Bigger, bolder & brighter

IF YOU think you have seen everything of Vivid Sydney, think again, as the world’s largest festival of lights, music, and ideas returns, with whole new attractions added to the festivities.
The event features Vivid Light –large-scale light installations and projections, Vivid Music – music performances and collaborations including Vivid Live at the Sydney Opera House, and Vivid Ideas –creative ideas, discussions and debates.
This year, Vivid Sydney will span over 23 nights, starting from this Friday till June 17, and it is going to be more prominent with a new precinct at Barangaroo, an expanded light walk through the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, and imaginary creatures that will transform the sails of the Sydney Opera House.
In 2016, over 2.31 million people flocked to Sydney for the event.
New South Wales Trade, Tourism, and Major Events Minister Stuart Ayres said: “Last year, Vivid Sydney boasted its biggest programme ever with more than 90 light installations and projections created by more than 150 artists from 23 countries, 190 music performances and 658 speakers in 183 Vivid Ideas events.”
This year’s festival will feature even more diverse presentations.
Vivid Sydney’s new precinct at Barangaroo will overflow with a trail of installations winding through laneways, past waterfronts, and into a foodie paradise.
Visitors can learn the stories of Barangaroo’s past through optical illusions at Trapdoor, and become a part of the artwork at A Day in the Light, an outdoor theatre of light and sound.
There will also be displays at Chatswood, Martin Place, Darling Harbour, and Taronga Zoo, plus an expanded trail through the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney.
The Botanic Garden trail also comes with Birds of Lumos, a light show inspired by the rare Rowi species of the New Zealand kiwi. The large 2.5-metre illuminated Dipping Birds sculptures will change colour as they dip back and forth into a pond.
“The sails of the Sydney Opera House will again be illuminated this year with a spectacular projection of imaginary creatures inspired by insects, plants and the ocean underworld, that will captivate locals and visitors from around the world,” said New South Wales Tourism Minister Adam Marshall.
For Vivid Music, there are over 250 events in this year’s line-up including performances by trailblazing UK electronic dance outfit Goldfrapp at Carriageworks, folk-rock masters Fleet Foxes at the Sydney Opera House, indie rock band Dappled Cities at the City Recital Hall, and Grammy Award-winning jazz singer Dianne Reeves.
The Vivid Ideas programme will be headlined by American contemporary artist Shepard Fairey.
The programme will continue to challenge and inspire with more than 200 events exploring the changing face of the creative industries.
Throughout the city, a series of conferences will connect start-ups, emerging talent, practitioners and entrepreneurs with world-class creators and thought-leaders.
The Vivid Ideas Exchange at the Museum of Contemporary Art also boasts a diverse line-up of talks presented by creative practitioners covering topics from fashion to placemaking (a multi-faceted approach to the planning, design and management of public spaces), storytelling, ageism, marketing pitching, health, innovation, big data and mixed reality.
Vivid Sydney is owned, managed and produced by Destination NSW, the state government’s tourism and major events agency.
For more, visit the Vivid Sydney website.