design) from the Library’s exhibition team will discuss the different elements of the project using architectural plans, design elements and construction photos. Talks will be held in the Gallery Room located in the Mitchell Building.
Tours hosted by Sydney Living Museums interpretation staff giving insight into the history of the site, focusing on the industrial Mint facility and its architectural adaptation into the head office of Sydney Living Museums. Make sure you add your name to the tour list as places are limited.
30 mins
12.30pm
Tours hosted by Sydney Living Museums interpretation staff giving insight into the history of the site, focusing on the industrial Mint facility and its architectural adaptation into the head office of Sydney Living Museums. Make sure you add your name to the tour list as places are limited.
30 mins
St Mary’s Cathedral tour guides will be available to talk about the significance of the Cathedral and the Crypt. Meeting point for the Cathedral tour: next to the organ console near the College Street entrance. Meeting point for the Cathedral Crypt tour: outside the Crypt gate within the main Cathedral, and next to the Fallen Soldier Memorial. Please note, no bookings, and capacity is limited.
30 mins
Tour led by an experienced State Library volunteer, including a look at the newly opened Michael Crouch Family Galleries & John B Fairfax Learning Centre. Tours will depart from the Mitchell library vestibule.
Spotlight talks @ the Library. Learn about the vision and build of the Library’s newly opened Michael Crouch Family Galleries. Avryl Whitnall (Creative Producer) and Rawiya Jenkins (Manger, Exhibitions & Design) from the Library’s exhibition team will discuss the different elements of the project using architectural plans, design elements and construction photos. Talks will be held in the Gallery Room located in the Mitchell Building.
Tours hosted by Sydney Living Museums interpretation staff giving insight into the history of the site, focusing on the industrial Mint facility and its architectural adaptation into the head office of Sydney Living Museums. Make sure you add your name to the tour list as places are limited.
30 mins
1.15pm
Music under Blacket concert: Discover the Cathedral’s musical backstory as the world-famous St Andrew’s Cathedral Choir of Boys of Men sing a selection of sacred music that has been received by kings and queens, princes and princesses, presidents and prime ministers, alongside pieces that have marked national occasions as Sydney gathers in her oldest cathedral church to celebrate, acknowledge and mourn. From well-known pieces by Handel through to new music especially commissioned for the Choir, highlights will include music sung to their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on their visit on Easter Day in 2014. The concert will also feature compositions by former cathedral organists. Ross Cobb, Director of Music and President of the Royal School of Church Music Australia, will give a brief explanation of each piece, its musical provenance and its place in the Choir’s illustrious 199-year history. The Choir first sang at the laying of the Cathedral’s Foundation Stone in 1819, making it the oldest continuous musical group in the southern hemisphere.
60 mins
St Mary’s Cathedral tour guides will be available to talk about the significance of the Cathedral and the Crypt. Meeting point for the Cathedral tour: next to the organ console near the College Street entrance. Meeting point for the Cathedral Crypt tour: outside the Crypt gate within the main Cathedral, and next to the Fallen Soldier Memorial. Please note, no bookings, and capacity is limited.
30 mins
Guided tour exploring one of the houses. Maximum 8 people per group. Please note access to this site is by guided tour only.
30 mins
Tours hosted by Sydney Living Museums interpretation staff giving insight into the history of the site, focusing on the industrial Mint facility and its architectural adaptation into the head office of Sydney Living Museums. Make sure you add your name to the tour list as places are limited.
30 mins
St Mary’s Cathedral tour guides will be available to talk about the significance of the Cathedral and the Crypt. Meeting point for the Cathedral tour: next to the organ console near the College Street entrance. Meeting point for the Cathedral Crypt tour: outside the Crypt gate within the main Cathedral, and next to the Fallen Soldier Memorial. Please note, no bookings, and capacity is limited.
30 mins
Tour led by an experienced State Library volunteer, including a look at the newly opened Michael Crouch Family Galleries & John B Fairfax Learning Centre. Tours will depart from the Mitchell library vestibule.
Tours hosted by Sydney Living Museums interpretation staff giving insight into the history of the site, focusing on the industrial Mint facility and its architectural adaptation into the head office of Sydney Living Museums. Make sure you add your name to the tour list as places are limited.
