FIFA Fan Festival Sydney 2023Credit: Destination NSW
Fans celebrating at FIFA Fan Festival, Tumbalong Park.
#feelnewsydney
With its supercharged events calendar and welcoming spirit, no one throws a party like Sydney – and from now to 20 August, the free FIFA Women’s World Cup Fan Fest’s in full swing, lighting up Darling Harbour with live matches on the big screen, legendary entertainers and fun activities to keep the good times rolling beyond the game. Here, we’ve rounded up some unmissable highlights; consider this your written invitation to join the action in the heart of Sydney – Australia’s home of football.
Party with thousands of new friends
As the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 (FIFAWWC) live matches light up Stadium Australia and the Sydney Football Stadium, nearby Darling Harbour is the buzzy epicentre for all things entertainment on 11, 12, 15, 16, 19 and 20 August – when the ultimate Final showdown will decide the winner. Throughout the tournament you can join 5,000 fans at Tumbalong Park and catch the action on giant screens and, in between cheering on the Matildas, lace up your boogie boots as some of Australia’s most beloved headliners hit the stage, including Jacoténe, Ruby Archer, Chloe Gill, Jack River and Mia Wray. With music and a feel-good buzz in the air, you can’t help but move – and be moved.
Join the world in a sing-along
Football’s power to bring people together has long inspired the great songwriters – and this year’s FIFAWWC anthem boasts triple the inspiration. Pop legends, Australia’s Tones and I, US rapper BIA and France-born Senegalese star Diarra Sulla, have joined creative forces for the year’s ultimate banger, “Bring It On” – the walk-on track for all 64 championship matches. Don’t miss the trio performing the anthem live on 15-16 August – click here to reserve your place and “Boom, boom, do not delay!”
Get a taste of the action – and local favourites
From the grandstand’s technicolour to its soundtrack of cheers, FIFAWWC is a sensory playground – and the Fan Festival elevates the experience with a moreish spread of tastebud tinglers. Tuck into a traditional barbecue as Aboriginal native food chef Sharon Winsor plates up delicious indigenous ingredients, and bite into the Sydney Tuna Cheeseburger – created by award-winning seafood chef Josh Niland especially for the festival. Plus, there’s quintessentially Sydney street-eats like gozleme, pizza and dumplings, and two onsite bars serving Aussie beer and wine.
Get inspired and smash your goals
Nothing’s quite as inspiring as seeing world champions at their best, and along with watching your heroes flex their skills on Tumbalong Park’s big screens you can put your skills to the test at the Fan Festival Playground. Get a kick out of the shooting-speedometer and cross-bar challenges; learn from the experts at training clinics; chase that winning feeling in penalty shootouts and soccer matches on a pop-up pitch; and challenge your squad with football snooker and football minigolf.
FIFA Fan Festival Sydney 2023 Credit: Destination NSW
Fans celebrating at FIFA Fan Festival, Tumbalong Park.
#feelnewsydney
FIFA Fan Festival Sydney 2023 Credit: Destination NSW
Fans celebrating at FIFA Fan Festival, Tumbalong Park.
FIFA Fan Festival Sydney 2023 Credit: Destination NSW
Fans celebrating at FIFA Fan Festival, Tumbalong Park.
#feelnewsydney
FIFA Fan Festival Sydney 2023 Credit: Destination NSW
Fans celebrating at FIFA Fan Festival, Tumbalong Park.
Be intrigued by game-changing artefacts
Uniting, uplifting and supporting athletes from across the globe, FIFAWWC has been a game-changer for women in sport since 1991. Immerse yourself in its remarkable journey at Fan Fest’s onsite FIFA Museum – the first of its kind in Australia. Hyundai's Goal of the Century exhibit showcases just how far we’ve come, while the Calling the Shots display highlights the passionate players, coaches and fans embodying FIFA WWC’s pioneering spirit. Get up close to the Winner’s Trophy and explore a trove of treasures including signed mementoes and The Rainbow of Shirts, which brings together the 32 jerseys of this tournament’s teams.
Wear your colours with pride
They say fans are the twelfth member of every football team, so invest in a uniform. Fan Fest hosts Australia’s largest flagship FIFAWWC store, with two levels of official merch for each of the participating teams. Show your support and kit yourself out in your side’s gear and apparel, and pick up unique collectibles including the official FIFAWWC ball so you can play on long after the tournament ends.
