Lifestyle
This vibrant and cosmopolitan Inner-West suburb has inspired more songs than a love-sick heroine. Boasting the highest concentration of theatres, art spaces and performing arts schools, including the Newtown School of Performing Arts, it has produced a selection of well-known Australian artists including Frenzal Rhomb, Christine Anu and The Whitlams.
King Street, the very long main thoroughfare, is jam-packed with an endless stretch of unique shops selling retro clothes, indy record stores, books and even gothic garb. The southern end, recently having undergone an artisan upgrade has some of the coolest and quirkiest cafes and bars, like the New Orleans-inspired establishment Earl’s Juke Joint.
What’s also super cool about Newtown is the exciting and wonderfully cheap range of food on offer. With well over 60 restaurants offering cuisine from all corners of the globe, you’ll be hard pressed not to find one that tantalises our taste buds. Perhaps, the most notorious of Newtown’s attractions are the live drag shows that take place every Friday-Sunday at The Newtown Hotel.
Pubs? . . . No shortage with the Courty, the Towny or Bank to name a few. Live music?. . . the Enmore Theatre and jazz venue Vanguard, guarantee you’ll be getting in the groove. Something more subdued? Then there’s always the Dendy theatre for a late-night art-house flick. Parking in Newtown is only attempted by the brave, with locals preferring to hop on one of the many buses along King Street. You can also head to Newtown Station which is only three stops into the city.
At this indy capitol, people-watching is an art-form within itself. So if being a voyeur is more your style, grab a seat and your fave drink, and kick back on the top balcony of the The Newtown Hotel, where you can watch the free entertainment pass you by.
Love it or loathe it. Newtown is a cultural kaleidoscope that can’t be forgotten.
