Big Top Sydney

The Big Top (also known as the Big Top Auditorium and The Arena; commonly known as Big Top Sydney) is a multi-purpose entertainment venue located within Luna Park Sydney. Opening in 2004, the venue was a part of the amusement park’s 2003 redevelopment plan. It has a capacity of nearly 3,000, making it one of Sydney’s largest mid-sized venues.

The Big Top

Entrance to venue (c.2013)
Full name	The Big Top at Luna Park Sydney
Former names	Luna Circus (planning/construction)
Address	1300 Big Top Sydney NSW 2061 Australia
Location	Luna Park, Milsons Point
Owner	Brookfield Metro Edgley Pty Ltd
Operator	Luna Park Venues
Capacity	2,950
Construction
Broke ground	7 February 2003 (2003-02-07)
Opened	2 April 2004 (2004-04-02)
Construction cost	$20 million ($33.1 million in 2022 dollars[1])
Architect	Hassell
Structural engineer	MacDonald Contracting
Services engineer	Douglas Partners
General contractor	Cordell Construction
Website
Venue Website

It has housed notable events such as: the 2005 MTV Australia Video Music Awards, Come Together Music Festival and the 2013 Sydney Darts Masters.

History

The venue was originally proposed in 1999 by Metro Edgley Pty Ltd. Known as Luna Circus,^[2] the building was proposed as a venue for circus acts and a possible site for a permanent Cirque du Soleil show. Plans were underway to begin construction in 2000, opening in 2001.^[3] However, the proposal was not approved by the North Sydney Council until December 2002. Construction began in February 2003 and was completed in December. It was built on the site of the former Ghost Train.

An opening celebration concert was held 2 April 2004.^[4] It was hosted by Simon Burke and featured performances by Caroline O'Connor, Marina Prior and David Campbell. The first official event held at the venue was a performance of Sunset Boulevard (featuring Judi Connelli and Michael Cormick) on 3 April 2004.^[5] Australian bands that have performed at Luna Park include INXS in '82, Silverchair in '97, Jet (at Big Top) in '09, Sick Puppies (at Big Top) in '07, and Parkway Drive (at Big Top) in '09.

Venue configurations/capacities

Layout	Capacity
General admission	2,950
Circus	2,085
Theatre	1,800
Custom	2,105
Combo	2,768
Town hall	2,128
Combat Sport 1	1,680
Combat Sport 2	1,892

Performers

• The Amity Affliction
• Architects
• Avenged Sevenfold
• ATEEZ
• B.A.P
• Bastille
• Benee
• Boyz II Men
• Bruno Mars
• Bullet for My Valentine
• Calvin Harris
• Chicago
• DMX
• Dua Lipa
• The Dandy Warhols
• The Darkness
• The Doobie Brothers
• Franz Ferdinand
• The Fray
• Goldfrapp
• Good Charlotte
• got7
• Ice Cube
• iKon
• Incubus
• INXS
• Ja Rule
• Jessie J
• King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard
• Korn
• Kylie Minogue
• Lily Allen
• Meghan Trainor
• Mýa
• New Found Glory
• Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
• Nine Inch Nails
• Paramore
• The Prodigy
• Queens of the Stone Age
• Rita Ora
• Rob Zombie
• Scissor Sisters
• The Script
• Sean Paul
• Seventeen
• Slayer
• The Smashing Pumpkins
• Soundgarden
• Spacey Jane
• Steel Panther
• Stray Kids
• Switchfoot
• The Try Guys
• Vengaboys
• VIXX
• You Me at Six