Vivid Sydney 2016

By Ben Stephens.

Vivid is about to switch the lights on all over this city, illuminating the sails of the Opera House and bringing with it a mass of happenings. This time of year is a nice reminder that Sydney is pretty darn cool. Vivid 2016 will run for 23 nights, kicking off on June 27 at 6pm – a hot tip would be to find yourself around Circular Quay around this time. From the lights to talks and of course the music, this year’s Vivid is lining up to be the highlight of the year… get it? High-li… never mind.

Lights

So The Vivid Light Walk is always popular, starting at the Opera House, taking you past Customs House and on to the MCA building. It is at this point that you your jaw is on the ground, but scoop it up because the walk isn’t over yet. Continue under the bridge and make your way to the end of Walsh Bay. This walk will take you about 40 minutes, expect crowds and mind bending installations.

Vivid 2016 will also see Darling Harbour throwing flames, lasers and huge fountains around the place to create Laser Dragon Water Theatre, so you probably don’t want to miss out on that. The Vivid website has a list of walks to take your tinder date on, find them all here.

Music

The music accompanying Vivid 2016 is, fair too say, incredible, with Bon Iver presenting Cercle at the Opera House and Bjork at Carriageworks, the city is wrapped up in musical goodness. Sadly, both of those events sold out on the day they went on sale, as they would. However, don’t fret, you still have time to grab your tickets to the ball of the year. Zhu, Cosmo’s Midnight, Basenji and many more will be throwing Curve Ball at Carriageworks, tickets are close to selling out so you might want to snap those up asap.

With Kings Cross almost sounding the death knell to its nightlife, Adam Lewis, a Sydney music lord, is hosting a party as a reminder of the good old days of the golden mile. The party will be at Kings Cross Hotel and will be a complete takeover, so expect DJ’s on every level and a late night, by Sydney standards. Grab those tickets on the door for only $10.

Talks

There is so much going on this time of year that ties into Vivid, with Remix 2016, Sydney Film Festival and the 20^th Biennale of Sydney filling the city with places to be and things to do. So while the lights are off and the sun is up, you can catch a discussion that has the potential to stretch your mind. Ta-Ku, Australia DJ/Producer/Photographer, will be having a chat with Double J’s Myf Warhurst at the Opera House and won’t cost you a thing, check out the full deets HERE.

On the flipside, Drones for Good is a discussion about how to better use drones in disaster situations, crop management and surf life saving. With drone regulations in Australia being in a grey area, this talk could really iron out any niggling questions you have. Grab those tickets HERE.

To be frank, THERE IS SO MUCH GOING ON. The hottest tip of all, download the official Vivid Sydney app. It will put the whole of Vivid in your hands, with maps and all the other information you need.