Festival Director: Stephen Hall
The New Year’s Eve Gala Opening Concert launched the 1979 Festival of Sydney with a dazzling array of talent on the Sydney Opera House forecourt including performances from Sherbert, John Paul Young and Johnny Farnham.
The Festival celebrated poetry with an array of events at Pitt Street Uniting Church including poetry readings and talks, occasionally with musical accompaniment. Music in all forms played Festival-wide, including the AGL Festival of Folk and Caltex Jazz Festival.
Russian opera came to Australia with the stars of the Bolshoi Opera, and international puppetry with Fukien Puppet Group from China and Puk Puppet Theatre from Japan.
The sporting program remained strong, with the Benson & Hedges Showjumping Championships, yachting, bowls competitions, cycle races, the Soapbox Derby, and a tug-of-war competition in Hyde Park.
MUSIC
Choral/Orchestral Concert
St Philip's Chamber Orchestra
Conductor: Michael Dyer
Tenor: Ronald Down
Harp, Flute, Soprano and Poetry Reading
Harp: June Loney
Flute: Gioconda Auginer
Soprano: Claire Ford
Viola: Leonie Cains
Vocal Music from the 17th and 18th Centuries
Soprano: Jane Dewitt
Contralto: Cathryn Capewell
Tenor: John Stewart
Bass: June Wickham
Lunchtime Recitals
Exponent Brass Quintet, Matvey Krel (accordionist), Mico Consort of Viols, Consort of Sydney, Fontegara Ensemble, The Kyngs Minstrels, Murray Khouri Trio, Chamber Choir of Sydney Uni, Australian Brass and Woodwind
AGL Festival of Folklife
Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, Bushwackers and Larrikins, Margaret Roadknight in Concert, Irish Hooley, Black Out!, Vin Garbutt. Eric Bogle, Bernard Bolan, Little Brother Montgomery, Davey Graham, Papau New Guinea Raun Raun Theatre
Caltex Jazz Festival
Jazz Quartet USA, George Golla, Don Andrews, Peter Boothman, Steve Murphy, John Connely, David Levy, Ray Martin, Barry Woods, David Liebman, Mike Nock All Stars, International Jam Session
An Evening Of Choirs
Lunchtime Organ Recital
Peter Bray, Gordon Webb & Ensemble
Outdoor Concerts
Martin Place, Hyde Park, Macquarie Place, Sydney Square
Chicago
London Early Music Group
The Seymour Group
Early Classical Music
Music Of The Moment
Rock Dancers
Spontaneous Music
OPERA
Albert Herring
Australian Opera
Conductor: William Reid
Fidelio
Australian Opera
Conductor: Carlo Felice Cillano
Stars of the Bolshoi Opera
Australian Opera
Director: Oleg Moralev
Conductor: Fuat Mansurov
Baritones: Alexander Vorshilo, Michail Maslov
Sopranos: Galina Kalinina, Nina Fornina
Tenor: Lev Kusnetzov
Mezzo Soprano: Nina Terentieva
Bass: Boris Morozov
DANCE
Busy Bodies
Contemporary Dance Theatre
Dance Company
Dance Exchange
Kolobok
Melbourne State Dance Theatre
One Extra Dance Group
THEATRE
Actors Company
A Midsummer Night's Dream
PACT Theatre
Bedroom Farce
New England Travelling Playhouse
Berlin To The Blackstump
269 Playhouse
Cabaret
Festival of Sydney Playwrights with Ensemble Theatre:
How Sleep The Brave
Syndrome
Dancing Partners and Animal-Vegetable-Mineral
Demand
Flesh and Blood
Ensemble Theatre
Fukien Puppet Group
Impromptus for Leisure
Jumpers
Nimrod Theatre
Paradise Depression Style
Actors Company
Puk Puppet Theatre
Reedy River
New Theatre
Sleeping Beauty
Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
Statements
Strap Me Vitals!
