MANDEE NEWSLETTER
22 MAY
YOUR WEEKEND GUIDE
Winter has arrived on the beaches, but before you reach for the wetty, it was 22 degrees yesterday, so let's keep some perspective.
Vivid kicked off last night, so if you are feeling chilly, we recommend a trip across the harbour to bask in the glow of that sweet electric hum. Cue jokes about the power bill. Who says Sydney doesn’t have culture?
See below for our full guide to the opening weekend, plus some local dispatches worth your attention: Butterboy has turned its iconic cookie into a cereal, a tiny Warriewood brewery just beat the big dogs at a national beer competition, and Manly's late-night entertainment precinct is getting closer…amid concern from residents about their whoop sleep scores.
FEATURED EVENT
VIVID Opening Weekend | 23 - 24 MAY
Lights on from 6pm nightly across the harbour.
🎵 MUSIC — TICKETED
Sat 23 May · Sydney Opera House The Studio | Ticketed — see website for price | A NYC underground legend. Rare, left-of-centre, unmissable for anyone who knows.
Sun 24 May · Sydney Opera House Concert Hall | Tickets from $49.90 |ARIA Award-winning Yolŋu surf-rock. Their Sydney Opera House debut — one show only.
Sun 24 May · Sydney Opera House Concert Hall | Tickets from $79.90 | Two of hip-hop's most distinctive voices, both making their Sydney Opera House debut. A big deal.
🎶 MUSIC — FREE (TUMBALONG PARK)
Sat 23 May · Tumbalong Park · Lyric 7pm, Mallrat 8:30pm (free) | Fresh Aussie pop from two of the country's brightest. Half a billion streams between them.
This weekend · Tumbalong Park (free) | Latin DJ night with DJ Sebi D, Willie Sabor and Mista Sidz.
✨ LIGHT & FOOD — FREE
Nightly from 6pm · Sydney Opera House | Sweeping projections on the sails by French artist Yann Nguema. The iconic Vivid image.
Sun 24 May · 7:30pm & 9:30pm · Cockle Bay (runs Sun - Wed only) | 22 shows across 11 nights: the most drone performances in the festival's history.
Nightly · Cockle Bay | The most ambitious outdoor laser spectacular the festival has staged. On every single night.
Nightly from 6pm · Argyle Cut, The Rocks | Lasers, projection and sound collide in a 7-minute ride through time. Very atmospheric.
Nightly from 6pm · Barangaroo Reserve | Open-fire cooking from Australian chefs. Eat well, wander the harbour.
WEATHER
SPORT
ICYMI
Butterboy launches cookie cereal: Now a northern beaches institution, Butterboy (the same team behind Rollers and Norma's Deli) has dropped its latest creation, Mini Cookie Crunch. It is a bite-sized cereal version of its signature cookies, complete with white and dark chocolate chips. Teeth rot never looked so appealing. Rumor has it the macros are perfect for post longy recovery.
It hit shelves last Thursday at $12.50 a box from all Butterboy stores.
Half-Pace Brewing wins at international beer awards: Warriewood's tiny nano-brewery, is barely 2 years old and is built from second-hand equipment.
This didn’t stop them taking home Best Fruit Beer at the 2026 Australian International Beer Awards in Melbourne. The winning drop, Cherry Pick'n Sour, is a fruited sour ale conditioned on sour cherries, rhubarb and vanilla. Give it a try!
Manly's late-night entertainment precinct scaled back: plans for an 18-month Special Entertainment Precinct trial in Manly's Corso have been modified after more than 300 community submissions raised concerns about noise and amenity.
The council has tightened the proposed rules; entertainment venues must now comply with strict noise limits from 10pm on weeknights and midnight on weekends. The trial is still on track to begin in Spring this year.
LIVE MUSIC @ NIGHT
Northern Beaches Live Music: Weekend of 22-24 May 2026
Saturday 23 May
Manly Pavilion (Manly): Pavilion After Dark, DJs till late
Shore Beach House (Manly): DJs all night
Gopher (Manly): Live set TBA 6pm to 9pm, Seedy Mackerels classic rock cover band 10pm to 1am, free
Donny's (Manly): live music
Ivanhoe Hotel (Manly): local pub / rock & funk bands, 80s, 90s and now, 9pm to 12am
Quaker's Hat Brewing (Manly Vale): Saturday Night Live Music
Bombies (Balgowlah): Bombies Saturdays with Chase Zera, Jack Spalvins 6pm, Swim Good 8pm, Chase Zera 10:15pm, free entry
Harbord Diggers (Freshwater): Vera 2pm to 5pm, DJ Hayden 6pm to 9pm
Felons Brewing (Brookvale): Waist, post punk, Barrel Room, doors 8pm, free entry, 18+
Freshwater Brewing (Brookvale): Astrovan
4 Pines Truck Bar (Brookvale): Live in the Pines from 8pm
7th Day Brewery (Brookvale): Ventura, Bangalley, Cross Pollinate and Carpark Collective, FOMO Saturdays from 5pm till late
Bucketty's Brewing (Brookvale): Kings of Curl Curl 3pm to 5pm, Too Many Times 4pm to 7pm, Vibe Band 8:30pm to 11:30pm
Nomad Brewing Co. (Brookvale): Manly home game on the screens (NRL, not live music), 7:35pm kick off
Noble Craft Distillery (Brookvale): The Josh Weatherall Quartet at Rossco's Bar, 7:30pm
Hang 10 Distillery (Warriewood): Alby, folk and indie singer songwriter, from 5:30pm
The Mona (Mona Vale): Live Sessions from 3pm
The Newport (Newport): Newport Saturdays 12pm to midnight, Alex Preston 12pm, Mike Dotch 3pm, Joe Barrs 6pm, Sam Wall 9pm
Sunday 24 May
Shore Beach House (Manly): DJs
Gopher (Manly): Gabe Parisotto, solo acoustic session, 7pm to 10pm, free
Donny's (Manly): live music
4 Pines Truck Bar (Brookvale): Live in the Pines from 2:30pm
Bucketty's Brewing (Brookvale): The Rattlesnakes, 3pm to 6pm
Noble Craft Distillery (Brookvale): 25 de Mayo party at Rossco's Bar, ticketed
The Newport (Newport): Newport Sundays 12pm to 11pm, Tino Levi (live) 12pm, Cadell 2pm
MANLY FROM THE PAST
Palmy in the 20s
This photo from circa 1920 shows Palm Beach when it was still mainly sand and scrub. The Barrenjoey Lighthouse sits on the headland and the (then brand new) golf links stretch out below it (fun fact: golf links are the oldest style of golf course) and that's about it.
No houses dotting the hills, no Boathouse, no weekend traffic crawling up Barrenjoey Road. The whole peninsula was so remote that the only reliable way to get there was via ferry across Pittwater. The golf course had opened just a few years earlier and was one of the few reasons anyone made the trip.
