News / Entertainment
Get ready to party this Sunday
More than 100 musical and performing acts lined up for Sydney Road event
Brunswick Voice
ALL roads will lead to Brunswick this Sunday for the annual Sydney Road Street Party.
Running from 12pm to 6pm, the event will attract tens of thousands of visitors from Brunswick and further afield to soak up the fun, food and festivities, including dozens of live music performances.
Along with an annual opportunity for the Brunswick community to come together, the street party is a showcase of the Sydney Road shopping strip, with dozens of traders among the 160 stalls and food and drink outlets on the day.
It also serves as the start of the Brunswick Music Festival, which will continue until March 11.
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One of the largest free community festivals in Melbourne, the street party made a triumphant return to its traditional date on the first Sunday in March last year after a COVID-enforced gap.
The forecast for Sunday is for a cloudy but pleasant day, with a top expected temperature of 21 and no sign of rain.
Organisers have programmed seven street stages, five street performing zones, and roving performers along a 1.5km section of Sydney Road between Brunswick Road to Victoria Street.
Seven Sydney Road venues including the Brunswick Ballroom, Stay Gold, The Retreat and Bergy Seltzer will also offer a full day of live music, with the entertainment continuing into the evening after the street events have finished.
The Engakeng-eng (song) Stage in Glenlyon Road will spotlight performers from a range of First Nations cultures, including Australian Aborigine, Māori and Samoan, with award-winning Noongar woman Bumpy closing things off at 5.05pm.
The Kulin-bulok Stage is dedicated to community performers, including primary and secondary school bands.
In total, more than 100 performances will be held on the day.
The event is family-friendly and no alcohol can be consumed on the street itself.
Download a handy guide to the street party >>>
Motorists are advised to avoid Sydney Road between Victoria Street and Brunswick Road from midnight on Saturday until midnight on Sunday as there will be road closures in place on Sydney Road and its cross streets, with northbound and southbound traffic redirected to Lygon Street.
Trains will be running as normal on the Upfield line, while trams on Route 19 will be operating every eight minutes on either side of the road closure throughout the day. Buses will replace trams on parts of the route impacted by the road closure.
Because of COVID, the street party celebrated its 30th anniversary last year, despite first being held in 1991.
The forerunner of the street party was first held in the Victoria Street parklands as an initiative of the Brunswick Ethnic Communities Council in 1989 before moving to Dawson Street between Sydney Road and the railway line the following year.
It soon outgrew that space, moving to Sydney Road between Union and Albert streets and gradually growing in length. Since 2017, it has been fully managed by Moreland (now Merri-bek) Council.
Brunswick Voice will be sharing a marquee at the Sydney Road Street Party on Sunday. The exact location is not known at this stage but keep an eye out for the signs and pick up a free copy of the latest edition of our print newspaper, hot off the presses.
If you would like to volunteer for an hour or two handing out newspapers at our stall, we’d love to see you – and we’ll give you a free Brunswick Voice t-shirt as a keepsake! Let us know by email if you can help out.
