The 2008 program included 103 events across a range of genres from music, theatre, dance, circus, film, visual arts and talks. There were 317 performances of which 42 were free. Almost 1000 artists and company members performed in Sydney Festival events at 25 venues across our city and 343 of these were international artists arriving from 19 countries.

We've done some more number crunching and have come up with a few facts and figures that might interest you from this year's Festival:

- Number of radio interviews organised: 210

- Number of signs produced for Festival venues: 390

- Number of flags across Sydney City and Parramatta: 632

- Number of parts the Torano car was cut into to fit through the stage doors for Kin: 3

- Number of tireless Festival volunteers: 200 (183 alone for Festival First Night)

- Number of Sydney Festival staff: 286

- Number of media calls: 42

- Number of tonnes of water used in Alas: 3

- Number of airport pick ups and drop offs: 107

- Number of nights booked for rooms in hotels and apartments: 1756

- Number of info flyers handed out at Festival First Night: 40 000

- Number of kilograms of salt used in White Darkness (Three Works by Nacho Duato): 60

- Number of attendants at Jazz in the Domain: approx 100 000

- Number of tickets sold: more than 125 000

- Number of tickets sold at the Tix for Next to Nix booth: 3700

- Number of live artists, musicians, DJs and VJs that performed at Beck's Festival Bar: 200

- Number twisted ankles: 1
 

"What a diverse and magical festival it has been with such startling dance works as The Age I'm In and construct, such a feast of masterful noise in the form of The National, Sufjan Stevens and the omnipotent kook Björk, once again proving she is as special as it gets."
The Daily Telegraph, 26/1/08

"Fergus Linehan's third Sydney Festival has been a joy: generous, inclusive and high-spirited. The gathering of so many of the country's brightest and best choreographers was unprecedented and offered a master-class in a particularly fertile branch of Australian arts. Anyone looking for highly challenging and intellectually stimulating work would have found it here."
The Australian, 28/1/08

"Sydney Festival 2008 was the record-breaker that confounded critics and proved to be more inclusive and more popular than ever."
The Daily Telegraph, 29/1/08

"There was no denying the Sydney Festival's pitch to the youth market and those who are young at heart… all helped give Fergus Linehan's penultimate program as director a raw, youthful energy, and a passionate edge."
Sydney Morning Herald, 29/1/08

"Festival time makes Sydney somewhere you want to be…I love the way Fergus has centred the festival in the heart of the city... Festival First Night was the best free cultural event I have ever seen in Sydney. Fergus Linehan goes from strength to strength."
The Daily Telegraph, 21/1/08
 

To view more photos, visit the Image Gallery section of the Festival Community here.
 

The past three weeks have been jam packed full of Festival highlights. We opened with a bang on January 5 with Festival First Night and saved some of the best til last with Bjork's incredible performance on the Forecourt of the Sydney Opera House on January 23.

We asked Sydney Festival staff for their favourite 'Festival moment', here are some of their responses:

"Being part of the Ngapartji Ngapartji audience where we all learnt how to sing Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes in Pitjantjatjara."

"Seeing the whole of Martin Place packed and pumping with all those crazy kids on Festival First Night was pretty damn special."

"Watching the terror on Fergus' face while a ten year old tore his hair apart at Haircuts by Children, while trying to reassure him it looked ok (it didn't!)"

"Hearing the crowd sing the line 'I believe everything is possible' for five minutes during Amp Fiddler's encore at Beck's Festival Bar."

"Getting shivers up my spine listening to Joanna Newsom playing her harp and singing her gorgeous, ethereal songs backed by the Sydney Symphony. Simply magical."

"A woman was feeling faint while watching Black Watch and was escorted into the CarriageWorks foyer by a doctor who happened to be in the audience. When staff asked the doctor if there was anything they could do to thank him for his help, he replied without a moments hesitation, 'two tickets to La Clique please'!"

"Standing backstage in the Domain on Festival First Night watching Brian Wilson do an impromptu song with his band members."

"Kutcha Edwards' performance in murundak when he brought out framed photographs of his deceased parents, placed one on each side of him and dedicated his song to them, saying they would be so proud of him performing in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall. A beautiful Festival moment."

"Singing along to The Proclaimers with the actors from Black Watch at karaoke after their show one night."

"My highlight was watching the faces of our three wedding couples on Festival First Night as Julie McCrossin announced they had each won a honeymoon cruise. Their jaws dropped!"

"Lining up to have my haircut in Parramatta by a 10 year old at Haircuts by Children and seconds before being approached for a style consultation with my hairdresser, seeing the event coordinator come bounding out the front door yelling 'anyone got any band-aids'!?”

"Sydney Symphony behind a tarpaulin over the entire front of the Domain stage at Symphony in the Domain, playing to 800 people in the pouring rain! Bizarre, dedicated and a moment of true Festival spirit!"

"The beauty and grace of Three Works by Nacho Duato reminded me that all the blood, sweat and tears working for Sydney Festival are worth it - 100%."

