Pinocchio at ACO on The Pier: A family review

This winter school holidays in Sydney, I took on a challenge: three weeks of activities, fully planned, for my five-year-old daughter. I'm documenting the ones worth sharing, the honest experience, the practical details, and what each day quietly built in her. This post: Pinocchio at ACO On The Pier, where one actor, four musicians and a truck full of instruments told the whole story.

First, I have to make a confession. I'm getting good at going around by train!. After a decade of driving everywhere, these holidays have converted me. We rode the train and metro down to Barangaroo station, quiet and effortless, and Penelope loved every minute of it. On a bright, sunny winter day, the short walk from Barangaroo to Pier 2 at Walsh Bay is a pleasure in itself. Along the way we found Jinius at 8/16 Hickson Rd, a lovely korean coffee shop with a fine dining flair, with a proper breakfast menu, good pastries, genuinely good coffee, and a light lunch selection, we had a little brunch there and I'd happily return for it alone.

The venue

I'd never been to ACO On The Pier before, and it's now on my list of favourite Sydney rooms. The Neilson sits right on the water with extraordinary views of the Harbour Bridge, Luna Park and Milsons Point, intimate, with a touch of industrial style and wonderful energy. It's clearly built with families in mind: at the entrance there were colouring activities and long Pinocchio noses for the children to make, so little hands were busy from the moment we arrived, and a small bar covers drinks and snacks.

The show

The staging was the cleverest thing I've seen these holidays. One actor played both Geppetto and Pinocchio, switching between them seamlessly, while four musicians (violin, viola, cello and percussion) wove the story together live. The percussionist doubled as a kind of ringmaster, working from a truck loaded with instruments, conjuring every sound the story needed: creaks, footsteps, magic, mischief. The music didn't accompany the story; it told it.

At thirty minutes, the length is perfectly judged for ages 3–8 (tickets $42 through the ACO website). And I'll say this plainly: I enjoyed it as much as Penelope did. There's a difference between a show you sit through for your child and a show you genuinely watch — this was the second kind.

A nice touch!

When it ended, the musicians stayed. They introduced their instruments, explained them, and took questions, and the children in that audience had no shyness whatsoever. It felt like a hundred questions: curious, funny, serious. In fifteen minutes, a room full of small people learned what a viola is, how a cello speaks, what percussion can do. Entertainment quietly became education, and nobody noticed the switch. Loved it, loved it, loved it.

Worth knowing: the ACO is already promoting The Nutcracker, 12–21 December 2026 at the same venue. If it follows this format, short, child-sized, with the music woven through the storytelling, I'd book it without hesitation.

Make a day of it

The show runs about an hour door to door, which leaves the whole afternoon open. We walked from Walsh Bay to Circular Quay, caught a ferry across the harbour, and finished at Luna Park with Penelope's best friend, who met us there. Metro in, show, harbour walk, ferry, Luna Park, home. A complete Sydney day, stitched together by water.

The practical notes

What: Pinocchio by the Australian Chamber Orchestra — ACO Families series
Where: The Neilson, ACO On The Pier, Pier 2 Walsh Bay
Cost: $42 per ticket via the ACO website, ages 3–8 (booking fee applies)
Duration: 30 minutes, plus the instrument Q&A afterwards — about an hour all up
Getting there: Metro to Barangaroo, then a short waterfront walk; stop at Jinius café on the way
Pair it: Walk to Circular Quay for a ferry, or across to Luna Park — the venue sits in the middle of Sydney's best harbour day
Coming up: The Nutcracker at the same venue, 12–21 December 2026

Highly recommended, for the show, for the room it happens in, and for the hundred questions afterwards.

Field notes from a mother who believes the holidays are never just holidays.

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