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Vivid Sydney is an annual festival held in Sydney, Australia. It includes outdoor immersive Light art and projections, performances by local and international musicians, and an ideas exchange forum featuring public talks and debates with leading creative thinkers.
This event takes place over the course of three weeks in May and June. The centrepieces of Vivid Sydney are the light sculptures, multimedia interactive work and building projections that transform various buildings and landmarks such as the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge in and around the Sydney central business district into an outdoor night time canvas of art.
Past sites of interest include Central Park, Chatswood, and the University of Sydney as well as around the CBD, Darling Harbour and The Rocks.
Anthony Bastic presented the concept of a low energy light walk around Sydney's Circular Quay, linking the CBD, to the NSW Government. After securing British multi-genre popular culture artist, Brian Eno as the lead light artist, the NSW Government sought the expansion of the content to include the music and ideas component.
The original name "Smart Light Sydney" was replaced with Vivid Sydney to better represent the streams of Light, Music and Ideas.
From 2009–2018 Anthony Bastic's company, AGB Events, was responsible for curating and producing the public facing light component for NSW Government. As of May 2019, it was the biggest festival of lights, music and ideas in the world. It is owned, managed and produced by Destination NSW, the State Government's tourism and events agency. In 2019 a record 2.4 million people attended.
The 2020 event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021 Vivid was first scheduled for 6–28 August, it was then postponed to September due to the Delta outbreak and lockdown in Sydney. It was finally cancelled on 6 August. Vivid Sydney cancelled for second year due to ongoing uncertainty around COVID-19 Nine News Sydney 6 August 2021
In 2014, the festival involved the Sydney Opera House, Walsh Bay, Circular Quay, The Rocks, North Sydney, Darling Harbour, and, joining for the first time, Harbour Lights (the illumination of vessels upon the Harbour), The Star and Carriageworks. A new projection work by London based creative team 59 Productions featured for the Lighting of the Sails of the Sydney Opera House.
In 2015, Vivid Sydney attracted more than 1.7 million visitors to the city. The 2016 Vivid event included an expanded program of multi-genre music, stimulating presentations and Vivid Talks from global presenters and dazzling light projections across the city. In 2016, a display was added at Taronga Zoo.
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Vivid Sydney will light Taronga Zoo for the first time Taronga Zoo
In 2016, Vivid Sydney was extended to 23 nights and was attended by more than 2.3 million people. Vivid Sydney 2016 smashes visitor record with 2.3 million Destination NSW 27 June 2016.
In 2017, Vivid Sydney attracted a record 2.33 million attendees and injected over $143 million into NSW's visitor economy. CARRIAGEWORKS ANNOUNCES VIVID SYDNEY 2018 PROGRAM ST. VINCENT HEADLINES Record attendance at Vivid Sydney 2017 Australian Leisure Management 26 August 2017
In 2019, the Surry Hill precinct was included with a montage of Heckler's 50 most iconic women being displayed on the famous art deco Hollywood Hotel. Publican and proprietress Doris Goddard was inducted as the 51st icon.
In 2015, Heart of the City, was another light installation located in the harbour. This was one of the more popular activities at Vivid due to its immersive nature. Heart of the City resembled a large, solid beanbag chair and was located near the Sydney Opera House. Upon reaching the front of the line, participants would be asked to seat themselves in the middle of the chair. Once seated, they would be instructed by a Vivid Sydney volunteer to insert their finger into a small hole located near the chair. If your finger was inserted correctly, the chair would begin to light up red to match your heartbeat. As participants began to notice this, their heart rate sometimes increased causing the chair to light up more rapidly.
In June 2022, a huge painting called Yarrkalpa — Hunting Ground, painted by Martumili artists in Western Australia, was projected onto the Sydney Opera House as part of the festival, accompanied by the music of electronic music duo Electric Fields and animated by creative technologists Curiious. The design symbolically depicts the area around Parnngurr, showing the seasons, cultural burning practices and Indigenous management of the land and natural resources.
What Lies Beneath is a data visualization project displayed at Vivid Sydney 2023 by Susan Kosti. Set against the backdrop of the data-driven digital age, the project utilizes a distinct visual language derived from data spanning from 2003 to 2023, provided by NASA. Using 3D mapping techniques, the stones of Nawi Cove were transformed into a representation of an underwater habitat, complete with corals and marine entities. Each animated entity within the display altered its form based on specific data sets that corresponded to patterns observed in oceanic behavior. This installation aimed to bridge the gap between data interpretation and visual art, providing viewers with an insight into the multifaceted nature of ocean dynamics.
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