Travel Agenda: Sydney Festival; Andaz; new easyJet routes

Today: The Sydney Festival gets underway with a night of free outdoor celebrations. Following that, there will be three weeks of theatre, live music (from Al Green to Grandmaster Flash), dance, talks and family events ( sydneyfestival.org.au ).

This week: Andaz, Hyatt Hotels' contemporary lifestyle brand that debuted in London in 2007 finally comes to Wall Street in New York on Monday, with East River views and a chic bar ( andaz.com ). Meanwhile, Canary Wharf in London gets into the Arctic spirit with a free Ice Sculpting Festival on Friday and Saturday. Expect impressive ice creations, a competition and taster sessions ( londonicesculptingfestival.co.uk ).

In the diary: easyJet has announced its new routes for the spring, including Luton to Lisbon and Liverpool to Menorca, Marseille and Krakow ( easyjet.com ). Meanwhile, Atlantic Holidays is re-introducing direct flights from Gatwick to the island of Porto Santo, sister island to Madeira. The flights operate 31 May-19 July and 6 September-25 October ( atlanticholidays.net ).