After last year's drone show disaster, is a scaled-back Vivid working?
That brings us to 2025, and the festival feels scaled back. The drone show was scrapped, citing safety risks and increasing costs. The usual suspects – Customs House and the Opera House – are all lit up, but there are fewer installations at Circular Quay and the Rocks than in previous years.
While there are more individual light installations across the city than there were last year, there is no Royal Botanic Garden activation and no Wynyard Tunnel event.
Light displays now have free entry in 75 per cent of cases, but the light walk – which previously stretched from Circular Quay to Central – is split across smaller precincts around the city, including Martin Place and the Goods Line.
'When people think of Vivid, they think of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge – when they get there, they aren't expecting most of the stuff to be somewhere else,' said John Gilly, who has covered the festival on his blog, Sydney Spectaculars, since 2014.
'The precincts have spread everything out … which is why people may think it's not as entertaining as in the past, but the main stuff is still there.'
This isn't the first time the festival has been split up. Over the years there have been activations in Kings Cross and Chatswood, as well as the Wild Nights display at Taronga Zoo.
While the strategy means visitors to Circular Quay are seeing fewer installations, many view this as the best way forward for Vivid.
'It's more spread out – and that's a good thing,' said Business Sydney's Paul Nicolau.
'We should be highlighting not just the harbour but all the other places, like Martin Place and the Goods Line. I think we should expand it, we should look out to other areas like Parramatta Road and Victoria Road.'
Getting tourists out to Sydney's decrepit arterial roads might be a stretch, but Parramatta Mayor Martin Zaiter is at a loss as to why Sydney's famous winter festival doesn't extend to its growing second CBD.
'Parramatta Square and our beautiful town hall, that's where old meets the new,' Zaiter said. 'Parramatta Park, Old Government House, definitely there are those options for Vivid to expand to.
'It's a no-brainer.'
While the light pillar of the festival may be missing a headline event this year, Tourism Minister Stephen Kamper said the food, including the fire kitchen at the Goods Line, has been a major motivator for visitors.
'Saturday night alone saw a record-breaking 51,169 diners at restaurants across the Vivid Sydney zones – the highest ever for a single night in the event's history,' he said.
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The Advertiser
a day ago
- The Advertiser
Museum lights up with Cerith Wyn Evans neon sculptures
As the Vivid festival lights up Sydney, the city's contemporary art museum is also illuminated, with the neon glow of artworks by Cerith Wyn Evans. The Welsh artist has exhibited worldwide and the Museum of Contemporary Art's winter exhibition represents his first major solo show in Australia. The show, Cerith Wyn Evans ... in light of the visible, looks back at the last 15 years of the artist's work, his installations filling the gallery with both light and sound. The exhibition has been conceived as if the visitor is strolling through a garden, with potted palms on rotating platforms across the gallery. One standout is the 2020 artwork F=O=U=N=T=A=I=N, a wall of white neon Japanese script measuring three metres high and ten metres wide, with an archway for gallery-goers to walk through. It's installed near an earlier work, 2018's Composition for 37 Flutes, in which air is drawn through 37 glass pipes, periodically breathing sound into the luminous space. Evans has spent weeks in Australia working on the installation of dozens of delicate artworks like these, including site-specific new works made in response to Sydney's winter light. Of these, the biggest is Sydney Drift (2025) which fills a whole room with neon scribbles installed across three dimensions - from circles of various sizes to parabolas and dramatic straight lines. Mirrors installed on columns also amplify the artworks into entire scenes of luminosity. "People have just been extraordinarily kind to me in Australia, and I can really pick up on people's generosity and their capacity for poetry," said Evans. But what does it all mean? Unlike most exhibitions, there are no curatorial explanations telling people the answers - these tiny plaques are something the artist hates. "People need to walk in there and just feel their gut reaction to what the hell is going on," he said. It's all inspired by the artist's deep interests in music, history, literature and philosophy, exploring ideas such as space, time and perception. Despite his global reputation, at a media preview Wednesday Evans did not appear entirely comfortable being the centre of attention. "I feel vulnerable because I'm on display, and that makes me feel sensitive, so that's where it comes from," he said. AAP travelled to Sydney with the assistance of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. As the Vivid festival lights up Sydney, the city's contemporary art museum is also illuminated, with the neon glow of artworks by Cerith Wyn Evans. The Welsh artist has exhibited worldwide and the Museum of Contemporary Art's winter exhibition represents his first major solo show in Australia. The show, Cerith Wyn Evans ... in light of the visible, looks back at the last 15 years of the artist's work, his installations filling the gallery with both light and sound. The exhibition has been conceived as if the visitor is strolling through a garden, with potted palms on rotating platforms across the gallery. One standout is the 2020 artwork F=O=U=N=T=A=I=N, a wall of white neon Japanese script measuring three metres high and ten metres wide, with an archway for gallery-goers to walk through. It's installed near an earlier work, 2018's Composition for 37 Flutes, in which air is drawn through 37 glass pipes, periodically breathing sound into the luminous space. Evans has