Vivid Sydney is an annual two-week festival of light in Sydney, and with it being my first Vivid, I was keen to check out what it had to offer and report back to you all! Vivid is always held in May/June at the beginning of Winter in Sydney, and is something the residents look forward to. The whole atmosphere in the city has really been reminding me of Christmas-time in London!
There are lights everywhere, there are stalls of food serving warm-winter foods like bratwurst, burgers, and mulled wine, and there are crowds of families and friends chatting excitedly. I’ve been living in Sydney for seven months, and I’ve literally never seen so many smiling people before.
My Vivid experience took place in two parts, so I’m going to break it down for you guys to make it a bit simpler, so you know exactly what to expect if you end up going to Vivid next year, as well as show you eleven photos that will make you want to visit Vivid Sydney next year!
Vivid at Taronga Zoo
With my recent health kick, I’ve been searching for things to do with my friends that don’t involve drinking alcohol (aka, I’m currently staying away from bars and clubs). Nikki has been awesome and totally up for doing non-partying things, so last Saturday evening we met up at Circular Quay and got the ferry over to Taronga Zoo. We’d pre-booked our tickets as the Lights for the Wild as it sells out really quickly, and at only $21 each we thought they were well worth the cost!
There was a shuttle bus taking visitors from the ferry up to the zoo entrance, and when we arrived ready for our two-hour slot at 7:30pm, we were instantly wowed by the lights at the entrance! Taronga Zoo work really hard to promote animal conservation and the whole theme for the Vivid event was conservation.
1. The Entrance Movie is Mesmerising
2. The Light Walk is Breathtaking
3. The Smoke Effects Are SO Cool
4. Pretty Lights Everywhere
5. These Light Installations Actually MOVE
6. Photo With a Family of Gorillas
7. Even More Animal Installations That Move
Vivid at The Rocks & Opera House
Vivid at The Rocks and Opera House is *much* busier than Taronga Zoo because it isn’t ticketed. It’s super crowded, but there’s heaps going on and sooo many amazing food stalls! I struggled so much saying no to all the delish sweet treats on offer. There are random light installations all over the place, but the below are some of my faves….
8. The Lights On Sydney Opera House Change Constantly
9. The Museum of Contemporary Art Looks AMAZE
10. There Are Random Installations All Over The City
11. There’s an ‘Aquarium’ Light Installation
Oh, and there’s also this insane skyline view from the ferry over to Taronga…
Catherine Lux is a veteran travel blogger by night and the Head of SEO at Havas Media Group by day. Originally from Surrey, she spent four years living in Australia (2007-2009, and 2016-2018), and now lives in London. An ex-party girl sometimes prone to relapses, she loves nothing more than sharing her fine dining and luxury travel experiences with her loyal readers.
It's so strange to think of it being winter in Australia now when I'm in London with all my windows open trying to beat the heat! Ahhh Sydney looks so festive right now it's making me look forward to Christmas lights and craving the cold – yeah, and just 3 months ago I was whining about the cold and hoping for summer. I'm a literal hot mess. Can't wait to see you soon! x
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11 photos? All I needed was the first – we saw them testing the Vivid lights from the Shangri-la Hotel and I was SO gutted to miss it by 2 nights!