Vivid Sydney – A Festival of Light, Music & Ideas

One of my favourite times of the year to be in Sydney is coming up very soon. For a budding photographer (me), spending the evening wandering around Sydney Harbour, armed with my camera, photographing colourful light projections on some of Sydney’s most iconic structures, is a night in heaven.

Yes I am talking about Vivid Sydney!

The worlds largest festival of Light, Music and Ideas has been rapidly gaining awareness around the world since it began seven years ago. For those who are not familiar with the festival it comprises of three parts; lights, a celebration of light with colourful projections dancing on Sydney’s buildings; music, showcasing some of the world’s most unique artists through concerts; and ideas, a place where people can come together, learn and share ideas by visit talks with influential speaks from around the world and all walks of life.

The 2015 Program

The Vivid Sydney program in 2015 sees a big expansion from the CBD into the city suburbs with events and light installations in Chatswood and Central Park.

There’ll be over 60 light projections showcased throughout Circular Quay, Walsh Bay, Martin Place, Prymont and of course Chatswood and Central Park with the centrepiece being The Opera House.

The music program is bigger this year too with performances from local and international acts such as Aussie legends The Hoodoo Gurus and ex Silverchair front man Daniel Johns just to name a few.

And in the ideas category this year its all about “The Game Changers” with a line up of speakers that include the likes of Matthew Weiner (creator of Mad Men and producer of The Sopranos) and Tyler Brule (founder of magazines Wallpaper and Monocle).

A Look Back at 2014

I personally love Vivid for simply the lights and am really looking forward to spending a few evenings wandering around the many areas taking lots of photos.

Until then I thought I would share with you some of the photos I took at last years event to get you excited about visiting this year. Last year I spent a whole evening in Circular Quay photographing the projections on the Opera House mostly but also capturing the lights on the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Click on the images to see a larger view.

More Details

This year Vivid Sydney starts on 22nd May running until 8th June. The light installations around the city are free and tickets can be purchased from the Vivid Sydney website for the musical performances and Ideas talks.

The lights come on at 6pm each night during the festival and can be seen until midnight. Attracting nearly 1.5 million people each year, it can get pretty crowded. Hot spots such as Circular Quay will be most crowded between 7pm and 9pm on Thursday to Sunday nights. If you can avoid these times you’ll have a more pleasant, less crowded experience.

Make sure you are following me on Instagram, Facebook & Twitter during the event as I will be posting lots of photos live as I wander around the city using the hashtag #VividSydney.

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Over to you!

Have you visited Vivid Sydney or are you planning a visit this year? What are you most looking forward to experiencing?

Let me know using the comments section below or join me on social media to start a conversation.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this post.