UPDATE, July 9: As of June 26, the Greater Sydney region including the Central Coast, the Blue Mountains and Wollongong is under a compulsory lockdown until at least 11.59pm on July 30. Residents can only leave home for essential reasons. Essentially all events in Sydney have therefore been cancelled or postponed until after this period.
Australian hip hop heavyweight Sampa The Great has been announced as this year’s headline act for the much-hyped return of Vivid Live, the performance program of Sydney’s winter festival of lights, art and community.
The Zambian rapper will debut her long-awaited new live show An Afro Future at the Sydney Opera House, which will include tracks from her four-time ARIA Award-winning album The Return, alongside a live band, singers and a troupe of choreographed dancers.
It will be an Australian exclusive, so competition for tickets will no doubt be fierce.
Sampa the Great is the first act revealed thus far on the bill of this year’s Vivid Live, the first since 2019. The program, which will be announced within the coming weeks, runs from August 6-28 and will feature an eclectic line-up of leading Aussie acts, breakout artists and emerging talents that are bringing a distinctive sound to Australia’s music scene.
Referencing the festival’s one-year hiatus in 2020, as Australia was tentatively exiting the national lockdown, Vivid Live curator Ben Marshall said, “It’s time to breathe and dance again and I cannot wait to share the rest of this year’s program with you.”
