History Comes alive in Sydney's Rocks District

Sydney is putting on a spectacular show of fire, water and music

May 7, 2009

Visitors and residents of Sydney are in for a treat in June, when a three-day festival re-enacts a fire which devastated a convict ship in the harbor 195 years ago.

Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority is staging Fire Water, a free outdoor festival never seen before in The Rocks, the oldest part of Sydney. From June 12 to 14, every evening between 6pm to 9pm, a dramatic interpretation will take place of a fire which destroyed the convict ship Three Bees in Sydney Cove 195 years ago.

Syney's Fire Water Festival a Stunning Spectacle

The Fire Water festival promises to be a stunning spectacle set to the live classical sounds of the award-nominated band Coda as hundreds of lanterns float on Campbells Cove, opposite Sydney Opera House, representing descendants of the many convicts who arrived in Australia in the 18th and 19th centuries. Three times each evening, a sculpture of the ship will emerge from the water before bursting into flames.

The Rocks will be alive with fire sculptures, light installations, musicians, giant helium-filled lanterns and flame-grilled food from restaurateurs in the area which includes some of Sydney's top eateries. The event is designed to dramatize the disaster when Three Bees, which had brought 210 male convicts to Sydney, exploded and sank off Bennelong Point where the Sydney Opera House now stands.

The ship caught fire when it was preparing for its return journey to England and exploded when the flames reached the lower cargo hold and the ship's gunpowder store, sending the ship to its watery grave. Visitors and descendents of the Three Bees convicts are invited to create their own floating lanterns at workshops and place them in the harbor.

Fire Water is part of Vivid Sydney - a contemporary performing arts festival and the biggest international music and light festival in the Southern Hemisphere. Other events are Luminous - a music festival at Sydney Opera House; Smart Light Sydney, showcasing dynamic light art sculptures using smart technology; and Creative Sydney - a series of creative industry seminars and workshops.

The festival is aimed at transforming the city to a spectacle of music and light in and around the Sydney Opera House, The Rocks, the waterside area of Circular Quay and the city centre. It is one of five anchor events in the first ever NSW Master Events Calendar launched by the NSW Government in October last year.

The Calendar provides a launchpad for a number of anchor events held in Sydney during the year - including Sydney's New Year's celebrations; Sydney Festival; the Autumn Racing Carnival; Crave Sydney, incorporating the Sydney food festival; and the Australian Open Golf Championships. Other new events include an outdoor visual arts exhibition based throughout the city and around the harbor islands and Breakfast on the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge.

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