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brooke beyond

Aus + NZ / Australia / New South Wales

A complete guide to Vivid Sydney: Where to go & what to see

June 9, 2018

Every May & June, just as the days are beginning to feel a whole lot darker and the city settles (rather reluctantly) into scarf-weather, Sydney explodes in a festival of bright lights and enchanting colours that actually makes winter something to look forward to. Now in its 10th year, Vivid Sydney draws thousands of people into the city every single night (6-11pm) of its 3-week run, as precincts across the city are transformed by interactive light shows and sparkling art installations. The festival only gets bigger and better with each incarnation, and it’s no exaggeration to call it my favourite Sydney event of all time. Use this guide to make the most of your visit(s) to Vivid Sydney, exploring all the top areas and soaking in all the best views. No matter how you experience Vivid, though, you’re sure to be back for more.

What's in this travel guide

  • Getting there
    • Train
    • Driving
  • How to enjoy Vivid
    • Harbour Cruise
    • Vivid Live @ the Sydney Opera House
    • Fireworks @ Cockle Bay
    • Pop-up Bars in the Botanic Garden
    • Vivid Light Walk
  • Explore the best precincts
    • Royal Botanic Garden
    • Opera House
    • Circular Quay
    • Darling Harbour
    • The Rocks
    • Taronga Zoo
    • And Beyond…

Lights for the Wild at Taronga Zoo

Getting there

Train

Transport NSW puts on extra train, bus, and ferry times for Vivid, ensuring that you are able to get into the city without any dramas. As always, it’s $8.50 to catch the train to Circular Quay Station, from which it’s an easy walk to the Gardens, Darling Harbour (can also use Wynyard Station), and beyond.

Driving

It’s unlike me to ever recommend driving into the city at night, particularly for a notoriously hectic event like Vivid where there’s unlikely to be a street-park in sight, but I just discovered the beauty of Secure Parking’s pre-pay garages! Book a spot online for just $10-15 and park from 5pm-6am in one of several dozen different locations all over the CBD. If you’re coming into Vivid with a group, it’s actually cheaper than taking the train and, if you’re coming from outer suburbs, it’s definitely easier.

Cruising through Sydney Harbour

How to enjoy Vivid

Harbour Cruise

Hop on one of the ubiquitous Vivid cruise boats and float around Sydney Harbour as you take in Vivid from the water. Most cruises are around 90 minutes long, include at least one drink and often a buffet, and depart from either the Man O’War Steps behind the Opera House, Barangaroo, or Darling Harbour. Check out Groupon for some truly unbeatable deals (~$20)!

Vivid Live @ the Sydney Opera House

Every autumn brings a new collection of artists to the Opera House for the Vivid Live concert series, an absolutely excellent way to experience Sydney’s most iconic music venue. Tickets can vary widely depending on the act, but most shows still offer some cheaper seating options so that everyone has a chance to enjoy. This year’s big names include Solange, Ice Cube, and Middle Kids, while previous years have seen Flume, Chet Faker, Taku, and Bon Iver take the stage.

Fireworks @ Cockle Bay

Every Friday and Saturday night during Vivid, there is an amazing fireworks display in Darling Harbour. The pyrotechnics begin at 8pm, but it’s likely to get crowded, so find a good view on Cockle Bay early to avoid missing any of the action.

Pop-up Bars in the Botanic Garden

There are two different pop-up bars in Sydney’s Royal Botanic Garden, both serving up food, music, and a variety of drinks (including some amazing hot mulled wine) every night during Vivid. The prices may be a little steep, but you won’t find a better place to sit and enjoy the impressive lights of the Garden.

Vivid Light Walk

If you only do one thing during Vivid, make sure it’s the Light Walk from Darling Harbour to the Opera House. Begin your evening at the impressive water display in Cockle Bay, then walk up through Barangaroo, across Wynyard Station (which looks eerily like the inside of a space craft after the recent upgrade), and along The Rocks. After getting a great view of both the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, walk all the way around Circular Quay to the Opera House and then across into the Royal Botanic Garden for the perfect finale. With so many amazing things to see and do, this is still the very best way to experience Vivid.

Incredible lights at Darling Harbour

Explore the best precincts

Royal Botanic Garden

A long-time Vivid favourite, the Garden is brought to life during Vivid by several dozen art installations, ranging from small pieces to enormous, interactive light shows with their own soundtrack. Even walking the relatively short path from start to finish will take the better part of an evening, as you’ll inevitably stop to look at display after display of incredible lights and colours. Be sure to catch the amazing views back onto the Opera House as you first enter!

Social parrots change colour and chatter more loudly as people approach
Social parrots change colour and chatter more loudly as people approach
Art installation in the Garden
Art installation in the Garden
Light display in the Royal Botanic Garden
Light display in the Royal Botanic Garden
Amazing views back onto the Opera House from the Royal Botanic Garden
Amazing views back onto the Opera House from the Royal Botanic Garden
Interactive light walkway
Interactive light walkway

Opera House

Vivid’s most recognisable light show is directly on the Opera House and its iconic white sails, as brilliant colours and patterns are projected across the water with uncanny precision. You can get great views of the Opera House from the Overseas Passenger Terminal, as you walk towards the Opera House from the ferry wharf, or even from Opera Bar and the steps of the Opera House. This area usually also has some free-standing art installations nearby, and offers spectacular views back onto the Harbour Bridge and Circular Quay.

