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This year, Vivid is once again going beyond Circular Quay and lighting up one of Sydney’s trendiest inner city neighbourhoods, Hollywood Quarter in Surry Hills. It's one massive night of food, music and after-dark fun and it all goes down on Saturday, May 30 from 4pm until 4am the next morning. Our advice? Arrive hungry, stay late and get set to party.
First up, A Taste of HQ: Street Eats Edition, a one-night-only street food festival across Surry Hills’ Foster and Hunt Streets. Some of Sydney’s best chefs serve up an alfresco food feast from 4pm until 11pm. We’re talking Lennox Hastie (Firedoor and Gildas), Lakhan Bhounsie (Nomad), Nelly Robinson (Nel), Julian Cincotta (Butter), Matthew MacLeod (Chin Chin), Josh Raine (40Res), Remy Davis (Bessie’s), Michael Shafran (Brooklyn Boy Bagels) and Isobel Whelan-Little (Ace Hotel Sydney).
The area will be pedestrian-only as these local restaurants dish out hand-held bites designed specifically for the event. Picture a burger in one hand and a refreshing bevvy in the other. There’s also outdoor bars, roaming performers and live music throughout the evening, giving the whole precinct the feel of a giant block party.
As for entertainment, from 10pm through until 4am, HQ After Hours takes over the area’s coolest venues with a late-night program of DJs, live music, immersive performances and club nights. Butter Sydney and Common House will host a dance music takeover led by some of Western Sydney’s most exciting DJs, while Kiln’s rooftop supper club will feature a late-night set high above the city skyline from Australian artist JOY.
Elsewhere, the Hollywood Hotel transforms into Nocturne: A Ritual of Sound and Seduction, an immersive world of music and performance. Soda Factory goes into nostalgia mode with a massive '90s and '00s house party soundtracked by hip hop and RnB anthems until 4am. Over at Hotel Harry, DJs will spin soul, hip hop and deep-cut classics late into the night, while Golden Age Cinema & Bar teams up with underground collective SIRC_UIT for a moody collision of dark-wave, post-punk electronica and avant-garde performance art.
New for 2026, Hunt Street becomes Creatives’ Quarter – a family-friendly hub packed with workshops and activations like a sneaker art workshop, a sculpting workshop, painting stations, pop-up performances and caricature art.
As 24-Hour Economy Commissioner, Michael Rodrigues rightly concludes, "Whether you’re looking to enjoy Hollywood Quarter’s culinary offerings or the district’s live entertainment, there will be plenty to see and do well into the early hours at HQ After Hours. It’s a chance to explore some of Sydney’s most iconic venues and see them in a whole new light."
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