Join the action beside the harbour
As well as the nonstop fun at Tumbalong Park, the fun continues around the harbour as Stadium Adidas takes over Mrs Macquarie’s Chair from 10-20 August. Here you’ll enjoy a huge pop-up adventure zone with surprises like skill-testing challenges with the OCEAUNZ Official Match Ball; jaw-dropping technology and hands-on sensory experiences. You may even run into football living legends Alessia Russo, Lena Oberdorf, Mary Fowler and Caitlin Foord. This free, feel-good event runs every day from 11am-8pm, but places are limited – book ahead to reserve your spot today.
Follow the party vibes across Sydney
FIFAWWC 2023 is the biggest women’s sporting event in world history – and its electric energy is filling every pocket of the harbour city! So, beyond the grandstands and the official Fan Festival, follow TimeOut Sydney’s guide to the bars, pubs and party zones levelling up the viewing experience, including live sites at Parramatta Square and Rouse Hill; the Surry Hills pub serving free margaritas when the Matildas score, and more.
For more information on FIFA Fan Festival click here.
FIFA Fan Festival Sydney 2023 Credit: Destination NSW
Fans celebrating at FIFA Fan Festival, Tumbalong Park.
#feelnewsydney
FIFA Fan Festival Sydney 2023 Credit: Destination NSW
Fans celebrating at FIFA Fan Festival, Tumbalong Park.
FIFA Fan Festival Sydney 2023 Credit: Destination NSW
Fans celebrating at FIFA Fan Festival, Tumbalong Park.
#feelnewsydney
FIFA Fan Festival Sydney 2023 Credit: Destination NSW
Fans celebrating at FIFA Fan Festival, Tumbalong Park.
More Inspirational Stories
The Fall Guy Credit: Universal & UPI Media
The Fall Guy in Sydney with a spectacular Glebe Island Silo Stunt
#feelnewsydney
Action-comedy film The Fall Guy explodes onto Australian screens on 24 April, and along with Hollywood superstars Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, Sydney also plays a starring role. But the city isn’t just a backdrop to many of the action-packed scenes in the film, it also offers real-life action experiences to get your heart pumping. Here’s our guide to high-octane experiences in Sydney.
On-the-water adrenaline
Just like Ryan Gosling blasting around Sydney Harbour in a high-speed boat chase, you too can feel the wind in your hair, the sea spray on your face and your heart in your mouth on an Oz Jet Boating experience. These bright red, shark-faced jetboats fish-tail, spin and slide under the Sydney Harbour Bridge, past Dawes Point Park (where we meet Jean Claude the kelpie in the film) and the iconic Sydney Opera House, leaving you breathless and somewhat damp. Turn it down a notch with a two-, three- or five-day course from EastSail, with classes on the calm shores of Rushcutters Bay, or go five-star by hiring your very own superyacht from the fleet at Sydney Harbour Luxe Charters – Ghost II was featured in the film.
Get locked in an escape room
A bolted door, a countdown clock and a series of fiendish puzzles – outsmart the bad guys and challenge your friends in one of Sydney’s best escape rooms. Award-winning The Cipher Room, with locations in Newtown and St Peters, offers immersive, expertly designed rooms. Choose from a film noir-style hotel, a mysterious abandoned toy shop or a dystopian French bunker. Entermission Sydney has virtual-reality rooms, with themes like Alice in Wonderland, a pirate ship or space station. While not strictly an escape room, the one-of-a-kind Hijinx Hotel is a fun escape-like challenge set inside a quirky 15-room hotel.
Hickson Road Reserve, Dawes Point Credit: Destination NSW
Friends walking along Sydney Harbour in the morning.
#feelnewsydney
Hickson Road Reserve, Dawes Point Credit: Destination NSW
Friends walking along Sydney Harbour in the morning.
Oz Jet Boating, Sydney Harbour Credit: Destination NSW
Experience the incredible speed of the red shark boats as they blast across Sydney harbour at high speed with Oz Jet Boating.
#feelnewsydney
Oz Jet Boating, Sydney Harbour Credit: Destination NSW
Experience the incredible speed of the red shark boats as they blast across Sydney harbour at high speed with Oz Jet Boating.
