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Vivid Sydney Competition is a buzzing three week occasion that takes place subsequent three weeks throughout Might and June, turning the town into a stunning show of lights, music, and shade.
Over 1.7 million guests flocking to Sydney annually to see one of many world’s most stunning harbour cities come alive in an annual celebration of creativity, expertise and innovation.
We visited for the primary three days of Vivid in Sydney, having fun with the lights from as many vantage factors across the harbour as we may.
Just a few years in the past, we attended Vivid Reside, a music competition held on the Sydney Opera Home, however I loved Vivid Sydney far more because it feels prefer it simply retains getting higher and rising greater.
Vivid Sydney doesn’t simply gentle up the Opera Home, but it surely lights up a number of collaborating precincts and landmark buildings and venues.
To seek out out what it’s all about, and to know what to anticipate, right here is our information based mostly on our private expertise!
What’s Vivid Sydney?
Vivid Sydney Competition is a 23-day occasion that’s all about lights, music, and inventive concepts. It’s the most important competition of sunshine on the planet and the most important arts competition within the Southern Hemisphere.
It started in 2010, as a celebration of artwork, expertise and innovation. Since then, it has gone on to win quite a few awards, together with the Finest Cultural, Arts or Music Occasion on the Australian Occasion Awards in 2024 and was voted as Australia’s Finest Tourism Occasion for seven years (2013 – 2015, 2017 – 2019, and 2023).
It has additionally acquired 18 medals (8 of which had been Gold), on the Worldwide Competition & Occasions Affiliation (IFEA) Pinnacle Awards.
Every year, over 80 gentle installations and projections kind a part of Vivid Sydney, illuminating the town’s most iconic buildings and landmarks, alighting the town in a rainbow of colors and spectacular shows.
“We invite gentle artists from world wide — young and old, well-known and unknown, college students and professors, and loopy mixtures of each — to submit their paintings to us by a worldwide expression of curiosity.”
Inventive director, Ignatius Jones.
It’s not simply in regards to the lights, although. Vivid Sydney additionally has a program of public talks and workshops with Vivid Concepts, and Vivid Music energises the town with collaborations dance events and headline acts at greater than 20 reside music venues.
Every year, the sunshine shows have a theme. In 2025, the theme is “goals.”
Vivid Sydney runs from Might twenty third 2025 till June 14th and lights come on each night at 6:00pm after sundown. Take a look at the schedule of occasions to plan your journey to vivid.
You watch what it’s wish to attend the true Vivid Sydney by urgent play on the video under:
The place To See Lights At Vivid Sydney
As talked about, the sunshine shows illuminate a number of iconic locations within the metropolis. Listed below are some locations that get’s lit up throughout Vivid Sydney that you simply can not miss.
Word: the photographs on this information had been taken in 2016, and annually the installations change. What you see can be totally different from what you see on this information.
Vivid Mild Stroll, Sydney Harbourside
Lined up alongside Sydney harbour round Round Quay together with areas from Walsh Bay to the Botanical Gardens, the Mild Stroll has greater than 60 gentle artwork installations, giant scale illuminations and 3D-mapped constructing projections lighting up the waterfront.
Give your self to time benefit from the vibrant and generally interactive shows.
Give your self to time benefit from the vibrant and generally interactive shows. Listed below are just a few of our favourites alongside the stroll.
Customs Home
In case your children like animations, the sunshine show at Customs Home is normally very kid-friendly. After we visited, we noticed flying blue tongued lizards, the underwater reef world, grumpy gnomes, and dancing witches – it was titled the Hidden Tales of Sydney.
The sunshine present has unimaginable graphics, vibrant colors, and is immense enjoyable.
We beloved it and I so needed to be that dancing witch!
Museum of Modern Artwork
The sunshine present on the Museum of Modern Artwork (MCA) constructing can also be fully coated in lights. After we visited, we watched gradual paint dripping down the entrance of the constructing.
The women weren’t too certain at first in the event that they favored it, however with the peaceable music accompanying it I discovered it fairly Zen.
The set up was known as The Matter of Portray, and it picks up velocity after awhile and built-in many various inventive varieties.
The partitions begin stripping like items of paper, it turns to marble portray after which it turned to multi-colours of plasticine.
We beloved it because it appeared so actual, you would nearly really feel the feel of the play doh your self simply by watching it.
Fleet Park
In Fleet Park close to the MCA, there may be normally just a few 3D installations the place you may seize some Instagram moments! We noticed an enormous 3D love coronary heart, which says I like you on one facet, after which on the opposite, is the Love-O-Metre.
We obtained to face in entrance of the white coronary heart and shout into the microphone “I like you” and the louder you say it, the funkier issues the guts will do, like change colors, flip right into a collage of flowers and have effervescent love hearts inside it.
The Opera Home
Sydney Opera Home is the star of the present at Vivid Sydney. Seize a cocktail from the Opera Bar, hustle for some area, and sit again and watch the sails on the Opera Home change.
After we visited, we watched the lights change from flowers to vibrant birds, to transferring snakes and engaging Aboriginal artworks.
It’s the primary time the sails have celebrated Indigenous Artwork, in an set up they known as Songlines.
On the time, six artists had been chosen from totally different clans and territories who’s work illustrates the connections between indigenous astronomy and the pure world.
It actually is spectacular and the drawcard for the Vivid Competition. Different nice viewing locations for the Opera Home are in entrance of Campbell’s Cove on the opposite facet of Round Quay.
The Sydney Harbour Bridge
All the time price , the metal arches on the Jap facet of the Harbour Bridge are illuminated.
It’s not the star of the present like throughout New Years Eve and never as spectacular as the opposite Vivid shows, however blends in superbly with the remainder of the long-lasting skyline trying so sparkly.
