Unique IDFN-0020Description*** This function applies only to Sydney City Council ***
Other municipal Councils absorbed by the City were did not customarily host ceremonial events or civic occasions. Further research may modify this view: for example suburban municipalities may have participated in the visit by the Prince of Wales in 1920, and more recently there may have been involvement in citizenship ceremonies.
Hosting of or involvement by the Council in ceremonial occasions (public celebrations and commemorations) and civic events (such as welcomes to distinguished visitors).
Provision of public entertainment by the Council (such as lunchtime concerts in Martin Place, and Sydney New Years Eve).
The first such occasion may have been the reception in Sydney of HRH Prince Alfred the Duke of Ediunburgh during the first 'royal tour' of the Australian colonies. He laid the foundation stone of the Town Hall on 6 April 1868.
This function includes the award by the Council of honours (Freedom of the City and Keys to the City).CreationThere is no specific mandate for this function, which arises from the position of the Mayor/Lord Mayor and the Council as the municipal government for the City, and usually taken to symbolically stand for Sydney as a whole.
Ceremonial events and civic occasions [FN-0020]. City of Sydney Archives, accessed 07 Dec 2024, https://archives.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/nodes/view/62744