Opera House steps
Opera House steps
Sydney Opera House transformed for VIVID
Sydney Opera House transformed for VIVID
Light Tunnel in front of the Opera House
Light Tunnel in front of the Opera House

Circular Quay

All around the Harbour, there are various installations that will make it difficult to move more than a few metres before stopping for a picture. Lights are also projected directly onto the buildings behind Circular Quay, best viewed as you walk towards either the Opera House or the Harbour Bridge, but the best area to hang out is Customs House, onto which elaborate story animations are projected. This year, we watched as Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, two Gumnut Babies made famous exactly 100 years ago by Australian author May Gibbs, rallied their friends to explore the city. Although the story may be aimed at children, it’s impossible not to be awed by the display and it is definitely a highlight of any visit to the Quay.

The Harbour Bridge aglow for Vivid
The Harbour Bridge aglow for Vivid
The façade of Customs House fully animated for Vivid
The façade of Customs House fully animated for Vivid
The Gumnut Babies on Sydney's Customs House
The Gumnut Babies on Sydney’s Customs House
Sydney CBD all lit up
Sydney CBD all lit up

Darling Harbour

Unlike the buildings surrounding Circular Quay onto which lights are being projected, many of the buildings around Darling Harbour appear to have integrated lights, purpose-built for Vivid. The resultant light show is impossibly, well, vivid. The main installation is a group of glowing orbs in the middle of Cockle Bay, changing colours and shooting off streams of water every so often, and the combination of these colours and those from the buildings makes for some truly jaw-dropping scenery. As you walk towards the Quay, you’ll also see plenty of activity in Barangaroo, in the form of a light parade this year.

Amazing lights at Darling Harbour
Amazing lights at Darling Harbour
Winter nights at Darling Harbour
Winter nights at Darling Harbour
Ferris Wheel lit up for Vivid
Ferris Wheel lit up for Vivid
Light show in Cockle Bay
Light show in Cockle Bay

The Rocks

Walking through Sydney’s historical waterfront district, you’ll catch fleeting glimpses of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, but you’ll be plenty occupied by amazing art installations along George Street and a particularly well-loved light display on the façade of the Museum of Contemporary Art. In past years, this has been my favourite place to just sit and enjoy the show. After you’ve watched a few rotations of the wild, sound-synced projections, wander over to the street food area in front of the Overseas Passenger Terminal for some overpriced dinner and complete sugar overload.

Light display on the MCA at The Rocks
Light display on the MCA at The Rocks
Art installation on George St
Art installation on George St
Vivid Sydney 2018
Vivid Sydney 2018
1,000 Cranes art installation
1,000 Cranes art installation
Tasty nibbles
Tasty nibbles

Taronga Zoo

Only a quick ferry ride away from all the action in Circular Quay, check out Taronga Zoo’s “Lights for the Wild” during Vivid for animal-themed, fully-immersive light installations that are sure to blow your mind. All proceeds support this not-for-profit zoo and its conservation efforts, so you can feel good about shelling out $24 for your ticket. Choose either a 5.30, 6.30, or 7.30pm entry time and then spend the next few hours walking through the zoo and seeing the lights from above on the Sky Safari cablecar.

A giant Southern Corroboree Frog
A giant Southern Corroboree Frog
Crocs at Lights for the Wild
Crocs at Lights for the Wild
Wasp in the trees at Taronga Zoo
Wasp in the trees at Taronga Zoo
Sea turtles cruising through Taronga Zoo
Sea turtles cruising through Taronga Zoo
Adorable mummy and baby echidnas
Adorable mummy and baby echidnas
Beautiful seahorse at Lights for the Wild
Beautiful seahorse at Lights for the Wild

And Beyond…

Vivid actually extends far beyond the Quay and surrounding areas, lighting up Carriageworks, Luna Park, Kings Cross, and Chatswood with a rainbow of colours. And, each year, the festival expands to include more precincts and more installations than every before, ensuring that no two Vivid experiences are the same. To truly make the most of this incredible event, venture somewhere out of the ordinary and discover a new favourite.

Read more about Sydney

80 AMAZING THINGS TO DO IN SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

13 FANTASTIC DAY TRIPS & WEEKEND GETAWAYS FROM SYDNEY

ROYAL NATIONAL PARK COAST TRACK: A COMPLETE GUIDE TO SYDNEY’S BEST OVERNIGHT HIKE

FROM HUNTER VALLEY TO MANLY BEACH: 10 ITINERARIES FOR EXPLORING THE VERY BEST OF SYDNEY

THE LEGENDARY PACIFIC COAST TOURING ROUTE: A COMPLETE GUIDE TO ROAD TRIPPING FROM SYDNEY TO BRISBANE

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brooke brisbine

I've spent the last decade exploring the world— everything from solo trekking in the Andes to overlanding in Zambia, all while completing a PhD in Biomechanics, teaching at a university & securing permanent residency in Australia. In 2020, I finally fulfilled my dream of becoming a full-time nomad! Whether it’s vanlife in Mexico, scuba diving in the Galápagos, ticking off incredible US National Parks, or climbing in the Dolomites, I hope this blog will inspire your future adventures & help you find wonder in every corner of the globe. xx bb

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hi, I’m brooke!

I've spent the last decade exploring the world— everything from solo trekking in the Andes to overlanding in Zambia, all while completing a PhD in Biomechanics. In 2020, I finally fulfilled my dream of becoming a full-time nomad! Whether it’s vanlife in Mexico, scuba diving in the Galápagos, ticking off incredible US National Parks, or climbing in the Dolomites, I hope this blog will inspire your future adventures & help you find wonder in every corner of the globe. xx bb

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