Blacklight

Overview

No citywide festival can go by without Gelato Messina having a part in it, and Vivid Sydney is no different. This year, Messina will put on its own gelato-filled light show when it opens a pop-up dessert bar at Darling Square. Expect florescent desserts aplenty on offer from May 24 through June 15 when the custom-built ultraviolet store — named Blacklight — opens from 6–11pm each night.

It's all in honour of the gelato giant's upcoming shop opening within Darling Square's Electric Treat Street, which is slated for August. Up for grabs throughout the festival will be two glowing gelato cakes, including the signature Dr Evil's Magic Mushroom cake (chocolate gelato, peanut butter cookies and dulce de leche covered with neon painted dark chocolate) and the Dulce-de-Lighted: a three-layer dulce de leche cake of milk sponge, crumb and cream, all topped with a glowing strawberry and roasted cinnamon anglaise.

But the cult gelateria isn't stopping there — it has also asked three other Darling Square residents to join in. In week one (May 24–June 2), Bubble Nini will be in the house, slinging two flouro bubble teas. Those include The Sun and the Moon (Messina's jersey milk infused with Taiwanese black tea, glow-in-the-dark strawberry pearls and herbal jellies) and the It Takes Two to Mango (Jasmine green tea with fresh orange, passion fruit, apple, coconut jelly, glowing pearls and Messina's mango sorbet).

In week two (June 3–9), Edition Coffee Roasters will join the party with warm mochas and a special Miso Hungry gelato sandwich — it fuses Messina's coffee gelato with miso caramel, two miso dark chocolate cookies and dipped in neon dark chocolate. For the final week of Vivid (June 10–15), the Devon Café team will offer up a teaser of its upcoming DOPA by Devon Japanese-inspired concept. The dessert for the Blacklight pop-up will remain a surprise, so you'll just have to head along to find out.

The Blacklight cube itself follows the Vivid theme, too — expect an array of colour-changing panels on the outside and multi-dimensional, neon-lit artwork by Brisbane artist Leans inside.