News Stories
Vivid Sydney 2015 Program Announced

The 2015 program includes expansion into new city precincts Chatswood and Central Park, its biggest ever music program including Australian exclusives such as The Hoodoo Gurus at the Powerhouse Museum and Daniel Johns’ international solo debut at the Sydney Opera House, and heavy-hitting speakers at Vivid Ideas.
Vivid Sydney is owned and managed by the NSW Government’s tourism and major events agency Destination NSW. Destination NSW Chief Executive Officer Sandra Chipchase said that the festival, which attracted 1.43 million people last year, will feature its “biggest program yet”, expanding into new locations in Central Park and Chatswood.
“Favourite locations Circular Quay, Walsh Bay, Martin Place, and Darling Harbour are back with over 60 light installations and projections with even more opportunity for visitors to get hands on, more water theatre shows—this time with lasers and fire—and new and expanded programing at Pyrmont & The Star and the University of Sydney,” Ms Chipchase said.“The sandstone canvases of Customs House and the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA) will also return with spectacular new 3D projections.”
“With all eyes on the Sydney Opera House, Lighting of the Sails will once again take its place as the centrepiece of the amazing light spectacular during Vivid Sydney, with Universal Everything promising awe-inspiring projections that will reimagine the architecture as a living mural, with a diverse series of vibrant, hand-drawn sequences.
Vivid Music will feature a mix of local and international talent.
The Hoodoo Gurus will perform an exclusive one-off show at the Powerhouse Museum and a new line up of cutting edge, innovative performances will be held across the city at new venues Goodgod Small Club, Oxford Art Factory and Freda’s, with the Seymour Centre, The Basement, The Argyle and Barrio Cellar part of the line-up again in 2015.
Vivid LIVE at the Sydney Opera House features a 10-night run of exclusive Sydney-only performances and for the first time will also include two large scale outdoor events, internal light projections and an event for kids and families. Features include four exclusive performances from Morrissey, Daniel Johns in his international solo debut, Sufjan Stevens in his only Australian performances and FCX—10 Years of Future Classics featuring Flume and Flight Facilities.
With a line-up of heavy-hitting speakers, Vivid Ideas introduces The Game Changers, a new talk series this year headlined by three global influencers: multi Emmy-winning writer Matthew Weiner, series creator and executive producer of Mad Men and former executive producer and writer on The Sopranos; Grammy-winning designer Stefan Sagmeister, whose clients include the Rolling Stones, Lou Reed and the Guggenheim Museum; and entrepreneur and publisher Tyler Brûlé, founder of the magazines Wallpaper and Monocle.
Where What When
Sydney Opera House
Design collective Universal Everything will be Lighting the Sails with spectacular projections.
Nightly from 6pm
Customs House
Enchanted Sydney by Spinifex, a continually evolving and blossoming world with free-flowing images of Sydney’s flora and fauna.
Nightly from 6pm
MCA (sandstone original building)
Mechanised Colour Assemblage by Danny Rose and Rebecca Baumann transforms the MCA into a series of sound and colour machines.
Nightly from 6pm
Sydney Harbour, Circular Quay, The Rocks and Walsh Bay
Harbour Lights returns with boats lit up, floating on the Harbour in a symphony of colour, Paint the Town allows visitors to illuminate the city’s skyscrapers, plus more than 60 light installations adorn the harbour foreshore.
Nightly from 6pm
Martin Place
The daytime centre of the city is illuminated at night with installations including Transcendence, an impressive towering structure featuring mesmerising projection mapping, code-driven light shows and divine fare from Sydney’s hippest purveyors of food and beverage.
Nightly from 6pm
Darling Harbour
Vivid Laser-Fountain Water Theatre presented by Oracle-Liquid is a choreographed audio visual symphony featuring fountain jets and spirals, colour lighting, rainbow lasers and dancing flames.
Nightly from 6pm
Central Park
STREETS AHEAD featuring projections from contemporary artists Reko Rennie and Beastman onto the heritage Carlton & United Brewery façade, plus Silent Discos every Friday and Saturday.
Nightly from 6pm
University of Sydney
Vivid Path to the Future, a week long program of light, music and ideas with spectacular 3D mapped projections and a light walk.
25 – 31 May
Pyrmont & The Star
Vivid Sydney Game Zone, a buzzing multisensory entertainment precinct with interactive installations at Pyrmont Bay Park and Sky Terrace at The Star.
Nightly from 6pm
Chatswood
Aquatic Wonderland, a mesmerising water world featuring giant sea creatures and an animated aquarium, culminating in a beautifully-illustrated 3D animation set over the façade of The Concourse.
Nightly from 6pm to 11pm.
Vivid LIVE at Sydney Opera House
Morrissey, Daniel Johns, Sufjan Stevens and FCX – 10 Years of Future Classic featuring Flume and Flight Facilities.
22 May to 8 June
Vivid Music
Hoodoo Gurus at Powerhouse Museum, Modulations at Carriageworks, the Seymour Centre and new venues Oxford Art Factory, Freda’s and Goodgod Small Club.
22 May to 8 June
Vivid Ideas
The Game Changers talk series with Matthew Weiner, Stefan Sagmeister and Tyler Brûlé, plus the Vivid Ideas Exchange sessions at the MCA.
22 May to 8 June
For more information on Vivid Sydney visit www.vividsydney.com
This article archived 9 Jun 2015
Recent News
What's New
Blue Mountains Concert Society Spirit of Australia Tour with the Southern Cross Orchestra - Sun 22 June, 2pm, Blue Mountains Theatre, Springwood