Four Different Ways to See Vivid Sydney 2025

After fifteen years of the illuminating festival, Sydneysiders are experts in all things Vivid Sydney, and planning ahead is a big part of the fun.

Celebrating its 15th year, Vivid Sydney 2025 rolls out across zones that reach from the Sydney Opera House to Carriageworks for 23 electric nights. Bringing the Harbour city to life from 23 May to 14 June, this year the festival’s theme is Dream. Gill Minervini, Vivid Sydney Festival Director, explained, "Dreaming is something we all do. It's as old as time and as universal as life itself.”

Do as the locals do and map out a few different itineraries so you can spread the crowds (and your sense of awe) out over a few dazzling visits. By charting your course around the impressive festival footprint you’ll still see the big ticket sights - like David McDiarmid’s Kiss of Light illuminating the Sydney Opera House sails - but you’re also more likely to catch some of the smaller and more interactive installations too.

Vivid Sydney 2025 is as much about illuminating those neurons and lighting up your worldview as it is lighting up the city. You can plan an entire Vivid Sydney calendar around brilliant workshops, activation and talks. Kick things off in the CBD with the science of shut-eye: Why We Sleep, featuring Professor Matthew Walker where the world-renowned neuroscientist reveals why sleep is as essential to human health as food and shelter.

Or, get in early for the one-night-only evening with Martha Stewart, live on stage at ICC Sydney as part of Vivid Sydney. A true luminary of modern living, Martha set the standard for how we cook, entertain, decorate, and celebrate.

For something a little more abstract, step Inside The Dream Factory: (I Don't Dream, I Float), an immersive audiovisual experience that “explores the fluidity between dreams and water” at the Sydney Theatre Company’s Wharf 2.

Nearby at Walumil Lawns in the Barangaroo Reserve, you’ll find yourself staring into what could potentially be our communal future, or lack thereof. Endling is a haunting solo performance exploring the idea that humans could be writing our own extinction chapter. The show mixes projections, aerial theatre and narration and questions if we’re truly capable of shifting our fate.

Hop on the light rail or catch a train over to Central station for The Goods Line and spend a little time with I Dream of Reality, an Extended Reality exhibition courtesy of UTS researchers and artists. One minute, you’re wandering through a reimagined Australian landscape, the next you’re enthralled by AI-driven exhibits that challenge your assumptions on technology, climate, and humanity.

Back in the realm of practical creativity, drop by the CBD again for Where Do Ideas Come From? Creativity Inside TIME’s Cover. At this one night only, ticketed event, TIME’s Creative Director D.W. Pine offers a peek behind the scenes of the magazine’s most controversial covers, and possibly your own assumptions about art, politics, and visual provocation.

Wrangling kids in a dazzling sea of light can be tricky, but Vivid Sydney 2025 has plenty of all-ages action to keep little ones wildly entertained and relatively contained. For ages five and over Luna Park in the Dark is putting on an exciting twist on a Sydney classic. The park will be switching off the lights at night to let festival goers ride classics like the Big Dipper under the cover of winter dark. Stilt-walkers, jugglers, and mime artists will evoke the park’s 1930s origins, like stepping into a vintage carnival dream.

For the bigger kids, plunge into Stranger Things: The Experience, a fully immersive, hands-on adventure also at Luna Park. Unleash hidden abilities, tackle eerie challenges and stand alongside Eleven to protect Hawkins from the lurking dangers of the Upside Down. Live actors, cutting-edge effects and unexpected twists bring a brand-new storyline to life, created in collaboration with the show’s original team.

Then, catch a ferry to Darling Harbour where the Elysian Collection morphs Tumbalong Park into a tubular wonderland of inflatable art. Great for the under 12s, it’s part giant playground, part futuristic installation. Kids get to dash through glowing corridors while you marvel at the luminous spectacle. Tumbalong Park will also have free live music every night during Vivid Sydney, with Saturdays at 5pm dedicated specifically to kid-friendly acts.

For a dose of moonlight magic, nearby Barangaroo’s Fly to the Moon lets your child (or your inner child) swing in front of a massive inflatable moon, briefly becoming the ‘man in the moon.’ Or take them for a tennis match unlike any other, where the trusty yellow ball is swapped for a glimmering beam of light that arcs across a field studded with glowing orbs with Kickit Team Tennis in Darling Quarter.

