Twilight at Taronga

It’s common to dream about running free in a zoo after hours. The Twilight at Taronga Concert Series has made that dream a reality!

Well, you can’t ‘run free’, as such, but you can be in the zoo after hours. That’s a treat in itself.

Taronga Zoo and its inhabitants are allowing us simple folk access to their playground on a number of nights until the 17th of March. Sit back, relax and take in the picturesque harbour backdrop that the elephants and giraffes take for granted every day.

Add delicious bites, cold bevvies, good company and bloody fantastic live music under the stars to the mix and we might just start calling this heaven!

We’re reaching the halfway point of the concert series and it’s going off! It’s a bucket list experience to tick off – it’s really that amazing! It might be the toots, roars, snorts and hellos from the animals that make it a particularly unique and special experience, but the singing sensations are rocking it too! The cacophony of sounds is really too cool for words.

Side note: Taronga Zoo puts the animals and their wellbeing first at all times. So, above all things musical and entertaining, the zoo is thinking about how the noise will impact the animals. In preparation for this concert series, the zoo hired an expert sound monitoring agency to analyse this. The concert folk have been given noise specifications and then there’s a regular sound check to make sure it’s within the scope of ‘all good’ for our animal friends. If not, it’s immediately adjusted.

So, there’s no need to worry about the fluffy, scaly or any other, because they are really just having a great night of audible entertainment with, quite possibly, the best view in Sydney. Plus, they get to see/hear all the concerts so they are obviously VIPs – a bit jealous, really.

Get in soon or miss out. The pick of the bunch coming up include:

• The Preatures on the 2nd of March
• James Morrison Big Band on the 10th of March
• Kate Miller-Heidke on the 16th of March

About the event

Bring your own picnic but no BYO is allowed. All unsealed bottles will be confiscated upon entry. Not to worry, you can still enjoy a cold one as the venue is licensed with a fully stocked bar. If you don’t fancy packing a picnic, there’s also lots of food options.

It’s BYO picnic rug or low chair also, or you can hire chairs at the venue,

All ages are welcome and there’s a child rate for young ones aged 4-15 and children under 4 are free.

Gates open at 6pm and the concert will finish just before 10pm so it’s not too late for a school night (for the parents’ sanity).

Top tip: With your concert ticket, same day zoo entry is included free of charge. The only catch is that you have to exit before 5pm to re-enter in the Twilight Taronga line (maybe the animals need a break from us human folk for a minute).

words by emily carstairs