All the colours of Sydney

The world famous Vivid Sydney festival returns to the coastline from May 26 to June 17 with an expanded light walk through the royal Botanic Garden and imaginary creatures adding colour to the Sails of the Sydney Opera House.
This year, the festival of light, music and ideas will convert the cityscape into a creative canvas, set up stages for a wide range of music performances and offer a global forum for creative discussions in the Vivid Ideas corner.
Operated by the NSW Government’s tourism and major events agency, this is the first time that popular dining venue Barangaroo will transform itself into a vibrant kaleidoscope to screen a trail of installations winding through intimate lanes, past waterfront vistas and into a foodie paradise.
Visitors can enjoy optical illustrations narrating Barangaroo’s background at the outdoor theatre of light and sound, A Day in the Light, while a light walk brings a glow to the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney where veteran artists Renzo B Larriviere and Simone Chua have made a pair of illuminated Birds of Lumos designed to resemble the rare Rowi species of the New Zealand kiwi.
The Sails of the World Heritage-listed Sydney Opera House will come to life with a series of imaginary creatures curated and designed by acclaimed cinematographer, editor, and graphic designer Ash Bolland. The Audio Creatures will show animals interacting with the environment, morphing and moving between each other across the iconic Sails.
There will be also an interactive lighting display rendering the city’s skyline from Circular Quay to the Cahill Expressway and the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
“In 2016, a record-breaking 2.31 million visitors came to Vivid Sydney, which is testament to the festival’s impressive line-up, continued innovation and growth over the past nine years. This year, the festival will impress with a robust programme across Vivid Light, Music and Ideas, so now is the time for visitors to start planning their trip so they can be inspired visually, creatively and musically,” says Sandra Chipchase, executive producer of Vivid Sydney.
With popular precincts Chatswood, Taronga Zoo, Martin Place and Darling Harbour returning to the fold, the buildings, shopping malls, streets and laneways of Chatswood CBD will be reinvented as a retro-futuristic smart city called Future City, Smart City with ingenious installations and light sculptures inspired by the “Steampunk” design aesthetic of 19th-century steam-powered machinery.
A showcase of Lights for the Wild at Taronga Zoo will feature giant animal light sculptures that wowed visitors when they made their debut last year with a few new characters such as buzzing bees and a giant Port Jackson shark.
Vivid Music has an Australian exclusive performance by electronic pop duo Goldfrapp. Find out more at www.VividSydney.com