Ensure you spend time on the southern pylon of the bridge, there’s usually a dance efficiency going down there.
For a extra distinctive expertise, think about a nighttime summit of the Sydney Harbour Bridge climb.
Cadmans Cottage
Inbuilt 1816, Cadmans Cottage is the oldest surviving residential constructing in Sydney and value seeing at any time of the day.
Throughout Vivid, it lights as much as inform the story of Sydney’s previous.
Simply behind it are the slender cobblestoned laneways, heritage structure and leafy streets of our favorite space in Sydney, The Rocks District!
Taronga Zoo
For an inexpensive and engaging expertise, go to Taronga Zoo for his or her Wild Lights gentle stroll from 5:30-9:00pm.
This illuminated path by the zoo lights up large animal multimedia gentle sculptures and attracts 500,000 company all through the Vivid Sydney weeks.
Every sculpture options one in all ten crucial species Taronga is dedicated to defending starting from the Sumatran tiger, bilbies, and Asian elephant.
We even noticed one of many actual elephants gently swaying in its enclosure at the hours of darkness.
Many elements of the path have a cover of turtle lanterns overhead guiding your means. The youngsters can be enchanted and in awe.
Seize your self a blue ticket so you may bounce on the Sky Safari – the cable vehicles taking you over the sunshine show and looking over the harbour to the illuminated rainbow colored buildings within the CBD and Round Quay.
We suggest you do the illuminated stroll right away at 5:30 (it’s darkish sufficient to see all the pieces) then bounce on the Sky Safari. The lights in Sydney CBD can be on by then so that you’ll get the complete Vivid expertise.
Word: Taronga Zoo didn’t participate in 2024, and haven’t but introduced their involvement in 2025. Test the web site earlier than visiting to see if they’re participating.
Luna Park
Get your classic Vivid on. I bear in mind as a younger baby feeling so dissatisfied as a result of I had not but skilled Coney Island at Luna Park, but everybody else in school had and I used to be compelled to pay attention to simply how cool it was.
I lastly skilled it, and let’s say I had enjoyable with the ladies on most issues in Coney Island.
Lifelong dream – verify!
It’s superb how a lot our world has developed from thrilling actions again within the early 80’s!
Luna Park is in Milsons Level on the north facet of the harbour and has a surprising view of Sydney Harbour and isn’t usually featured in your traditional pictures.
It presents a distinct vantage level for Vivid lights on at 6:00pm.
Scorching Tip: Leap on the Ferris Wheel at Luna Park after lights on so you may see extra of it. You’ll get an incredible view of the colorful boats cruising up and down the harbour from right here as effectively.
Darling Harbour
Darling Harbour is a good place to take your children at any time, however throughout Vivid Sydney, Darling Harbour is sort of a sleeping dragon delivered to life!
Head to Tumbalong Park for Tumbalong Nights, 12 nights of free reside music throughout Vivid Sydney weeks.
Royal Botanic Gardens
We didn’t get an opportunity to expertise the Botanical Gardens shows, however heard it’s spectacular with the sandstone partitions lit up.
There’s a cathedral of sunshine you stroll by and projections on bushes and will-o’-the-wisps’ lighting the bottom. It sounds extremely stunning and pixie-like.
Vivid Sydney With Youngsters
There’s little doubt about it, Vivid Sydney will seize your kids’s consideration prefer it did with our children and they are going to be speaking about what they noticed and skilled for years after.
The participating gentle shows and animations will seize their curiosity and sense of marvel and can assist spark their very own creativeness and creativity.
Vivid may be very child-friendly and a lot of the sights are free. Youngsters will love seeing Sydney sparkle in vibrant colours and patterns.
Suggestions for experiencing Vivid Sydney with children
- Come early. Among the lights begin at 5:30pm when the solar is down.
- Don’t simply focus your time on Round Quay. There are numerous extra precincts with cool gentle shows taking place over the town now. Take a look at all of the precincts on the official web site.
- Spend multiple day so you may expertise the totally different areas slowly.
- Go to mid-week when crowds gained’t be as intense!
- Don’t drive. Make use of all of the public transport choices, there can be additional trains and buses working throughout the Vivid competition.
- Stroll – it’s one of the simplest ways to expertise all of what Vivid presents.
- Carry heat garments and put on layers.
- In the event you come on the weekends, keep away from bringing prams in case you can as crowds can be hectic. Maintain tight onto your kids.
- Close by eating places can be busy or deliver your personal meals. Scorching Tip: we went to dinner on the Orient Lodge within the Rocks – we obtained a desk nearly right away upstairs and the meals was moderately priced. It was nowhere close to as hectic as elsewhere.
- Leap on a ferry to get you round Sydney so you may see it lit up from the water. Chances are you’ll even need to do a Vivid gentle cruise.
- Get an Opal Card and high it up with cash to make public transport journey simple. Simply faucet on and off together with your card.
- To get all the main points on the way to expertise Vivid Sydney, take a look at the official web site.
The place To Keep For Vivid Sydney
We stayed on the Vacation Inn Darling Harbour, which has quick access to Darling Harbour and isn’t too removed from Round Quay the place quite a lot of the buildings participate within the occasion. It’s additionally on the doorstep of Chinatown, which is a good place to eat.
Ideally, you need to keep within the CBD district for Vivid Sydney so you may stroll to a lot of the sights or be close to to a metro station. The Vacation Inn is a 10-minute stroll to Central practice station or City Corridor practice station.
For an inventory of the most effective lodging in Sydney together with resorts, flats and hostels from funds to luxurious, click on right here.
Are you planning on attending Vivid Sydney? What are you most trying ahead to? Tell us within the feedback!