spent weeks in Australia working on the installation of dozens of delicate artworks like these, including site-specific new works made in response to Sydney's winter light. Of these, the biggest is Sydney Drift (2025) which fills a whole room with neon scribbles installed across three dimensions - from circles of various sizes to parabolas and dramatic straight lines. Mirrors installed on columns also amplify the artworks into entire scenes of luminosity. "People have just been extraordinarily kind to me in Australia, and I can really pick up on people's generosity and their capacity for poetry," said Evans. But what does it all mean? Unlike most exhibitions, there are no curatorial explanations telling people the answers - these tiny plaques are something the artist hates. "People need to walk in there and just feel their gut reaction to what the hell is going on," he said. It's all inspired by the artist's deep interests in music, history, literature and philosophy, exploring ideas such as space, time and perception. Despite his global reputation, at a media preview Wednesday Evans did not appear entirely comfortable being the centre of attention. "I feel vulnerable because I'm on display, and that makes me feel sensitive, so that's where it comes from," he said. AAP travelled to Sydney with the assistance of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. As the Vivid festival lights up Sydney, the city's contemporary art museum is also illuminated, with the neon glow of artworks by Cerith Wyn Evans. The Welsh artist has exhibited worldwide and the Museum of Contemporary Art's winter exhibition represents his first major solo show in Australia. The show, Cerith Wyn Evans ... in light of the visible, looks back at the last 15 years of the artist's work, his installations filling the gallery with both light and sound. The exhibition has been conceived as if the visitor is strolling through a garden, with potted palms on rotating platforms across the gallery. One standout is the 2020 artwork F=O=U=N=T=A=I=N, a wall of white neon Japanese script measuring three metres high and ten metres wide, with an archway for gallery-goers to walk through. It's installed near an earlier work, 2018's Composition for 37 Flutes, in which air is drawn through 37 glass pipes, periodically breathing sound into the luminous space. Evans has spent weeks in Australia working on the installation of dozens of delicate artworks like these, including site-specific new works made in response to Sydney's winter light. Of these, the biggest is Sydney Drift (2025) which fills a whole room with neon scribbles installed across three dimensions - from circles of various sizes to parabolas and dramatic straight lines. Mirrors installed on columns also amplify the artworks into entire scenes of luminosity. "People have just been extraordinarily kind to me in Australia, and I can really pick up on people's generosity and their capacity for poetry," said Evans. But what does it all mean? Unlike most exhibitions, there are no curatorial explanations telling people the answers - these tiny plaques are something the artist hates. "People need to walk in there and just feel their gut reaction to what the hell is going on," he said. It's all inspired by the artist's deep interests in music, history, literature and philosophy, exploring ideas such as space, time and perception. Despite his global reputation, at a media preview Wednesday Evans did not appear entirely comfortable being the centre of attention. "I feel vulnerable because I'm on display, and that makes me feel sensitive, so that's where it comes from," he said. AAP travelled to Sydney with the assistance of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. As the Vivid festival lights up Sydney, the city's contemporary art museum is also illuminated, with the neon glow of artworks by Cerith Wyn Evans. The Welsh artist has exhibited worldwide and the Museum of Contemporary Art's winter exhibition represents his first major solo show in Australia. The show, Cerith Wyn Evans ... in light of the visible, looks back at the last 15 years of the artist's work, his installations filling the gallery with both light and sound. The exhibition has been conceived as if the visitor is strolling through a garden, with potted palms on rotating platforms across the gallery. One standout is the 2020 artwork F=O=U=N=T=A=I=N, a wall of white neon Japanese script measuring three metres high and ten metres wide, with an archway for gallery-goers to walk through. It's installed near an earlier work, 2018's Composition for 37 Flutes, in which air is drawn through 37 glass pipes, periodically breathing sound into the luminous space. Evans has spent weeks in Australia working on the installation of dozens of delicate artworks like these, including site-specific new works made in response to Sydney's winter light. Of these, the biggest is Sydney Drift (2025) which fills a whole room with neon scribbles installed across three dimensions - from circles of various sizes to parabolas and dramatic straight lines. Mirrors installed on columns also amplify the artworks into entire scenes of luminosity. "People have just been extraordinarily kind to me in Australia, and I can really pick up on people's generosity and their capacity for poetry," said Evans. But what does it all mean? Unlike most exhibitions, there are no curatorial explanations telling people the answers - these tiny plaques are something the artist hates. "People need to walk in there and just feel their gut reaction to what the hell is going on," he said. It's all inspired by the artist's deep interests in music, history, literature and philosophy, exploring ideas such as space, time and perception. Despite his global reputation, at a media preview Wednesday Evans did not appear entirely comfortable being the centre of attention. "I feel vulnerable because I'm on display, and that makes me feel sensitive, so that's where it comes from," he said. AAP travelled to Sydney with the assistance of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia.
