Parramatta Lanes street festival marks 10th anniversary

This year, to mark the Parramatta Lanes street festival’s 10th anniversary, a free four-day program of food, arts and live music will run from 12th to 15th October highlighting the diversity and vibrancy of the city and tempting people who work in the CBD to stay after dark and celebrate. 

City of Parramatta Lord Mayor Donna Davis notes “Lanes has grown year-on-year and is now our flagship event bringing together amazing food, music and art in the heart of Western Sydney. This year’s program features some of the best bits of the past ten years with some added extras to mark this wonderful milestone. If you’ve never been to this incredible event, this is the year to lose yourself in Parramatta Lanes.”

Over four nights, local restaurants, food trucks and pop-up stalls will include Tokyo Lamington, Firepop, The Pharoah BBQ, Pocket Rocketz, Satay Bros, Burger Head and Hyderabad House along with Butter Parramatta, Lilymu, Koi Dessert Bar and Mrs Wang’s Dumplings.

There will be a mix of music on show, including Parramatta Lanes regulars and locals DJ Levins, Bodega Collective and Planet Trip & Beat Kitchen Records. Some of Western Sydney’s best talent will take to the stage including rapper Mung Mung, Mike Champion, Nicole Issa, Liyah Knight, Good Pash, Rainbow Chan, Boy Soda, Jade Kenji, and DJ Fried Pork Chop.

Visitors can make their own musical contributions with an outdoor karaoke stage set up in Parramatta Square – complete with disco ball and multilingual song selection. If singing isn’t your thing, over in Centenary Square, you can join a drumming circle playing beats as the sun sinks each night.

Across the City, it will be hard to miss Fantastic Planet by Parer Studio’s larger-than-life glowing ‘humanoid’ inflatables, as they loom over crowds and peek around corners. Visitors can also interact with 3D-printed model avatars known as ‘Flower People’ created by Parramatta Artists’ Studios alumnus Kalanjay Dhir.

On Friday 14th October, a special Diwali event will take over Centenary Square to mark the Festival of Light. International Bollywood actress and model Kangan Sharma will emcee the night which will include local dance groups and entertainment.

There will be a stage dedicated to featuring Western Sydney artists at Parramatta Lanes. This is funded by the NSW Government’s CBD Recovery Grants in association with City of Parramatta Council.

Parramatta Lanes was recently awarded the RH Dougherty Award for Innovation in Special Events at the Local Government Week Awards, recognising its creative approach to adapting the event post lockdown.