Overview
After taking a year off in 2020, Vivid Sydney's annual festival of light, music and ideas is returning from Friday, August 6–Saturday, August 28. Now, the first three installations in its 2021 program have been revealed — so you can start planning a winter trip to the east coast city. The three installations include an immersive sound and light display in Cockle Bay, a 3D projection encompassing Circular Quay's Customs House and the projection of an artist's creative process in The Rocks.
Following a breakout year of immersive walkthrough experiences, visitors to the city will be able to head to Cockle Bay and wander across a floating walkway surrounded by 200 bubble-like spheres and towering structures scattered across the bay. The installation, titled Ephemeral, is the work of Sydney design studio Atelier Sisu and will be the first time Cockle Bay's waters have been incorporated into Vivid.
Ephemeral, Destination NSW
Hong Kong's Treacle Media are responsible for Circular Quay's VORAX, a three-dimensional projection that will tell the story of a mischievous thief's rise to greatness in front of Customs House. Down the road in The Rocks, local artist Brad Robson and Esem Projects will project Robson's spellbinding portraits, as well as his process of creating them for the installation Point of View.
"Vivid Sydney is a bright star on Sydney's events calendar supporting the entire ecosystem of the state's visitor economy," NSW Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney said. "It brings hundreds of thousands of visitors to the city and inspires locals to get out and enjoy Sydney and support our CBD businesses during winter which is typically a quieter period."
Vivid will activate a little later than usual this year with the event tipped to run from Friday, August 6 until Saturday, August 28. It follows the cancellation of the 2020 event due to coronavirus. This year's full program is set to be announced in late May.
Vivid Sydney 2021 will take place from August 6–28, 2021. We'll update you when the full program is released closer to the event date. For more information in the interim, visit the event's website.
Top images: Destination NSW