The Sydney Opera House with the Australian flag for Australia Day 

Feeling excitement in the air, spending time with family and friends, and taking a break from routine to come together to celebrate are what make holidays so special. I’m someone who loves any excuse to observe a holiday and learn about its importance. Though initially, I was upset at the fact that I was not going to be with my loved ones for some of my favorite holidays this spring, I was happy to find that in Sydney, and Australia more broadly, there were many holidays and events that I had never heard of or experienced before. Here is a guide to how I celebrated some holidays, new and old, while studying abroad this spring.  

New Holidays and New Understanding  

Fireworks over Sydney Harbour for the Australia Day celebrations  

The first weekend that I arrived in Sydney was the celebration of Australia Day, which falls on January 26th. The holiday marks the arrival of the British on the continent in 1788, but for many Aboriginal Australians, it is a painful reminder of colonization, displacement, and ongoing struggles for recognition. Because of this, some refer to it as Invasion Day, using the occasion to honor the resilience and cultures of First Nations peoples.  

For the celebration, there was a huge festival in front of the Opera House with various performances from a wide range of artists that they showed on screens around the Harbour and completed the night with a fireworks display. It was such an amazing presentation to see and further learn about in the following days about how controversial the holiday is for many Australians as well. Through conversations with staff at the CEA CAPA center and some of my course materials, these various perspectives and understanding of how the day can take on contrasting meanings for different people within the country were brought to light for me. Australia Day served as a great learning experience for me and opened my eyes to a lot of Indigenous struggles that still occur in the country.  

The Year of the Snake and Year of Firsts 

A picture of the front of the Chinese Garden of Friendship near Haymarket during Lunar New Year  

Lunar New Year has always been a holiday that I’ve heard about but never been able to see any festivities related to its celebration. That’s why when I heard that the City of Sydney had a whole Lunar New Year festival, I was also excited to be able to attend some of the events and learn more about the holiday in general.  

There were so many different events that spanned from January 29 until February 16th and encapsulated many different aspects of celebration, from performances to street food tours to boat races. We are so lucky at CEA CAPA that our education center is located in Haymarket, which is primarily the Chinatown region of Sydney and thus a lot of the events were accessible and even easy to stumble upon.  

One day when I was walking to my internship on one of the first days of the celebrations, I got to see the Dragon dance as they went down the street, blessing the businesses with luck for the New Year. There were also so many cool art installations across the Haymarket area, highlighting the year of the snake and all the eleven other Chinese zodiac signs of the different years. I felt so lucky to have this be the time and place where I got to experience a bit of Lunar New Year.  

Feeling the Love Abroad  

Flowers and chocolate-covered strawberries my roommates and I got and made for Valentine's Day 

One of my favorite holidays is Valentine's Day, mainly because I think it symbolizes a day to show appreciation to all of the people you love in your life. Usually, when I’m back home, my friends and I will make cards and have a mini celebration together. To keep this tradition going, my roommates and I decided to do our own Galentine’s Day, and made reservations at an Italian restaurant in the Surry Hills neighborhood. The city was bustling with people with their friends and/or partners. It was the perfect time to celebrate being together in the city and to see how other Australians were celebrating the day as well. We also bought flowers and then decided to make our own chocolate-covered strawberries and watch a movie to end the night. It was such a great way to spend the holiday and take some time to do something different and explore a new place.  

Celebrating Authenticity in a New Way 

One of the floats from the Mardi Gras parade that highlighted some of the original organizers of Sydney’s Mardi Gras in 1978 

By far, my favorite holiday I’ve celebrated since being in Sydney has been Mardi Gras. Not to be confused with the Mardi Gras that happens back in the U.S., Mardi Gras in Sydney is more similar to Pride, as it is a celebration of gender diversity and uplifting LGBTQ voices and perspectives. The biggest event of the festival is the parade, which happened on March 1st, and was such an amazing display of floats and performances that spanned over multiple hours. My friends and I watched as over 200 floats came by, each showcasing a different group of people. It was so great to see so many people able to express their true selves and also serve as a reminder of the fight that still needs to be done to achieve equality for all. We also got to see the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as he walked by in the parade with his party. It was an experience I’ll never forget!  

Being able to celebrate a diverse range of celebrations during my semester abroad has been a highlight of my experience thus far. Celebrating these holidays in Sydney has given me a new appreciation for the many ways people come together to honor history, culture, and identity. As I continue my time abroad, I look forward to more opportunities to celebrate, reflect, and enjoy all Sydney has to offer.