Find your need for speed
It’s not an action movie without a car chase, and while you can’t speed through the CBD streets like Ryan Gosling and Jean Claude, you can still challenge your friends to race via go kart at Hyper Karting Moore Park. At the 410-metre indoor track, the electric cars offer plenty of exhilarating straights and corners, with a high-speed function to help you overtake your mates. True petrol heads should make a pitstop at Luddenham Raceway in southwest Sydney, where the go karts are fuelled and the 600m outdoor pro circuit offers 12 high-speed corners and even nighttime drives. Want to do the real thing? Trackschool has half-day passenger or driving experiences in a Porsche 911 Carrera also at the raceway.
Have an adventure up high
A high-stakes, sky-high chopper scene is an action flick essential; recreate the experience (minus the stress) on a flight with Sydney HeliTours. The 20- or 30-minute tours take in jaw-dropping views of harbour icons like the Sydney Opera House, Taronga Zoo, Bondi Beach and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Or live out your Hollywood star dreams onboard the luxury Sydney Seaplanes. If free-falling from the sky like Ryan Gosling does jumping from a multi-story building is the heart race you crave, get the thrills without the spills at iFly Downunder: fully accessible, all-ages indoor skydiving that will make you feel like a superhero. Or take a day trip to the Blue Mountains for a ride on Scenic World’s 270m-high glass-cased Beyond Skyway for that soaring feeling while safely enclosed in a cable car.
Luddenham Raceway, Luddenham Credit: Destination NSW
Track Day at Luddenham Raceway Motorsport Park, Luddenham.
#feelnewsydney
Luddenham Raceway, Luddenham Credit: Destination NSW
Track Day at Luddenham Raceway Motorsport Park, Luddenham.
Sydney Seaplanes, Rose Bay Credit: Destination NSW
Couple ready to enjoy a Sydney Seaplanes flight from Rose Bay, Sydney.
#feelnewsydney
Sydney Seaplanes, Rose Bay Credit: Destination NSW
Couple ready to enjoy a Sydney Seaplanes flight from Rose Bay, Sydney.
Scale walls and cliffs
Action heroes need to be agile and spider-like; flex your skills scaling rock walls at one of Sydney’s top indoor rock-climbing centres. Climb Fit in St Leonards has beginner and high-tech climbs using augmented reality, while Ledge is a smaller centre in Camperdown perfect for beginners, and BlocHaus in Marrickville focuses solely on bouldering. If you prefer to climb surrounded by waterfalls and forests, make the extra leap to the Blue Mountains, and challenge yourself on an abseil or rock-climb under the expert guidance of the Blue Mountains Adventure Company.
Spots to refuel
After all that adventuring, you’re going to need a spot to refuel and cheers to a big day. Make it a meal with a view at Aster Bar on top of the InterContinental Sydney – with uninterrupted views of the harbour. The rooftop bar featured in the film is the Ivy – which is a local favourite for big nights out. Partake in Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt’s love for spicy margaritas at Centro 86, a new underground tequila bar in the CBD, or taste award-winning cocktails at Dean and Nancy on 22. Finish up with a feast at one of the restaurants located around Jones Bay Wharf (you’ll spot this area in the film as Ryan Gosling hides on his boat from the bad guys) or snack in the late-night dining havens in Chinatown: try Japanese izakaya Nakano Darling, xiao long bao from Nanjing Dumpling or Mamak’s legendary roti.
Rest your head
Even heroes need their beauty sleep. Rest up like an A-lister at the Kimpton Margot, a recently opened CBD hotel with Art Deco touches, and featured in the movie (ask Kevin for the fruit plate). Compact yet comfortable, the Little National Hotel is located in the heart of the city near Wynyard (also a major filming locale for The Fall Guy). And for a boutique hotel suitable for everyone from film stars to stunt crew, stay in the Ace Hotel in Surry Hills, with unique in-room features like guitars, record players and locally made custom robes.
Sydney Adventure Tours, Katoomba Credit: Destination NSW
Sydney Adventure Tours offers private tours to the Blue Mountains. With an experienced tour guide, take a bushwalk through nature and experience the rainforests.
#feelnsw #newsouthwales
Sydney Adventure Tours, Katoomba Credit: Destination NSW
Sydney Adventure Tours offers private tours to the Blue Mountains. With an experienced tour guide, take a bushwalk through nature and experience the rainforests.
Little National Hotel, Sydney Credit: Little National Hotel
The rooftop lounge at the Little National, in Wynyard in Sydney.
#feelnewsydney
Little National Hotel, Sydney Credit: Little National Hotel
The rooftop lounge at the Little National, in Wynyard in Sydney.