Sydney Festival artistic director Olivia Ansell speaks at the opening day of the Sydney Festival. A traditional Māori choir welcomed Lisa Reihana and her massive water-based octopus artwork, Te Wheke-a-Muturangi: The Adversary, to its festival home at Watermans Cove. And the sensational late-night cabaret superstars of Smashed: The Nightcap put on a show with their live band. Later, the giant four-metre tall Snuff Puppet Seagulls caused some trouble.

Sydney Festival opens today with a city-wide celebration of art bursting into the summer calendar and runs through to 28 January. Across 24 action-packed days, taking in 50+ venues and enlisting the talents of hundreds of international and local artists, this year’s festival is a testament to the creative appetite of Sydney and its culturally curious audiences. Sprawling the city and surrounds, from Parramatta to Bondi Beach, Sydney Festival has something for everyone this January.