Sydney Festival 2014: Sacrilege and Festival Village

If you were at The Domain on Saturday night, you'd be well aware that Sydney Festival is in full swing for 2014.

Thousands of people, all up and dancing to Hot Dub Time Machine and then soul queen Chaka Khan was a spectacular sight, but if you missed that, there's plenty of other free and ticketed options around town.

Sacrilege at Hyde Park for Sydney Festival 2014, 9-26 January

One very popular, free feature is the unmissable Sacrilege in Hyde Park north, in front of St Mary's Cathedral. It's a life-size replica of historic Stonehenge in bouncy, jumping castle style.

Sacrilege at Hyde Park

That's right, jump and bounce on Stonehenge, right in the middle of Sydney. Up to 100 people can bounce in each timed session, which are proving popular with all ages, especially on the weekend.

Sacrilege at Hyde Park

Sacrilege at Hyde Park

Sacrilege at Hyde Park

Lawn Library at Festival Village, Hyde Park

There's plenty more entertainment in Hyde Park's Festival Village, with food offerings from 12pm daily and bars opening from 4.30pm.

The City of Sydney has set up the Lawn Library, giving bookworms a unique outdoor, open-air library - no musty smells here.

Folk in a Box at Festival Village, Hyde Park

There's the "world's smallest music venue", Folk in a Box, where audiences of maximum two people enter a dark box to be serenaded by a live musician.

It's a bit strange but the box is covered in notes of thank you and praise for the musicians, and everyone comes out smiling.

Food trucks at Festival Village, Hyde Park

As for food and drink options, there's plenty on offer, though not without queues. There are a range of dedicated stalls and a few food trucks; Jafe Jaffles and Let's Do Yum Cha on Friday night.

Festival Village, Hyde Park

Food Society has the biggest food offerings with burgers and other bits, while the booze sponsors each have dedicated bars.

Woofys sausage sizzle cart

We thought we'd give gourmet sausage sizzle a whirl as I've not come across the Woofys cart before.

With four varieties on offer, each featuring a prime cut beef sausage, it was several steps up from the fundraising sausages and priced at $8 a serve.

The Corker (front) and Nacho Dog (back left) from Woofys

For starters, they were good quality beef sausages, cooked from raw, served on a soft white bun.

The Corker featured creamy cabbage slaw and crispy fried onions and tomato sauce, while the Nacho Dog had guacamole, sour cream, crushed cheesy corn chips and chilli sauce.

The Boss Dog from Woofys

While I couldn't quite pick a favourite, the Boss Dog was a definite winner with slices of tart pickles, sauerkraut, American mustard, tomato sauce and crisp fried onions.

Gelato Messina stall

For post-show dessert we couldn't go past Gelato Messina's fun, carnival-inspired sweet treats. There's actually quite an extensive menu including hot dogs with a chocolate ice cream sausage, Pluto Pups with ice cream centres and ice cream sundaes in fantastic Messina style.

Fairy floss at Gelato Messina

Samurai Fairy Ball from Gelato Messina

The child in me insisted on having the fairy floss dessert, called the Samurai Fairy Ball. The pink floss covers a chocolate-covered pop of light green yuzu sorbet in a sugar frenzy that's just out of this world.

Gelatoffee Apple from Gelato Messina

The Gelatoffee Apple also features an ice cream centre: a super fresh strawberry flavour on this occasion in a red toffee shell, gorgeously fun and slightly messy to eat.

The Spiegeltent entrance

We saw the amazing Amanda Palmer in the Spiegeltent on Friday night, who absolutely killed it with her solo cabaret show.

The Spiegeltent is one of my all-time favourite venues and I'm looking forward to seeing LIMBO there this week and then All That Fall, Othello: The Remix and Ockham's Razor after, and the whimsical Merchant's Store installation in Darling Harbour. I've got my Sydney Festival on!

See more Sydney Festival photos on my Facebook page.