30 mins
2.15pm
Guided tour exploring one of the houses. Maximum 8 people per group. Please note access to this site is by guided tour only.
30 mins
2.30pm
Children’s Chapel talk in the Crypt with Christopher Waterhouse (20 people max)
15 mins
St Mary’s Cathedral tour guides will be available to talk about the significance of the Cathedral and the Crypt. Meeting point for the Cathedral tour: next to the organ console near the College Street entrance. Meeting point for the Cathedral Crypt tour: outside the Crypt gate within the main Cathedral, and next to the Fallen Soldier Memorial. Please note, no bookings, and capacity is limited.
30 mins
Tours hosted by Sydney Living Museums interpretation staff giving insight into the history of the site, focusing on the industrial Mint facility and its architectural adaptation into the head office of Sydney Living Museums. Make sure you add your name to the tour list as places are limited.
30 mins
3pm
Murder in the Museum (adults only tour). Come and hear salacious stories of bushranger Andrew George Scott, alias Captain Moonlite, and Henry Louis Bertrand, aka ‘the mad dentist of Wynyard Square’.
30 mins
St Mary’s Cathedral tour guides will be available to talk about the significance of the Cathedral and the Crypt. Meeting point for the Cathedral tour: next to the organ console near the College Street entrance. Meeting point for the Cathedral Crypt tour: outside the Crypt gate within the main Cathedral, and next to the Fallen Soldier Memorial. Please note, no bookings, and capacity is limited.
30 mins
Tour led by an experienced State Library volunteer, including a look at the newly opened Michael Crouch Family Galleries & John B Fairfax Learning Centre. Tours will depart from the Mitchell library vestibule.
Guided tour exploring one of the houses. Maximum 8 people per group. Please note access to this site is by guided tour only.
30 mins
Tours hosted by Sydney Living Museums interpretation staff giving insight into the history of the site, focusing on the industrial Mint facility and its architectural adaptation into the head office of Sydney Living Museums. Make sure you add your name to the tour list as places are limited.
30 mins
St Mary’s Cathedral tour guides will be available to talk about the significance of the Cathedral and the Crypt. Meeting point for the Cathedral tour: next to the organ console near the College Street entrance. Meeting point for the Cathedral Crypt tour: outside the Crypt gate within the main Cathedral, and next to the Fallen Soldier Memorial. Please note, no bookings, and capacity is limited.
30 mins
3.45pm
Children’s Chapel talk in the Crypt with Christopher Waterhouse (20 people max)
15 mins
Guided tour exploring one of the houses. Maximum 8 people per group. Please note access to this site is by guided tour only.
30 mins
St Mary’s Cathedral tour guides will be available to talk about the significance of the Cathedral and the Crypt. Meeting point for the Cathedral tour: next to the organ console near the College Street entrance. Meeting point for the Cathedral Crypt tour: outside the Crypt gate within the main Cathedral, and next to the Fallen Soldier Memorial. Please note, no bookings, and capacity is limited.
30 mins
4.30pm
Guided tour exploring one of the houses. Maximum 8 people per group. Please note access to this site is by guided tour only.
30 mins
The SPACE gallery will be showing a Sydney Open exclusive preview of Around and within, the new exhibition by Macquarie Group First Nations Emerging Curator, Freja Carmichael. Please note access to the gallery is via Erskine St.
Arup's new art Gallery will showcase their first installation by artist Penelope Davis. Inspired by a 'bloom' of jellyfish Penelope created the 50 silicon sculptures in Sea-change as a thoughtful meditation on the impact of human consumption and waste. Children are invited to create their own 'bloom' at the colouring station inspired by Sea-change.
Historical images of the building will be displayed in the ground floor lobby
‘Ask-an-expert’: there will be an Information Officer on hand to tell stories and anecdotes about the people and events that have shaped the museum and answer questions about the award-winning Westpac Long Gallery and the heritage and architecture of the original building, the Lewis Wing.
Walk-and-talk tours will be held throughout the day as well as examples of model building and virtual reality demonstrations.
