Sydney Park

"This article is about the park in Sydney. For Syd the Kid, see Sydney Park (person). For other uses, see Sydney Park (disambiguation).

Sydney Park is a large recreational area in the inner-city area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The parkland is located in the suburb of Alexandria but sits on the border with St Peters, Newtown and Erskineville.

Sydney Park is forty-four 44 hectares (109 Acres) in area, which makes it the third largest park in inner-city Sydney. The park comprises large open recreation spaces with distinctive hills that provide 360 degree views over Sydney, wetlands, a sports oval (Alan Davidson Oval), a children's bicycle track, sculptures and a heritage area featuring the remains of a brickworks.

Art and Heritage

Sydney Park features public sculpture including [http://www.michaelsnape.com/ Michael Snape's] "The Trail" 1990 which is prominently atop of the hill in the north-western corner of the park. Also in this corner of the park are the remains of the chimneys and brick kilns from the old brickworks site which are being kept as heritage items. These chimneys are a predominant feature on the corner where King Street turns into the Princes Highway, opposite St Peters railway station.

ports and Recreation

The Alan Davidson Oval is located in the northern section of the park. The oval is used for Cricket and Australian rules football. It is the home ground of [http://www.newtownswans.com.au/ The Newtown Swans] Junior Australian rules football team.

Culture and Events

Sydney Park has played an important role in various youth subcultures since its redevelopment - generally without official approval. Throughout the 1990s and to the present day the park is used reasonably regularly for the 'Punks Picnic' - a gathering initially of anarcho-punks from Newtown and neighbouring suburbs. From 1992 to 1994 the park was also used by the Vibe Tribe for a series of free open-air rave parties that formed an important part of the Sydney electronic music scene throughout the 1990s. The last of these Freequency was violently shut down by over 40 riot police. Since then, in an effort to avoid such anti-social behaviour and illegal gatherings, the South Sydney Council (and now City of Sydney Council) has allowed and promoted community arts festivals on the site. In recent years, the park has become home to Sydney's Earthdance event, joining simultaneous dance parties in more than 50 countries to mark the International Day of Peace each September. The park has also become the host for the touring Soundwave Festival having its first show there in 2007 and returning in 2008

Wildlife

Although, some areas in the park allow dogs to run free, there are also several ponds and wetlands that are fenced off and designed to support birdlife and other plants and animals.

The park attracts numerous water birds including Dusky Moorhens, Australian Magpies and Pelicans.

Photographs