Sculpture by the Sea at Bondi Beach

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Fri 18 Oct 2024 - Mon 04 Nov 2024

Tips to maximise enjoying the exhibition (particularly with kids!)

Having just taken the kids for a successful excursion to Sculpture by the Sea in 2024, I thought I would share some of the things that I think worked really well for us and will be helpful hints for anybody trying to approach it for the first time.

We hadn't taken the kids since pre-COVID and I am happy to report that now they are twelve and fourteen years old, they have so much more appreciation for the event.



That said, this is definitely the best type of art gallery to take your younger tearaways to. A great variety of sculptures from artists around the world, lots of open space and clean fresh sea breezes, screaming is allowed and in some of the artworks you're even allowed to touch/ clamber in and out of (the signs tell you which ones you can do this with - I'm not sure the kidlets were fully abiding by these rules - other kidlets that is, not ours - ours were very law-abiding). And best of all, it's FREE!

The thing which puts people off is the crowds associated with this type of event. And I won't lie - on weekends, it is HEAVING. But! There are things you can do to make it more bearable.


1) Use public transport. There is very, very limited parking but with the amount of crowds coming to this event, gambling on being able to secure one of these prized parking spots is a very risky and stressful enterprise. The buses to Bondi Beach are frequent and easy to catch from Bondi Junction. so just go ahead and use these.

2) Go very early (pre 9am) or later in the day (after 4pm). Crowds tend to peak around the 11am - 3pm period, so if you go outside these hours, not only will there be more space to breathe, but you'll also miss the period when the sun will burn you to a crisp. It's a win-win!

3) Bring a hat, sunnies, sunscreen, long-sleeved t-shirt and water bottle. Essentials for a couple of hours spent in the sun.


4) Make sure everybody is wearing comfortable shoes as it's a fair walk with lots of steps to climb. This is not the time for the kids to decide to wear their cute pink princess pumps that clitter clatter on paving stones and leave blisters.

4) Don't forget your camera/ phone so you can take some happy snaps of the day out by the ocean. It's very hard not to take amazing-looking shots in such a picturesque location - even without the amazing artworks.

5) While there are plenty of places to eat at Bondi Beach, they are also very very busy because of the event. We find that bussing back to Bondi Junction and eating at one of the many many eateries there is not only easier and cheaper but means you have a bigger range of kid-friendly places to choose from. We found some great inexpensive Japanese places on Oxford St, including a little sushi train place and an udon noodle bar, which the kids loved.

6) There are one-way parts of the path on the weekends, to maintain sanity with the crowds. This necessarily means that if you're going on the weekend, you need to start at Bondi and walk in one direction towards Tamarama Beach. When you get to Tamarama Beach, there's a 381 bus around the corner heading back up the hill and to the right when you're facing inland, which will take you back to Bondi Junction.

7) You can definitely do it faster than this, but I would allow 2 hours to do the whole sculpture walk, which gives you time to stop and truly muse over the ones that really speak to you.

At the time of writing, the 2024 Sculpture by the Sea event is almost over for Bondi to Tamarama, but I hope these tips will help people plan for future years!

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#beaches
#arts_culture
#exhibition
#outdoors
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