Sugar Fest Oceanic Culture History & Music 2026 @ Chau Chak Wing Museum - USYD

SUGAR FEST; OCEANIC CULTURE, HISTORY & MUSIC

A Sunday of culture, conversation, music, food & community

Come spend your Sunday with us at the internationally acclaimed Chau Chak Wing Museum, University of Sydney, for a vibrant day celebrating the cultures, histories, creativity and connections that bring our communities together.

Stay for an hour or make a day of it!

Find a spot on the grounds and chill to the music, wander through the remarkable Chau Chak Wing Museum collections, grab something delicious from the festival food stalls, sit down for a weaving workshop, join the dancing or simply soak up the atmosphere with family and friends.

And when you're ready for a break, there's always the museum café on the scenic balcony, a beautiful spot for a classic Sunday lunch, good coffee and eats while overlooking the university grounds.

History • Lived Experience • Climate • Our Shared Pacific Story

SugarFest creates space not only to celebrate culture, but to have important conversations about the histories connecting Australia and the Pacific.

Join acclaimed author Ryan Butta, whose bestseller Blackbirding has ignited conversations across Australia and the mainstream media.

Conversations will be facilitated alongside Aunty Raechel Togo, a proud third-generation Australian South Sea Islander and Yugambeh Elder from Mackay, bringing lived experience, cultural knowledge and the intergenerational story of her people.

Lily Roberts, President of the Tuvalu Association, connecting shared Blackbirding histories with the Pacific climate emergency.

Guiding the conversation is accomplished Bundjalung and Australian South Sea Islander media producer, broadcaster and Koori Radio Program Manager Gaven Ivey aka Naian, whose extensive career spans radio production, programming, content development and Indigenous community media.

GET INVOLVED – CULTURE IN YOUR HANDS

Start your Sunday with a taste of the Pacific and pull up a chair at one of our cultural workshops.

🌺🇨🇰 Cook Islands Lei & Headdress Making: Sit, create and connect as Cook Islands makers share the beautiful art of traditional lei and floral headdress making at Sugar Fest. Learn, yarn and make your own piece to wear as you enjoy the festival. Participation is FREE, but spaces are strictly limited, so register early!

🌺🖤💛❤️ Kastom Aboriginal Weaving: Slow down, sit in a circle and experience the beauty of Aboriginal weaving with Amethyst Downing, a First Nations Wandi Wandian woman, multidisciplinary artist and Creative Director of Kyanite Amethyst Creative Co. Share in skills, stories and connection through this enduring cultural practice, guided by knowledge passed through Elders and kin-based knowledge holders. FREE and open to beginners, but places are limited; register early to secure your spot.

💎✨ Tooth Drip by Amethyst: Cultural tradition with contemporary bling! Get your sparkle on as Amethyst brings the hottest tooth-gem trend to Sugar Fest for those who dare to be different! 🖤💛❤️

🌺🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea: Lynn Kanua's stall shares her knowledge of traditional kastom bilum-making, treasured cultural artefacts and the rich ancestral stories and living traditions of her homeland.

THEN TURN UP THE MUSIC!

🌺🖤💛❤️ Get ready for the extraordinary voice of award-winning vocalist, recording artist and composer Emily Blake, a proud descendant of Bundjalung, Tongan and Australian South Sea Islander heritage, whose music moves effortlessly through Soul, R&B, Jazz, Hip Hop and Islander choral traditions. With more than two decades in the Australian music industry, Emily brings a voice rich in culture, story and soul to the steps of the Chau Chak Wing Museum. This is one of those Sugar Fest moments you’ll want to say you were there for come early, find your spot and experience Emily Blake live! 🖤💙🤍💛💚

🌺 Get ready for one of the day’s must-see live acts as The Lady Beans bring their powerhouse 8-piece all-female collective to Sugar Fest with an irresistible fusion of reggae, soul, hip hop and world music. Rooted in cultural diversity, shared stories and seriously infectious rhythm, these women serve up rich harmonies, deep grooves and the kind of live energy that gets a whole crowd moving. Music is medicine, and The Lady Beans are bringing a full dose to the grounds of the Chau Chak Wing Museum. If you’re not at Sugar Fest when they hit the stage, you’ll be hearing about it afterwards. Don’t be the one who missed it.

🌺🇬🇭 Acclaimed Ghanaian-born dancer and choreographer Lucky Lartey brings the pulse of West Africa to Sugar Fest with rhythm, movement and live percussion, plus

FREE DJEMBE DRUMMING LESSONS for beginners and enthusiasts alike! Kids, adults and families can grab a drum, join the circle and experience the infectious energy firsthand. No experience, no cost just bring your energy and get in early. You don’t want to miss the moment when the drums kick in! 

🌺🖤💛❤️ Bringing movement, beats and storytelling with purpose, Joshua Yow Yeh is an Australian South Sea Islander, Bundjalung and Bayali multidisciplinary artist flipping the script through dance, hip-hop, film, music and choreography. A developing artist at NAISDA Dance College, Joshua’s work, including his multidisciplinary project DECOL, takes on colonisation, culture and identity through the lens of a new generation. Catch Joshua live at Sugar Fest 2026, bringing fresh energy, culture and serious movement to the stage. Old stories. New beats. Culture in motion. 🖤💙🤍💛💚

YOUR SUNDAY, YOUR WAY

🌴Dance. Weave. Listen. Yarn. Eat. Explore.

Take in a symposium session, discover the museum, bring the family, meet new people, enjoy Pacific food, find a patch of grass and listen to the music or stay with us for the whole day.

SugarFest is about coming together.

A place where Australian South Sea Islander, First Nations, Pacific, African and broader Australian communities can share culture, exchange stories and celebrate the extraordinary diversity of contemporary Australia.

Come curious. Come hungry. Bring the family. Make a Sunday of it.

Proudly supported by

City of Sydney Council
Chau Chak Wing Museum, University of Sydney
David & Jenni Sutherland Foundation
Australian South Sea Islanders (Port Jackson)