This year the festival favourite corridor will be at The Goods Line, manifesting as the Starscape Tunnel near Hay Street. More than 700 glowing stars line this 40-metre passage, recalling those glow-in-the-dark stickers that once graced every bedroom ceiling. Try to get there early in the evening to avoid the crowds and pack a few snacks and extra layers - even Sydney can get a little chilly this time of year.

If you’re looking for spacious family accommodation close to the action, both Novotel Sydney on Darling Harbour and Novotel Darling Square invite all children under the age of 16 to stay - and eat breakfast - for free when sharing a family room with their parents. 

Vivid Sydney prides itself on also being a festival of flavours and culinary creativity.

Anchor a night around the Graduates Showcase at FoodLab Sydney in The Rocks. Seven emerging chefs present a seven-course menu that’s equal parts personal narrative and mouth-watering invention. Every ticket supports FoodLab Sydney’s mission to empower migrant and refugee entrepreneurs.

Back at The Goods Line, Vivid Fire Kitchen returns for a smoke-and-spice spectacular. International pitmasters and Aussie barbecue gurus bring the heat with sizzling briskets, tangy spice rubs, and smoky aromas dancing through the air. It’s all free to enter, so you can wander in and inhale the heady scent of open flames, grilled meats. This year they’re also introducing Spice Lounge, a retreat of fire pits and extravagantly seasoned foods taking over Maryanne Street.

In the CBD, the Vivid Chef Series 2025 pairs local culinary icons with international rockstar chefs to push boundaries using fresh NSW produce. Expect cross-continental collisions of flavour: one night might evoke classic French technique crashing into modern Japanese minimalism, the next could be Mexican street food tangoing with Italian pasta traditions.

With Dream Mist Royal Botanic Garden Sydney transforms into an ethereal realm that fuses fragrance, storytelling, and taste. At Botanic House guests will savour a three-course Vietnamese-inspired feast and a night of stories by acclaimed chef Luke Nguyen. Participants are invited to share their own dreams by writing them on red ribbons and attaching them to an interactive wishing tree. As a keepsake, each attendee will also receive a bespoke Dream Mist botanical perfume.

Finally, a lucky few will take their tickets and taste buds to Circular Quay for Saltbush and Starlight Dining at the Sydney Opera House. Under shimmering projections in a secret section of the House, they will devour a three-course First Nations-inspired feast courtesy of Mark Olive, paired with local wine and craft beer. It’s an intimate experience that merges top-tier cuisine with cultural immersion.

When the city’s skyline starts strobing with lasers and illuminated art it calls for a soundtrack to match. Our Vivid Sydney 2025 music trail begins in Martin Place and the CBD. Buckle in for Tangerine Dream, the Berlin School pioneers who’ve shaped electronic music since 1967. Pulsating arpeggios, cosmic synths, and cinematic soundscapes inside the magnificent City Recital Hall.

Over at the Sydney Opera House, ANOHNI and the Johnsons return to Sydney with Mourning The Great Barrier Reef, blending new album tracks, timeless classics, and a visual tapestry of coral reefs in peril. This soon-to-sellout show will be an otherworldly performance that’s part eulogy, part rallying cry for environmental justice, reminding us that art can be both beautiful and painfully urgent.

Also at the Sydney Opera House, with her acoustic guitar and golden voice, Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Jessica Pratt conjures songs poised at the hazy edge of dreaming with her psych-folk style, including the hypnotic gem Here in the Pitch.

At the outdoor stage in Tumbalong Park catch the dynamic homage to Australia’s Pacific Islander community, PASIFIX, as part of the free series Tumbalong Nights. Weaving time-honoured traditions with contemporary reggae, soul, and hip-hop as a celebration of Pacific pride. The 24th May show will have performances from the soulful Siala, PNG and West Papuan collective Sorong Samarai, hip-hop pioneer Kas Tha Feelstyle, the island melodies of Justin Wellington, rapper Sprigga Mek from PNG, contemporary dance group Meganesia, and Yolngu singer Yirrmal.

Finally, move quickly and you might still score a ticket for An Evening with Warren Ellis, presented in partnership with the Sydney Film Festival. The iconic Nick Cave collaborator, and all-round Aussie music legend, will speak about his conservation work, preview the new documentary Ellis Park, and treat the audience to a brief live performance.

Multiple nights, one spectacular festival. For the full Vivid Sydney 2025 map, ticketing details, and a rundown of every luminous, musical, and culinary activation on show this year, head to vividsydney.com.