The must-see installations and projections at this year's Vivid Light festival
It's a week out from the 15th edition of the Vivid Light festival and Sydney is looking like a bare Christmas tree before it is dressed with baubles – but that process is well under way.
Along the harbour foreshore, and in the open spaces around it, eight kilometres of fibre-optic cable have been laid to bring to life 44 light installations and projections around the theme of 'dream' for the 23-night festival, kicking off May 23.
The 2025 program has increased the number of standalone projections and installations by almost 50 per cent, compared with 2024. This year, the entire Vivid Light Walk from Central Station to Circular Quay is free.
'What visitors see is artistic brilliance but behind the scenes is a remarkable feat of logistics and teamwork,' says Gill Minervini, in her final year as Vivid festival director.
'We're talking 12 kilometres of temporary fencing, nearly 9000 square metres of event flooring and eight kilometres of fibre-optic cable bringing the installations and projections to life.
'Our team co-ordinates 72 different event management plans, 280 traffic plans and deploys approximately 3500 operational staff and volunteers across all agencies and suppliers.
'It truly takes a village to create and execute Australia's biggest event and as soon as the festival ends we essentially begin planning for the following year.'
The Bangkok-based ONGA group is behind Lumina Dream, six teardrop-shaped steel structures at Barangaroo that were still being installed on a wet Friday. Three stand six metres tall, another three are four metres, all covered by a special blue dichroic film.
Prefabricated in Thailand before being shipped to Sydney, they are to be installed with sensors that can measure wind direction and speed, temperature and humidity.
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