What’s on In Sydney: The Jurassic Lounge
Have you ever been in a museum and thought, “This would be much more fun and educational if everyone was drinking and dancing.”? Don’t worry, Sydney has got you covered with their “Jurassic Lounge” event in the Australian Museum.
Welcome to the Australian Museum: Home of Dinos and fun.
If you are going to be in Sydney in August or September, this annual event is must-do in your itinerary. Every Tuesday night for six weeks, the Australia Museum opens it’s doors during the evening and invites you to take in a drink and a show while getting your education on. And it only costs $15 (which includes one free drink) so there’s no excuse not to go.
First, book online to avoid any lines for the tickets, at http://www.jurassiclounge.com/ I stupidly decided to just wait the line the night I went, which also happened to be the closing night. Horrible idea. If you are as tonta as me, go with plan B: make friends! Being sociable, I chatted with the group ahead of me. When they found out that someone they knew was at the front of the line, they had him buy my ticket in addition to theirs. Waiting in line: avoided.
Next bit of advice? Don’t be distracted by the naked burlesque dancer at the main entrance. (Yes, you read that right.) I know; being distracted is hard to avoid when you’re in a museum and there’s a naked lady rolling around in glitter. But the show goes on throughout the night, so don’t worry. Instead, head straight to the bar to redeem your free drink. The lines for the bar just get longer throughout the night, so it’s best to get your drinks in early so then you can enjoy the museum and not spending your evening hanging in a queue. Bonus, the bars are serving sparkling wine. Nothing says culture like sparkling wine.
Drinking while learning. It's like I never left Uni.
Once you’ve got your drink in hand, then you can enjoy the burlesque show.
The most popular exhibit of the night
When you’ve had your fill, I’d recommend walking around the museum and checking out the exhibits:
First, head to the marine life exhibits. There’s this really neat interactive board that teaches you all about the different kinds of marine life that are exclusive to the waters around Oz. And, of course, tells you of how they can all kill you instantly.
Notice the text on the display says "First Aid"...
Don’t worry, one of the next exhibits is called, “Surviving Australia” and it teaches you about the deadly species of this continent, where they are, and how to recognize them. And with that sparkling wine buzz, you won’t be all that fussed anyway.
Will I survive Oz? This seems like a 'Si se puede' moment.
Then walk through the halls to the Dino Music stage, to take in some live music. This conveniently named music stage has been set up in the Dinosaur exhibit, so you can dance away while learning that a brontosaurus is not a real thing. On your way there, you can watch people make evolving pieces of art from colored liquid on a projector. I’d recommend walking through here a couple of times since the pieces are constantly changing.
Afterwards, you can head to the skeleton room, to see (wait for it….) skeletons. While some skeletons are set up for the evening just for fun, some are actual fossils and you can read all about their history. And if that’s not interesting enough, you can always… sing some karaoke! Of course! I always thought the Louvre would be a more educational experience if I could hear some off-key rendition of “I Will Survive” while taking in the Winged Victory.
Singing with the Dead
You can also go through the bird exhibit, the rocks and minerals exhibit, and the Indigenous Australians exhibits, all of which are very interesting and educational. Even more fun, go to the kids section and play with live bugs!
The only non-poisonous animal in Australia
Finally, cap off the night in the “silent disco”, which is a room filled with people jamming to the music coming from the headphones provided at the door. Without the headphones, you just see a sea of people dancing in silence, which is kind of a creepy image. With the headphones, you jam away with Pharaohs to some great remixes of Beyoncé. It’s the perfect way to end an “educational” night, before catching the train home.
Silently dancing the night away
Any readers know of any other fun, annual events in Sydney?
I’m really annoyed at myself for not going to Jurassic Lounge when it was on. Especially now that I know more about it!
That sounds like total fun. I’m not much of a museum person but add drinks, karaoke and a silent disco, and I’m there!
Anything can be fun with drinks and a silent disco! And this way you learn, haha.
That museum looks totally wild. Australia can never tone it down. I’m embarrassed to share a common language