Festival Director: Stephen Hall
After the success of their inaugural year, the Festival of Sydney returned, kicking off on New Year's Eve, with almost 200,000 people attending the Sydney Opera House celebrations. 1978 saw the beginning of Festival Dance Week, which featured local and international dance companies. Australian cinema was given a moment in the spotlight with a retrospective season of historic classics. Nimrod Theatre (which later became Belvoir) took audiences on a journey (literally) as they boarded ferries to Clark Island to see Treasure Island – a performance so successful they were invited back the following year to do it all over again.
The Festival of Sport brought horse racing, yacht racing, cricket and cars into the Festival of Sydney fold.
There was street theatre, music and free outdoor entertainment aplenty in Hyde Park, and by the end of the Festival approximately one million people had visited the Hyde Park Village.
THEATRE
A Midsummer Night's Dream
The Rocks Players
After Liverpool
Q Theatre Company
Alison Mary Fagan
Ensemble Theatre
Bugs Bunny Follies
Cinderella
Peter Williams Productions
Death Cell at Darlinghurst
Godspell
Hilton Bonner Productions
Heidi
Mad Jean - They Reckon She's Crazy Like A Snake
State Youth Theatre
Martello Towers
Ensemble Theatre
Marionette Theatre of Australia
Night of Vaudeville
PACT's Do It Yourself Pantomime
PACT Theatre
Pentad
Rocjola
Nimrod Theatre
Satyricon
Sydney International Theatre Arts Forum
The Collector
Ensemble Theatre
The Grand Adventure
The Prisoner of Second Avenue
Ensemble Theatre
The Tempest
The Old Tote Theatre Company
Treasure Island
Nimrod Theatre
OPERA
The Merry Widow
The Australian Opera
Conductor: Richard Bonynge
Macbeth
Flying Dutchman
MUSIC
Chamber Music and Poetry
Festival music for organ and brass
Handel's Oratorio (Jeptha)
Opera House Lunchtime Rock
Orchestral concerts
Sydney Symphony
Sydney Symphony Family Pops Concerts
Sound Travel 3
Variety of jazz, folk, bluegrass music
CELEBRATIONS
Australia Day Official Ceremony
Fancy Dress Mardi Gras
Festival of Rock, Surf and Spirit
Grand Festival Parade
New Year's Eve Party
Kings Cross Carnival
Paddington Festival
Rocks Celebrations
Sydney Festival Of Folklife
Sydney Jazz Festival
ART
Antique Doll Collection and Fashion Plates over the Centuries
Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Exhibitions
Art in the Gardens
East, West, Books Make A Bridge
Festival of Sydney Photographic competition
Historic Stamp Display
Historical Exhibition of City Churches
History of Photography
John Kaldor Art Project No. 6 - Richard Long
Lilium Show
Luna Park and Fairground Arts
Photography in the Park
Photography - Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Prints of Old Sydney
Private Collectors' Exhibition
Project Polaroid
Renewing the Dreaming
Aboriginal Homelands Movement
Shapes of '78 Ceramics Exhibition
Stock Exchange Exhibition
Sydney County Council's Art Collection
Sydney Harbour Exhibition
Sydney Morning Herald Art Award and Scholarship Exhibition
The Australian Image
Theatre Costume and Set Designs
The Postal History of Sydney
The Work of the Uniting Churches of Australia
DANCE
Dance Company of NSW
Dance Exchange
Kinetic Energy Dance Company
CIRCUS
Sole Bros Circus
SPORT
AJC Meetings
Ampol Master of Champions Bowls Singles
Balmain and District 12th Flying Squadron Races
Caltex Golf Open
Drummoyne Junior Sailing Club Festival Races
Festival of Sydney Basketball Jamboree
Manly 16ft Skiff Sailing Club Festival Races
NSW Trotting Club's Summer Carnival
Parramatta River Yacht Club Festival Regatta
Royal Sydney Anniversary Regatta
Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron Festival Regatta Day
Sydney Amateur Sailing Club Festival Trophy Day
Sydney Flying Squadron Festival Club Race
Sydney Turf Club Race Meetings
The Sun-Tooheys Festival of Sport
The Sun Surf Carnival
Tug-of-War Competition
Vintage Car and Motor Cycle Racing Festival Trophy
Vintage Car Rally
WORKSHOP
Kite-Making
FILM
Australian Cinema Retrospective 1911-77
Films: Lost In The Bush and They Found A Cave
Paramount Classics of the '30s
Recent Australian Films
POETRY
All Poets Welcome Day
Children's Poetry
Poetry Week
