Marking its 12th year in 2022, Vivid Sydney is an annual festival of creativity and technology which showcases the very soul of the city through light installations, music concerts and brilliant talks. The festival is the biggest of its kind, collaborating with some of the most creative and boundary-pushing artists, musicians and thinkers of the planet. With the festival fast approaching, here are some noteworthy attractions to enjoy the festival to its fullest!
With Vivid making a return after two years of absence, the cultural festival of the harbour city is promising to be bigger than ever with numerous massive-scale attractions and festival firsts. Of course, you can experience most of the festival attractions on foot and from the ground but the best alternative would be cruising around Sydney’s Harbour, taking in some of the best views! A Vivid Cruise in Sydney lets you enjoy some of the best attractions of the harbour in a short time while being away from the buzzing crowd! From the luxury glass boats, an authentic paddlewheeler and a modern catamaran, your options are plenty when it comes to cruises. Indulge in some mouth-watering dishes as you gently glide past the iconic Opera House, Harbour Bridge, Luna Park much more. These Vivid Lights Cruises also come with a fully licensed bar, so you can purchase drinks and other beverages while enjoying the spectacles of the harbour. This is also the best option if you're looking to add more colours to your social feed!
The biggest festival of lights in the Southern Hemisphere, Vivid Sydney, will set the city ablaze for 23 days, highlighting the creative soul of the city. It’s not just lights that will spark the city, the festival also boasts numerous music performances, which are mostly aimed at adult audiences. But that doesn’t mean the little ones can’t be part of the festival. As part of the Tumbalong Nights, on every Saturday night, there will be concerts and performances especially for kids! Head there even earlier and they can indulge in a kid’s fun zone, and see the stage light up with music acts and other shows loved by kids of all ages.
There are also numerous other free concerts you can check out including The Good Lines Tunnel concerts. This former railway line is now an urban space and for Vivid Sydney, the place will undergo massive changes with DJs who will play everything from Bollywood, funk and blues to salsa and hip-hop. With new DJs every night, this is a place you can come to time and time again. Vivid Music at Central Station is also a must-visit with the place coming to life with tunes of brass, gypsy, folk and more! You can stop here on your way to or from the longest Light Walk in the festival history! This is also your ultimate opportunity to dance under the massive arches of the Central Station’s Grand Concourse!
One of the most underrated parts of the festival is the Vivid Ideas. Sydney is a city with a million untold stories and you can hear a few of them during the festival. The Vivid Ideas Up Late event is spread across numerous venues in the city with late-night sessions covering everything from queer Sydney to clebrating what and who make the city unique through vibrant talks and art. There is also a one-night only event at the Museum of Contemporary Art where the teens of the city can connect with each other on a broader scale through the city’s creative performances and music concerts. You can also expect huge names like Troye Sivan, Gretchen Carlson, Lynette Wallworth, Paul Keating and many more as they take the centre stage, shedding light on sensitive topics!
