Each year the Parramatta city's libraries and Heritage Centre attract thousands of visitors and the celebrated Riverside Theatres present more than 600 events and performances. In partnership with the Sydney Festival, Parramatta now stages a range of festival events every January as well as it's major celebration events on Australia Day and New Year's Eve. We also celebrate community events such as Chinese New Year and Thai water festival 'Loy Hrathong'.

Recreation and leisure opportunities in the local area include the Parramatta Pool, many parks, playgrounds and sports fields.

Parramatta City Raceway only a 5 minute drive from Mercure Hotel Parramatta, making the hotel a fantastic base for the racegoer!

The raceway was the brainchild of former driver Sid Hopping and rose out of the ground to host its first practice session in January 1977. The 460 metre banked oval is one of the fastest in Australia with Garry Rush setting a new outright record of 12.161 seconds in the 2UE car back on 24 February, 2001. Parramatta City Raceway has hosted the Australian championship and many Nationals since 1988, but the best is still to come! The best in the world finally arrived at Australia's home of Sprintcar racing in the year 2004 when Parramatta City Raceway hosted the first ever 'Outlaws Downunder', the World famous World of Outlaws troupe including legends Steve Kinser and Sammy Swindell as well as thirteen other American superstars.

Click here for list of upcoming events at Parramatta City Raceway

The Sydney Turf Club's Rosehill Gardens Racecourse is located off James Ruse Drive at Rosehill, directly opposite the Mercure Hotel Parramatta. Rosehill is renowned as the home of the richest 2 year old race in the world - the Golden Slipper in the autumn.

Click here to visit the Sydney Turf Club's Rosehill Gardens Racecourse website.

Parramatta Stadium is home ground to the NRL's Eels and is hosting several double-header games for the new Westfield W-League featuring both Sydney FC and Central Coast Mariners women. The stadium is located at the northern end of Parramatta Regional Park off O'Connell Street, Parramatta, some 25km west of downtown Sydney. Parramatta Stadium was first opened in 1986 and has a capacity of approximately 27,000. The Stadium was a large improvement on its predecessor Cumberland Oval one of the roughest Rugby League playing surfaces of its day. Parramatta Stadium is largely an all-seated football only stadium and has great site lines for spectators.

Click here for upcoming events in Parramatta stadium.

Parramatta Park is a magnificent park of open grasslands and towering River Red Gums on the banks of the Parramatta River in the outer west of Sydney. It is a remarkable cultural landscape in which can be seen evidence of Aboriginal occupation, the first decades of colonisation and ongoing public use of open space since 1857. Important historical features which are interpreted through on-site signage include the Dodd's Farm where the first successful crops were raised, ensuring the survival of the fledgling colony of NSW and the historic Dairy Precinct, which is the site of a 1796 land grant to emancipist George Salter, and Governor Macquarie's Dairy. Governor Brisbane's Bathhouse, and remnants of his observatory document the Vice Regal links between Old Government House and the Park. The Parramatta Visitor Centre, which is located near the site of Little Coogee, a popular swimming spot during the early 1900's, contains historic displays and provides visitor information. The park is an oasis of open space, with sporting, general recreation and picnic facilities. Group bookings are essential.

Macquarie Street, Entrance Via Pitt Street, Parramatta, NSW, 2124

Parramatta offers a great historic walk, known as the Harris Park Heritage Walk. The walk celebrates a number of firsts in the colonial history of Australia, such as the first private farm granted to a former convict in Australia, the first olive tree to be planted and the birthplace of Australia's merino wool industry. It's river wharf was the first gateway between Sydney and Parramatta. The place is rich in early European history and contains evidence of first contact between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. The walk takes approximately 2 hours to complete across a gentle grade.

Some of its main sites include:

• Queens Wharf Reserve
• Hambledon Cottage, 63 Hassall Street
• Experiment Farm, 9 Ruse Street
• Elizabeth Farm, 70 Alice Street, Rosehill
• Lancer Barracks and Linden House Museum, Smith and Darcy Streets

The Lancer Barracks were constructed between 1818 and 1820 to house British garrison troops. Other buildings reflect the early history of the Barracks, including the formation of a troop of Lancers on the site in 1891. The Linden House Museum has a range of displays on the history of the Royal NSW Lancers (from 1935), the Australian Light and Armoured Corps, and a collection of operational armoured vehicles.

Cnr Smith & Hassall Streets, Parramatta, NSW, 2124

The Old School House was erected in 1875 and opened in 1876. An example of late Victorian Gothic architecture, the museum reflects a school room at the turn of the century. The Old School House Museum is located in the town centre and is within walking distance from the Railway Station, the bus terminals and ferry. Within the grounds (Macquarie Street entry) of Arthur Phillip High School. Parking is available in Macquarie Street.

Cnr Macquarie And Smith Streets, Parramatta, NSW, 2150 Ph: 02 9635 8638

It was built as the home of John and Elizabeth Macarthur and was the birthplace of the Australian wool industry. The interiors contain reproductions of furnishings and objects belonging to the Macarthurs, giving visitors an authentic glimpse of early l9th century life. Elizabeth Farm is situated in a gloriously recreated 1830's garden. There is a tearoom that serves Devonshire teas and lunch.

Alice St, Rosehill NSW 2142
Ph: 02 9635 9488 Fax: 02 9891 3740