Every year, for three weeks in May and June, Sydney puts on Vivid Sydney, a free festival where many of the city’s iconic landmarks, buildings, museums and parks are transformed into outdoor art by multiple light projections. In 2016 even Taronga Zoo was painted with light.
While the lights are the most spectacular part of Vivid, there are also performances from local and international musicians and an ideas exchange featuring talks and debates involving leading creative thinkers. Altogether this makes up the festival’s subtitle of light, music, ideas.
While there are many vantage points to view the lights, we found that a spot at the south eastern pylon of Sydney Harbour Bridge provided a great aspect to watch the changing lights on the Sydney Opera House.
The deck of the Harbour Bridge also provided a panorama of Circular Quay and the buildings behind, with many of those painted with light.
The Cahill Expressway, above Circular Quay railway station, gives a great view over the ferry terminal and out to the Harbour Bridge.
The Cahill Expressway allowed a clear sight across to Luna Park.
The Museum of Contemporary Art was painted in a changing palette of bright and vivid colours.
City buildings behind Circular Quay painted in light.
The many and varied pictures projected onto the Opera House were the main attraction for most people and we picked another spot between the ferry wharves and the Overseas Passenger Terminal to take more pictures.
Another very popular exhibit was the motion picture projected onto Customs House. Every year this is a feast of light and sound and 2016 was no exception, with Sydney’s Hidden Stories.
While many other parts of the city had Vivid displays, the final one we visited was in the Botanical Gardens. 2016 is the 200th anniversary of these gardens.
The Royal Botanic Gardens turned 200 in 2016
The “Cathedral” was an arch of lights for spectators to walk through.
The “Will o’ the Wisp” display was located under one of the Gardens’ Moreton Bay fig trees. The miniature lights change colour and seem to appear and disappear at random.
On the other side of the Moreton Bay fig was a projection of multiple colours, including beetles, fire and writhing snakes.