Sydney’s sparkly season is almost upon us, and there’s good news this year on the cozzie livs front. For Vivid Sydney 2025, the whole of the spectacular light walk will be free to explore, and a huge 75 per cent of the entire Vivid program (which spans Light, Music, Ideas and Food) will be free, too.
Since its launch in 2009, Vivid Sydney has been on a mission to bring Sydneysiders out into the streets as the weather starts to cool down. And it’s hard to deny that the organisers have had success, with an estimated 2.42 million people attending the festival last year – even though some people were up in arms about having to pay to enter certain sections. Now, for 2025, the team behind Vivid’s luminous offerings have decided to make the entire light walk free to the public.
Back in 2023, Vivid introduced two super immersive experiences to the Light Walk: Lightscape (a transporting 1.8-kilometre trail hidden in the Royal Botanic Garden) and Dark Spectrum (a super impressive audiovisual experience housed in the abandoned train tunnels beneath Wynyard Station). Though these were big hits with Sydneysiders, they weren’t cheap: adult tickets to Lightscape cost $30, and $35 for Dark Spectrum. With the cost-of-living crisis in mind, the good people from Vivid Sydney have decided to cut these experiences, and make all light-based experiences at this year’s fest totally free.
The zero-cost initiative isn’t the only change to this year’s Light Walk – which will feature interactive installations including voice-activated animations, suspended swings, playful seesaws, and self-portraits that turn into 3D projections. For Vivid Sydney 2025, the festival footprint has been redesigned to feature five distinct zones that we suggest tackling one or two at a time instead of all in one night:
- Circular Quay and The Rocks;
- Barangaroo;
- Darling Harbour;
- The Goods Line and Inner City; and
- Martin Place and CBD (back on the Vivid map for the first time since 2018).
Although light is the main event, each connected zone will feature events from each of the festival pillars: Light, Music, Ideas and Food – each zone with its own special flavour.
From May 23 until June 14, expect to see Circular Quay transformed into a kaleidoscopic wonderland as usual; Darling Harbour bringing back its Tumbalong Nights music series; and The Goods Line welcoming back last year’s popular Fire Kitchen alongside other creative activations. Plus, some shiny new additions: eight new Sydney landmarks (including the Museum of Sydney, The Bond in Barangaroo and Challis House in Martin Place) will be illuminated by spectacular light displays; Surry Hills’s trendy Hollywood Quarter (home to Sydney’s trendiest street) will be playing host to a glittering program; and Martin Place will be re-emerging as a festival hub for for the first time in seven years.
You can learn more about the Vivid Sydney 2025 program over here – and we’ll be bringing you more updates as sparkly season sets in.
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