We've collected a fine brew of events from across Sydney to quench your thirst for culture. Mull your options, mark your calendar and curate a festival of your own this month.

Theatre and music theatre

Sydney Theatre Company has just opened its truly special family work Cicada, based on the beautiful children's book by Shaun Tan, whilst entering the final days of the smash hit on former PM Julia Gillard, Julia, and the coming-of-age comedy/drama, Golden Blood 黄金血液. Over at Ensemble Theatre, check out offbeat comedy Colder Than Here.

Music theatre fans can dial up the quirk with Griffin's Flat Earthers: The Musical, prepare to be flattened by the powerhouse vocals of Well Behaved Women at Belvoir or laugh 'til your ship-sides crack at Titanique the musical. For the cabaret inclined, La Clique at Sydney Opera House is sure to be blabla.

In the mood for a creepy classic? Head to large-scale theatrical chiller, Frankenstein, at the Theatre Royal Sydney.

On the dance floor

If you prefer to be on your feet rather than in your seat where dancing is concerned, there's a lot ot keep you moving this month. Mode Festival returns to Cockatoo Island with quality artists like Maurice Fulton, Pearson Sound and DVS1 on the bill, whilst Listen Out Festival draws the bass heads with heavyweights like Skepta and Sub Focus.

In clubland, X Coast hits Lost Sundays for the long weekend, Airwolf Paradise lands at Abercrombie, Tourist plays Liberty Hall and heaps more.

Classical music

If you like your music with less sweat and more clarinet, grab your seat for Sydney Symphony Orchestra's Elga's Enigma Variations, with Rachmaninov and Bach also on the bill. See Beethoven's Ode to Joy in full throttle at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, or Mozart's Jupiter over at City Recital Hall. Also at City Recital this month, acclaimed pianist Angela Hewitt returns to Sydney after a seven-year hiatus.

Contemporary music

The gig schedule is heating up even faster than the weather, with more great music than we could possibly fit in a paragraph. Some inner city highlights include Lime Cordiale and Jorja Smith at the ICC, Empire of the Sun at the Hordern, Floodlights at Crowbar, Jessica Mauboy at The Barracks, The Whitlams and Thelma Plum at City Recital Hall, Polish Club at Oxford Art Factory and Birds of Tokyo and Confidence Man at the Enmore. Jazz fans can enjoy two absolute legends in town, with Marcus Miller and Herbie Hancock both playing Sydney this month.

Two great festivals going down in Sydney west, with Parramatta Lanes and Marrickville Music Festival this month.

Event fruit salad

You won't want to miss what the inimitable Joanna Lumley has to say when she hits the Sydney Opera House for her new live tour, Me and My Travels. Film buffs have plenty to tuck into with both the Irish Film Festival and Japanese Film Festival in action this month. Pick up unique clothing, furniture and food at the Makers and Shakers design market, or wander through incredible sculptures dotted along the Bondi coastline at Sculpture by the Sea.

The behemoth music, art and tech festival SXSW returns mid-month, plus the national First Nations Dance Competition, Dance Rites, hits the Sydney Opera House Forecourt steps for a free and fantastic explosion of dance and culture.