"Getting so inspired by the vision, idealism and pragmatism of director Scott Rankin at his Eat Drink Talk Art appearances."

"Being showered with Airvag's confetti on Festival First Night, and feeling like a five year old with a big grin on my face."

"Watching the opening of Dance Screen at Sydney Opera House and thinking... yes - we did it, and it looks fabulous!"

"The three closing images of three shows - the salt falling in White Darkness (Three Works by Nacho Duato), the water in Alas, and the marvelous shuttlecocks falling from the sky in James Thiérrée's Au Revoir Parapluie."

"Conducting crane-making workshops at Kids First with hundreds of enchanted families. Watching the exasperation of some poor parents who fell behind their own five-year old in the fold-by-fold process would have to take the cake!"

"A fan with a bunch of native flowers for Brian Wilson was turned away at stage door by security. Disappointed, she went to walk out when she saw Brian Wilson entering the theatre. ‘Are they for me?' he asked, 'How beautiful! Thank you so much. Will you come back stage and give them to me after the show?' The look on her face was fantastic."

"At the sound-check for A Secret in the Shape of a Song when Rob Snarski was singing with The Triffids and guests in full flight behind him, realising just how amazing the show was going to be."

"Joanna Newsom and members of The National cutting a rug on the dance floor at The Famous Spiegeltent while two of Björk’s band members DJ’d!"

"8am on the opening day standing in the middle of a closed Macquarie street with three Festival First Night stages in view thinking... it's about to begin!"

"Watching the sun set through the stained glass windows of The Famous Spiegeltent as Andrew Bird plucked, strummed and looped us all into musical bliss."

"Looking out over a soaking Symphony in the Domain at the die hard fans and the feeling from all onstage that we owed to it them to give a damn good show."

"Watching our 10 year olds run a tip-top salon at Haircuts by Children, greeting customers, arranging appointments and 'consulting' on hairstyles ... and then going for beers once all the young hairdressers had gone home!"

"Wrapping up the Festival by watching Au Revoir Parapluie from the Greenroom with a bottle of red and a bowl of popcorn."

What was your favourite moment of Sydney Festival 2008? Why not let us know on the Festival Community forum here.
 

For the first time in Australia, the MCA presents Los Angeles-based Tim Hawkinson, whose ingenious constructions of found objects and everyday items have brought him widespread recognition as one of the most original artists working today.

Known primarily for his large-scale kinetic and sound-producing works, Hawkinson works across a range of media to create highly imaginative two and three-dimensional assemblages. He constructs intricate and playful works that engage with the human body and portraiture, using materials such as latex, plastic, cardboard, string and mechanical components.

For his MCA solo exhibition Hawkinson presents sculptures, photo-collages, and drawings from the mid 1990s to the present. It introduces his extraordinary new animal creations - among them a bat created from shredded black plastic bags and twistie ties - as well as inflatable and collaged self portraits, monstrous beings and fantastical structures that chatter, whistle, rotate and spin.

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Let us introduce the woman who has held the Sydney Festival office together over the past month while the rest of us have tethered on the verge of madness. Meet Sydney Festival's Administration Officer Julie Gock...

What is your background? I started off in hospitality working Front of House, then moved into customer service and administration in the Telecommunications and IT industries.

Explain your job at Sydney Festival? I manage Sydney Festival reception, accounts and general administration. I respond to, and direct calls and emails from, the public and make sure that everything is running smoothly in the office.

What's the best part of your job? Too many things! All the lovely, talented and intelligent people I work with, being in such a creative environment, and finally seeing it all come together during the Festival. It’s really fantastic to be a part of the Festival team... there isn’t anything to complain about in this job!

What's the worst part of your job? Not having enough hours in the day to get through all the work. During the Festival this is worsened by attending shows every night followed by Beck's Festival Bar! A lot of people here (including myself) end up sacrificing sleep in order to squeeze everything in during Festival time.

Funniest experience at Sydney Festival? Some of the phone calls we get are quite amusing. Some examples include “What date is Oprah in the Park?” and “is Bjork going ahead even if it rains… I have a sore throat so I can’t get wet”!

What have been your favourite shows at Sydney Festival 2008? Pink Martini, construct, Tunng, House of the Holy Afro, Joanna Newsom and the Sydney Symphony, Moodyman at Mad Racket and Cirque Ici's Secret. I am also going to see La Clique next week and I am sure I won’t be disappointed.
 

Sydney’s summer of festivals continues with the City of Sydney’s Chinese New Year Festival from 1 – 24 February.

With 50 events over three weeks, this is the largest celebration of the Lunar New Year outside of Asia.

Don’t miss the spectacular Chinese New Year Parade on Sunday 10 February, with 2500 local and international performers, colourful costumes, floats and giant zodiac lanterns. Starting at 11am from Park and George Streets, the Parade route follows George Street, through Chinatown before ending at Tumbalong Park with a free concert.

Check out the program for all the other events including Dragon Boat Races, visual arts, tours, films, talks and more. Visit sydneychinesenewyear.com.au for program details and for your chance to win a holiday for two to Macau.