The Bed Before Yesterday
MLC Theatre Royal Company
The Common Room
The Happiest Days of Your Life
Genesian Theatre Company
The Mysterious Potamus
Marionette Theatre
The New Adventures of Pinocchio
The Rose Without A Thorn
Darlinghurst Players Theatre
The Spellbuster
PACT Theatre
The Travelling Jungle Doctor Show
Thoughts of Chairman Alf
Treasure Island
Nimrod Theatre
POETRY
Late Afternoon Readings
Lunchtime Readings
Night of Dada
Poetry of Dissent
Poets and Personalities
Chaired by the Lord Mayor
Poets and Politicians
Chaired by the Town Clerk
Poets Corner
Poets Union
FILM
Balinese Surfer/Balinese Visions/Tamu
Films for Children
The Battle of Chile
CELEBRATIONS
Art Lark In the Park
Australia Day
BP Disco Party
Chinese New Year
Darlinghurst Fiesta
Festival Food and Wine Frolic
Festival Parade Sydney Talks Back
Medieval Fair
Music of the World's Peoples
New Year's Eve Gala Opening Concert
Galapagos Duck, The Anne Kirkpatrick Band, The Young Northside Big Band, Sharaba, The Dancin' Machine, Colleen Hewett, Johnny Farnham, Jenny Howard, Kevin Borich Express, St George Sutherland Scottish Pipe Band, Sherbet, John Paul Young, Soul Construction
Smiths Crisps' Mardi Gras
Surry Hills Fiesta
Sydney Theatre Critics Awards
Traditional Rocks Celebrations
SPORT
30 Square Metre Club
Abbotsford 12ft Skiffs
AJC
All Historic Racing
Ampol Champion of Masters Bowls Singles
Australian Junior Chess League Championships
Australian Open Chess Championships
Balmain and District Flying Squadron
Benson and Hedges Showjumping Championships
Chess Marathon
Double Bay Sailing Club
Drummoyne Juniors
Dry Regatta
Frisco Sailing Club
Grand Prix Cycle Race
Greenwich Flying Squadron
Hunters Hill SC
KB International Games
Lane Cove River SC
Manly 12ft Skiffs
NSW 18ft Sailing League
NSW Trotting Club's Summer Carnival
Parramatta River Regatta
Royal Sydney Anniversary Regatta
Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron
Soapbox Derby
Sun Surf Carnival
Sydney Amateur SC
Sydney Flying Squadron
Sydney Turf Club Race Meetings
Tattersalls Race Meeting
TS 16 Sailing Marathon
Tug-of-war Competition
Vaucluse 12ft Skiffs
Vintage Car Rally
Yngling Association
WORKSHOPS
Children's Music Workshop
Children's Dance and Drama Workshop
Children's Art and Craft Workshop
Making Melanesian Artefacts
COMPETITIONS
Kite Flying Finals
Rostrum Effective Speaking Finals
ART
3rd World in Focus
1979 Lilium Show
1979 Summer Exhibition
Aboriginal Bark Paintings and Carvings
Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Competition
Architectural Awards Art in the Community
Art in the Gardens
As We Were: Portraits and Landscapes
A Tribute To Sydney Lloyd Rees
Australian Pottery 1900-1950
Bones From My Body
Books and Beyond
Ceramics
Contemporary Australian Tapestry
Ethnic Sculptors' Exhibition
Exhibition of Model Trains
History Through Photographs
International and Local Kite Display
Lithographs from the Collection
Oenpell Paintings
Performing Arts Stamp Exhibition
Photographic Art in Limited Edition
Photography - A Professional Approach
Photography in the Park
Photography Week
Polaroid "Auto-Portraits"
Police Around The World
Project 28 - Ken Unsworth
Salute to Sydney
Sir Joseph Banks: Father of Australia
Sydney: City Of Hope
Sydney County Council Art Exhibition
Sydney Morning Herald Art Prize and Scholarship
The Alan Renshaw Bequest
The Sydney Craftsman
Treasures from the Nicholson Museum
Twice Festive Sydney
What Is A Child?