Sydney Morning Herald
3 days ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Harbour City gains unexpected cheerleader in Melbourne's lord mayor
One immutable fundamental of federation relations that founded the Commonwealth of Australia – state-on-state rivalry – was upended recently when Nick Reece, lord mayor of Melbourne, undertook a whistle-stop tour of Sydney ... and liked it. 'Sydney and Melbourne are the two best cities in the world!' Reece said glowingly of the northern metropolis on a LinkedIn post (but not in an official media release, as far as we could tell). Talk about undermining 124 years of slow burn resentment towards the Harbour City nurtured by our bitter, envious friends to the south. Reece also blew smoke in the direction of some of NSW's most prominent power players (though the state's unofficial premier, Peter V'landys, was missing). NSW Premier Chris Minns was 'a seriously smart guy … he also has an incredible knowledge of rugby league'. But Reece kept it real, musing that Minns might be lucky enough to score an invitation to the AFL Grand Final, which will be a non-event to most Sydneysiders, what with the Swans' season of woe. Loading Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore was a 'legend' who had 'copped a bit over the years' but was someone who deserves 'huge credit for her vision and determination'. He also name-checked Business Sydney's Paul Nicolau and Crown Resorts chairman John Borghetti, and mused that Melbourne had 'much to learn' from the Vivid festival, which should send chills down the spine of our snobbier southern neighbours. Still, Reece managed to straddle a line between enthusiastic guest and Melbourne advocate, ready to heap praise on his hometown. So when meeting hospitality baron Justin Hemmes, he cannily pointed out that while he loved his tour of The Ivy, the billionaire manbun's biggest project was Parkade in Melbourne, the next target of Merivale's imperial ambitions.
The Age
5 days ago
- The Age
After last year's drone show disaster, is a scaled-back Vivid working?
That brings us to 2025, and the festival feels scaled back. The drone show was scrapped, citing safety risks and increasing costs. The usual suspects – Customs House and the Opera House – are all lit up, but there are fewer installations at Circular Quay and the Rocks than in previous years. While there are more individual light installations across the city than there were last year, there is no Royal Botanic Garden activation and no Wynyard Tunnel event. Light displays now have free entry in 75 per cent of cases, but the light walk – which previously stretched from Circular Quay to Central – is split across smaller precincts around the city, including Martin Place and the Goods Line. 'When people think of Vivid, they think of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge – when they get there, they aren't expecting most of the stuff to be somewhere else,' said John Gilly, who has covered the festival on his blog, Sydney Spectaculars, since 2014. 'The precincts have spread everything out … which is why people may think it's not as entertaining as in the past, but the main stuff is still there.' This isn't the first time the festival has been split up. Over the years there have been activations in Kings Cross and Chatswood, as well as the Wild Nights display at Taronga Zoo. While the strategy means visitors to Circular Quay are seeing fewer installations, many view this as the best way forward for Vivid. 'It's more spread out – and that's a good thing,' said Business Sydney's Paul Nicolau. 'We should be highlighting not just the harbour but all the other places, like Martin Place and the Goods Line. I think we should expand it, we should look out to other areas like Parramatta Road and Victoria Road.' Getting tourists out to Sydney's decrepit arterial roads might be a stretch, but Parramatta Mayor Martin Zaiter is at a loss as to why Sydney's famous winter festival doesn't extend to its growing second CBD. 'Parramatta Square and our beautiful town hall, that's where old meets the new,' Zaiter said. 'Parramatta Park, Old Government House, definitely there are those options for Vivid to expand to. 'It's a no-brainer.' While the light pillar of the festival may be missing a headline event this year, Tourism Minister Stephen Kamper said the food, including the fire kitchen at the Goods Line, has been a major motivator for visitors. 'Saturday night alone saw a record-breaking 51,169 diners at restaurants across the Vivid Sydney zones – the highest ever for a single night in the event's history,' he said.