Firefighters will stage two displays during the day.
Guided tours of the luxurious Camerino end of trip facilities will depart from the lobby at regular intervals throughout the day.
There will be exhibition panels showing the history of the building and the surrounding areas, as well as Hong Kong's latest developments. You may wish to try your luck in a lucky dip to win instant prizes of a range of Hong Kong-branded souvenirs.
Explore this fascinating museum on your own, or you can participate in our daily tours & talks. Note the tours & talks can take only limited numbers due to the size of rooms in the museum. Ask our friendly staff what’s on.
KPMG will give a brief talk on how they incorporate their commitment to Indigenous communities into all areas of their business and building, such as by naming their client meeting rooms on level 38 with Indigenous names. This ties in strongly with their commitment to ensuring that the cultures, histories and rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are understood, recognised and respected.
Member offer:
Our friends at the Museum of Contemporary Art are offering 2-for-1 on tickets to David Goldblatt: Photographs 1948-2018. Simply present your Sydney Open Member Pass at the ticketing desk to claim. This offer is only available on Sunday 4 November.
Member Offer:
Café discount: Enjoy a 10% discount at the Espresso Cart No. 37 Phillip (open 8:30am -4pm) located at the Museum of Sydney.
The Parliament of NSW’s public café will be open with gifts also available for purchase.
Tours by Jonathan Bryant (Heritage Consultant and Director of Urbis)
If heritage architecture and adaptive re-use are your passion, don’t miss this once in a lifetime opportunity to hear from Jonathan Bryant, who played a key role in the conservation and transformation of the historic Sydney Water offices into the luxurious Primus Hotel. Bryant is a heritage consultant and the Director at Urbis with a reputation for successfully delivering complex and sensitive heritage projects. This is a State significant building that is a frozen moment when Art Deco Architecture was evolving into pure Functionalism. This project has sensitively adapted an important interwar Sydney building that has become publicly accessible for the first time in fifty years. The completed building was awarded an Australia Institute of Architects Commendation.
20 minute tours every hour. No booking required.
Please note, access to the Presidential Suite is by guided tour only, departing at regular intervals from the mezzanine level.
The duration of each Presidential Suite tour will last approx. 15 min.
Each tour will have a capacity of 10 people.
Between 4-6 Presidential Suite tours will be conducted each hour.
There will be talks in the museum about the building’s design and architecture, and a display of specially selected objects from the Reserve Bank of Australia’s archives.
The Cathedral welcomes everyone to the regular Sunday morning services – 8am and 10.30am.
Members of the public are welcome to attend St James’ morning services:
- 7.45am – Said Eucharist
- 9am – Sung Eucharist
- 11am – Choral Eucharist
St Mary's Cathedral welcomes the public to 5pm Vespers and 6pm Mass following Sydney Open. For additional service times please visit St Mary's Cathedral website.
'Ask a Librarian' - Library staff will be on hand in the Friends Room to answer any questions.
Please note access to this site is by guided tour only with maximum 8 people per tour. Each tour is 30 minutes and explores one house.
Special exhibition and viewing of Son et Lumière video continuously all day. Audio tours also available.
A selection of artefacts from the site will be on display in The Big Dig Archaeology Education Centre.
For children there will be a simulated excavation (ages 6–12) and artefacts analysis activities (ages 10–16), along with an all ages friendly animation and pictures slideshow exploring how the site has changed over time.
Please note the laneways of the site are open to the public throughout the day.
Guides will be on hand to speak about the historical and architectural aspects of The Great Synagogue throughout the day.
You can also join our curator for a special tour of the First 140 years exhibition. Tours will run at 11am and 1pm. Please note that places are limited to 20 people per tour and are given on a first come, first served basis. Access to the exhibition is only possible by joining a tour. There is no wheelchair accessible entry to the exhibition.
Member Offer:
Exclusive Member area: Recharge with complimentary tea & coffee at your very own Members & VIP area located at The Mint. Open 8.30am – 4pm.
Café discounts: Enjoy a 10% discount at No.10 Store (open 8am – 3pm) and No. 10 Bistro (open 12pm – 3pm), located at The Mint.