This past Sunday marked the 40th anniversary of the Sydney Opera House in Australia. In honor of the celebration, thousands of spectators from around the world took part in free activities throughout the weekend. A 6,000-cupcake display was on hand to give out to the over 6,000 who participated in a free tour of the Opera House. This is just one example of the many ways the residents of South Wales celebrated this historical event.

Constructing a Multi-Million Dollar Project

The historical opera house was built in 1973 with designs by Danish architect Jorn Utzon. The concept for the opera house began many years before in 1956 when the New South Wales (NSW) government launched an independent design competition to find the perfect architect to design the multimillion-dollar project. A year later the NSW Government chose Utzon to design the building. By 1966 the cost of the project had well exceeded its original $7 million estimate. With a new projected cost of over $100 million, critics started to question Utzon’s motives and the NSW Government withheld his regular payments until a formal investigation could be completed. Utzon eventually resigned and over the next seven years several architects took his place to try and finish his original design concept.

More Than Just Opera

The Sydney Opera House is home to a multitude of venues with the largest of them being the main Concert Hall that can hold up to 2500 spectators. Along with the popular Concert Hall is also the Drama Theater, thee Playhouse, the Studio, and the Utzon Room. The Sydney Opera House is known as the most popular opera house in the world, and hosts on average over 1,500 performances a year that bring in over 1.2 million people. Some popular companies who frequent the opera house are the Opera Australia, the Australian Ballet and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. The opera house also holds guided tours daily bringing in another 300,000 tourists to the area a year to enjoy the magnificent venue.

40th Birthday Events

The 40th anniversary celebrations started on Saturday with a crowd of about 5000 in attendance to see the royal family. Prince Frederik and Princess Mary along with NSW Governor Marie Bashir, Premier Barry O’Farrell and Jan Utzon were among the big names in attendance on Saturday. On Saturday popular Australian rock singer, Jimmy Barnes, was accompanied by three generations of Utzon’s family to see “Happy Birthday” to the opera house. Jan Utzon, son of the opera house’s original designer Jorn Utzon, said during the ceremony, “It is a unique Australian expression of will and enthusiasm,” in reference to the beautiful design his father built. The 40th birthday celebration will continue throughout the week with a variety of artists set to perform.

The Sydney Opera House marks a special place in history not only for Australia but for many around the world. With its state of the art venues and unique design, the opera house has well been worth the $104 million it took to construct. In 2007, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) named it one of the Worlds Heritage Sites for its cultural impact it has had on the world.

After 40 years of being one of the world’s top cultural destinations, the Sydney Opera House will continue to inspire and entertain for many generations to come.