Creative Ecology · Indicator 2
Experimental venues
What this indicator asks
How many venues in Sydney are spaces for experimental, interdisciplinary and progressive work?
54.5/ 100 · Sydney
We counted fixed venues in the city that have been open since at least January 2025 and hold regular events at night. Dedicated experimental venues count for more than mixed venues which also host experimental nights. Festivals, series without their own venue and closed venues are not counted.
Sydney has 11 experimental venues. Church Street Studios in Camperdown runs improvised music every Monday. At Phoenix Central Park in Chippendale, every show is free and tickets are given by ballot.
Lazy Thinking was a not-for-profit music venue, record store and restaurant in a former butcher’s shop in Dulwich Hill. It put on around 850 shows, charged artists no venue hire fee and didn’t turn away people who were unable to pay. Its landlord evicted it, and its last show was on 29 August 2026.