In just five year’s time, Vivid Sydney has blossomed into the
biggest light festival in the Southern Hemisphere and a vital tool
in branding Sydney as the creative hub of Asia Pacific.
In total, the 18-day 2013 iteration boasts more than 60 interactive
light instillations and 3-D-mapped buildings across the city,
including two major new venues: Darling Harbor and the Sydney
Harbor Bridge (which participants will be able to decorate
themselves). Yet, Vivid is not only a festival of lights, but ideas
and music too.
Vivid Ideas boasts more than 120 creative industry and business
events this year, while Vivid LIVE at the Sydney Opera House
includes the world premiere album show of Australia’s Empire of the
Sun and the iconic German electronic music group Kraftwerk, who
will present their acclaimed retrospective series in eight unique
performances.
Vivid Sydney’s creative adviser, Ignatius Jones, is no stranger on
the world stage. He’s one of the world’s leading major event
directors, having been a creative force behind the 2000 Sydney
Olympic Games Opening and Closing Ceremonies and the creative
director of the Opening Ceremony of Shanghai 2010 World Expo and
the Ceremonies of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. But
Jones said Vivid was a completely different animal.
One landmark that has not been designed by an international
architect for the first time in Vivid’s five-year history is the
Sydney Opera House. That honor belongs to Sydney-based Spinifex
Group.
While the lights shine along the waterfront from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m.
each night, the music and idea events span all hours as Vivid takes
over Australia’s largest city. Chipchase noted that it’s really
just 18 days of nonstop entertainment, it’s family friendly and the
bulk of it is free.
The state government helps underwrite much of the costs, and
creative sponsors like Audi, Citibank and Intel have all put their
names behind many of the larger light instillations. In the end,
Destination NSW “very conservatively” estimates that the event
pumps more than $10 million into the local economy.
Last year, 500,000 people came in specifically for the event,
including several thousand Chinese who were lured to Sydney by
advertising campaigns on microblogging website Sina Weibo. This
year, the event is three-times larger and the stakes are even
higher. More than 300 travel buyers are in town from around the
world. Meanwhile, Business Events Sydney will bring a raft of
decision-makers down to see the festival as a way of generating
convention and incentive travel businesses in the city, according
to Chipchase.
