The lifting of Sydney’s lockout laws this week could not have come soon enough for the city’s ailing night-time sector. For the past six years, venues have been forced to turn patrons away at 1.30am, which had the effect of emptying out the streets well before that time as people abandoned the entire inner-city in favour of suburbs that accommodated their late-night tendencies.

Night owls line up to get into Frankies as they celebrate the end of lockout laws on Tuesday night. Credit:Cole Bennetts

Tuesday night was the first chance to sample our newly emancipated nightlife, and the excitement was palpable. Even on one the traditionally quietest nights of the week, venues such as the Hollywood Hotel, Stonewall and Frankie’s were replete with bands, DJs, drag queens and people sharing old tales of nights out in a city that used to sparkle around the clock.

Sydney’s natural gifts are laid bare for all to see — we are truly one of the greatest places on Earth when the sun is up. At night, however, our city has lacked an identity in recent years. By "turning it on" only half of the time, we have sold ourselves short, but the easing grip of the lockout laws will enable Sydney to be one of the world’s best cities once more.

The greatest loss to our city over the last six years wasn’t the ability to go out, it was our confidence. We lost the ability to talk up our city whole-heartedly to friends and family overseas. We lost the motivation to leave the house and wander around our city on a balmy night. We forgot the exhilaration of meeting someone new and discussing the world’s problems until the wee hours. With some of our reputation and confidence restored, we can now hope for more opportunities in the nightlife and cultural sectors, as well as investment from those wishing to shape our city after dark.