1 MAY

Welcome to our new subscribers, you've picked a good week to join.

Onto the weekend. May has arrived and it's bringing the goods. The Urban Wine Walk hits Manly on Saturday with seven stops between the Ivanhoe and the wharf, the Great Artist Market sets up at Felons in the morning, and the Sydney Comedy Festival lands at Manly Wharf for the first time ever on Monday night. Touch Sensitive is at Bombies Friday, DZ Deathrays at Freshwater Brewing Saturday, and the long weekend is right around the corner.

Let's get into it.

🎨 The Great Artist Market at Manly Wharf Saturday 3 May, 8am–3pm | Felons Barrel Room, Manly Wharf | Free

The first ever Sydney edition of The Great Artist Market lands at Manly Wharf this Saturday with 40+ artists and makers selling original art, ceramics, fashion and handcrafted goods. It's free, family-friendly and right on the water, a solid morning plan before the Wine Walk kicks off at noon.

🍷 Urban Wine Walk Manly Saturday 3 May, 12pm–4pm | $79

The Urban Wine Walk is back in Manly this Saturday. Pick up your wristband and tasting glass at the Ivanhoe Hotel from 11am, then wander between seven venues across Manly at your own pace, tasting wines from local and interstate producers at each stop. Belgrave Cartel, Garfish, Hotel Steyne, Shore Beach Club and more are all on the trail, each paired with a different winemaker. Your ticket includes tastings at every stop, a $10 food voucher and a $25 wine voucher.

😂 Sydney Comedy Festival: Barrel of Laughs at Felons Monday 5 May, 7:30pm | Felons Barrel Room, Manly Wharf | $39

The Sydney Comedy Festival is hitting Manly for the first time with a showcase night at Felons Barrel Room. Expect a stacked lineup of local and international comedians, cheap drinks, and waterfront vibes. There are three Monday nights (April 27, May 4, May 11), worth extending the weekend for.

Northern Composure is back: If you're in a band (or know someone who is), entries are now open for Northern Composure, the biggest youth band comp on the Beaches. There's a $3,000 cash prize pool, industry prizes and heats kicking off in July, entries close 31 May.

New Italian spot in Brookvale: Bottega 1900 has opened on Pittwater Road near Brookvale Oval, an Italian wine store and Tuscan-style cellar run by a husband-and-wife team who supply some of Sydney's best restaurants. Think guided tastings, hard-to-find Italian wines, artisan cheeses and high-end olive oils.

Manly Town Hall's next chapter: Council is preparing to seek expressions of interest from the private sector to transform Manly Town Hall into a multi-use performance and exhibition space. The building will stay in public hands, but after years of sitting mostly empty since amalgamation, they're looking for a partner who can actually bring it to life.

NOT JUST MUSIC

Insitu (Manly) — Bottomless Drag Bingo + Trivia Brunch, $99pp ($65 non-alc) for shared tapas/pizzas, bottomless beer and wine, 3 cocktails, drag show + prizes

FRIDAY 17 APRIL

SATURDAY 18 APRIL

SUNDAY 19 APRIL

In 1882, William Bede Dalley, the NSW Attorney-General and son of two convicts, bought a patch of land on Constitution Hill overlooking Manly Cove and built himself a full-blown Gothic Revival castle. He called it Marinella, meaning "home by the sea," but everyone just called it Dalley's Castle. It towered over the village for decades, but Dalley himself only lived there about three years before dying in 1888 at age 57. After that it became a boarding house, then a grammar school, then slowly fell apart. In 1939 it was demolished and replaced with Housing Commission flats, ironically also named Marinella. There was strong local opposition, but it was too late. Today, a single sandstone wall with two gargoyles, a dragon and a hunting dog, is all that survives on Sydney Road. Walk past and look up, you'll spot them keeping watch.