A surreal sausage dog. A family car overflowing with memories. A mini-golf course that swaps immaculate greens for colour and chaos. At Parramatta Lanes, art doesn’t wait behind a gallery door.
From 21–24 October 2026, discover installations, live performance and playful encounters across the CBD. Give yourself time to explore, because several of this year’s works invite you to do more than just look.
Meet Benjamin Akuila’s PurseZilla
PurseZilla transforms Benjamin Akuila's ceramic tiki-mask purses into a giant inflatable artwork. The Westmead-born artist of Tongan and Irish descent uses humour to explore culture, identity and belonging within the Tongan-Australian community.
The title is a nod to Godzilla and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, hinting at the scale, glamour and playful spirit behind the work. Come for the spectacle, then take a closer look at the stories behind this oversized purse.
Play a round at The Great Putty Pop-Up
At Eat Street Car Park, Rosie Deacon and Jen Denzin turn mini golf into an artwork you can play. The Great Putty Pop-Up: Art Mini Golf features six fantastic holes, from underwater coral gardens to kitsch koalas.
Deacon's colourful sculptural worlds meet Denzin's playful use of found objects and reclaimed plastics. Whether you're keeping score or taking in the details, expect surprises around every corner.
Follow the curves of OURO
At Eat Street Car Park, OURO transforms the ancient symbol of the ouroboros, a serpent swallowing its own tail, into a giant sausage dog winding through the city.
Created by artists Samuel Kim (Sam Absurd) and Lawrence Liang, the playful installation features five connected sections that form the dog's head, tail and looping body. Bold graphics inspired by the Buddhist cycle of rebirth wrap around each piece, inviting visitors to wander, sit and explore. The collaboration began when the artists met through Parramatta Lanes in 2023.
Discover The Car That Carried Home
Western Sydney artist Marian Abboud brings her late father's 1964 Isuzu Bellett to Eat Street Car Park, turning a cherished family vehicle into a story of migration, memory and care.
Restored by her family, the car is filled with crates and boxes of fruit and vegetables, recalling childhood trips to Flemington Markets. Each festival night, live performances developed with Abboud's sisters, cousins and invited participants bring those memories into the present through washing, cutting, preserving, sharing and eating.
Part installation, part live performance, it's a deeply personal story grounded in Western Sydney.
Browse the Art Car Boot Sale
Stay at Eat Street Car Park for an exhibition and marketplace, where the vehicles are part of the artwork. Across four nights, curators Con Gerakaris, 704 W High St and Prinita Thevarajah bring together a changing line up of artists and vendors, with art, ideas and conversations unfolding.
Cars become spaces for installation, design and experimentation, transformed into pop-up nail salons, hair braiding studios and temporary tattoo parlours. With a different lineup each night, there's always something new to discover.
Enter a miniature world with You Are Me
You Are Me brings the feel of a text-based video game into live theatre. A miniature greenhouse becomes the world of pink-haired Nuku, whose adventures are shaped by the audience's imagination.
Designed and performed by Niow, with computer programming by Steph O'Hara (SohLa), the work blends puppetry with both old and new technology. Step into Nuku’s world at Eat Street Car Park.
Swap the gallery floor for a dance mat
At Civic Arcade, Tamil-Australian performance artist TE$H presents CyberKitty, a cyberpunk alien takeover powered by Dance Dance Revolution. Jump on, chase a high score and become part of the performance.
Nearby, Modular Conversations brings artists together for live synth experimentation, while Sound Bath: A Portal Into the Liminal, curated in collaboration with Kaleidoscope Collective, creates a space to slow down, listen and reset.
Experience Sound Off
Sound Off is a Pasifika underground sound culture born in the carparks and industrial edges of South Auckland, Porirua, and the Hutt Valley of Aotearoa. Crews modify cars and bikes with custom-built siren sound systems and gather to battle.
For Parramatta Lanes 2026, A Sound Off takes over Leigh Memorial Church carpark. Brisbane collective Lownslow Brisbane bring a group of cars for a series of demonstration battles and site activations. The carpark becomes an experience of car culture community and big sound systems. This project is led by Caleb & Mable Fa'auiga (Lownslow Brisbane) connected by Edith Amituanai with performances by Morgan Hogg and projections of Pacifica moving image artwork.
Explore the art program and map out your discoveries.
Proudly co-funded by the NSW Government in association with Create NSW.
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Spaghetti tossed in a cheese wheel. Lamb cooked over coals. Halo-halo finished with creamy ube ice cream. If your first question about Parramatta Lanes is “what are we eating?”, this is your starting point.
Punk in Beatdisc Lane. A DJ battle in Bodega Lane. Jazz and poetry at Erby Place Car Park. From 21–24 October 2026, Parramatta Lanes brings a different soundtrack to the CBD, with live acts taking over streets, laneways and rooftops.
From 21–24 October 2026, Parramatta Lanes celebrates 15 years of transforming laneways, rooftops and unexpected spaces into a celebration of eats, beats and art. Discover headline acts, unforgettable flavours and surprise experiences around every corner.
