Sydney Opera House celebrates 50th birthday with light show and free tours

Friday, 20 October 2023 10:09

By Reuters

Sydney Opera House celebrated its 50th birthday on Friday, with a laser show planned to illuminate the iconic building.

Officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 20 October 1973, the Opera House is widely regarded as one of the greatest architectural designs of the 20th century, with 10.9 million people visiting every year.

The building will be illuminated on Friday evening by a light show created by Australian audio-visual artist Robin Fox, before welcoming an expected 37,000 people on Saturday for free tours, its first open day in eight years.

"A symbol around the world and a national treasure turns 50," Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"Happy Birthday to an Australian icon."

As part of the 1956 Opera House international design competition, 233 designs were submitted by architects from around the world with Jorn Utzon from Denmark chosen as the winner.

Construction began in 1959 with the project meant to take four years to complete, but after Utzon resigned due to a change in government, design differences and a blow out in costs, the structure took 14 years to complete.

The Sydney Opera House was added to UNESCO's World Heritage List in 2007.

More from Quirky

China half marathon offers cow, fish, chickens as prizes

A half marathon in China's northeast province of Jilin announced an unusual selection of prizes, with first over the line winning a cow and other runners getting wild fish, geese or roosters, in a bid to attract more participants and promote local produce.
T. Rex is at center of debate over dinosaur intelligence

Surmising even the physical appearance of a dinosaur - or any extinct animal - based on its fossils is a tricky proposition, with so many uncertainties involved. Assessing a dinosaur's intelligence, considering the innumerable factors contributing to that trait, is exponentially more difficult.
Horses run amok in central London

A number of horses are running amok in London and at least one person has been injured, with the army called in to help locate the animals, authorities in the British capital said on Wednesday.
Kishida delights Washington with promise of 250 cherry trees as gift

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida drew cheers and applause from US lawmakers on Thursday when he announced a plan to donate 250 cherry trees to the US capital to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the US independence.
124 candles? Peru stakes claim to world's oldest human, born in 1900

Peru's Andean mountains may hold the secret to longevity and the world's oldest ever person, if a new claim by state officials of a 124-year-old man born in 1900 are proven to be true.