Vivid Sydney

Montell Fish announces Intercession Before Charlotte Australian tour

Montell Fish is hitting the road this May for his Intercession Before Charlotte tour in Australia, and it’s shaping up to be something special. If you’ve seen an edit on TikTok filled with nostalgia, longing or heartbreak recently, chances are you’ve encountered Montell Fish’s music. Much as is the story these days, the 26-year-old Pittsburgh-born…

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Vivid Live 2024. Bigger, better and brighter than ever

One of the biggest highlights on the Sydney live music calendar is the Vivid event and with the 2024 line-up being dropped today, it’s fair to say, they’re well and truly back with an enormous line-up! From the 24th May to the 15th of June, Sydney will once again light up with events ranging from…

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Vivid Live Review: Meg Mac – Sydney Opera House (18.06.22)

Vivid Live returned to Sydney for the first time in three years, giving Meg Mac a chance to return to the stage and successfully close out the festival. Playing her first Sydney show in close to three years, the Melbourne artist was better than she’s ever been and returned to the stage with more confidence,…

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Live Review: Nils Frahm stuns with a grand, contemplative return to the Sydney Opera House (16.06.22)

Nils Frahm is just some guy on a stage fiddling with knobs, tinkering with futuristic glass harmonicas, and clanging away at keys with a penchant for building waves of contemplative sounds. So you can soundtrack whatever stressful thoughts you may have brought with you on a Thursday night. Across the better part of a decade,…

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Explore the Australian Museum after dark with Nights at the Museum

Museum-goers will finally be able to live out their Larry Daley dreams, with the Australian Museum keeping the doors open a little later every Thursday throughout May and June. Not only will you be able to explore the AM’s current exhibitions after dark, but Nights at the Museum will also be offering a stacked roster…

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Carriageworks unveils incredible music line-up for Vivid Sydney 2022, including Perfume Genius, CHAI, TOMM¥ €A$H, and more!

We can finally welcome international stars back to our shores, and Carriageworks has bagged some of the brightest for their Vivid Sydney line-up. The Carriageworks precinct will come to life over two weekends in June, celebrating theatrical live performance and honest self-expression from across the globe. Visitors can expect incredible live music, large-scale light installations,…

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Vivid Sydney rescheduled to September 2021

The NSW Government have announced that the forthcoming Vivid Sydney has been rescheduled in the interest of community health and safety.  Originally planned between August 6th and 28th, Vivid is now set for celebration from 17th September through to October 9th, 2021. “We all want to see Sydney shine through the spectacular show of creativity…

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Vivid Sydney

Statement released regarding Vivid Sydney’s cancellation in response to coronavirus

As most people now know, Vivid Sydney will not be on for this year. The event, which in 2019 attracted 2.4 million visitors, has been cancelled in response to the growing thread of the novel coronavirus Covid-19. The NSW Government has made this decision following recommendations by the Federal Government and health authorities to limit…

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Five things to do in Sydney over the next few weeks: May & June 2019

You’d be mistaken if you thought Sydney was all about the summer months. As soon as winter hits, the city seems to spring to life with some of its greatest yearly events, as well as a whole host of other fun things to do. And the next few weeks will certainly showcase that, with the…

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Your ultimate food and drink guide to Vivid Sydney 2019

One look at the Sydney Opera House and the surrounding Circular Quay during Vivid Sydney is all it needs to fall in love with the festival all over again. Despite the train delays and constant crowds, something about this buzzing and energetic festival of lights, music and ideas captures the imaginations of both visitors and…

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Live Review: St. Vincent brings Vivid to a close with a stunning solo show incorporating MASSEDUCTION from start to finish

The inimitable St. Vincent helped bring the annual Vivid Festival to an end in Sydney last night, with a special one-off solo show that felt as much an art installation as it did a rock concert. Curtains moved and fell, as though the chronological trip through her catalogue was emblematic of how she’s shown us…

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Vivid Live Review: No Mono captivate Sydney with intimate Opera House show

Bathed in blue and green hues, as smoke envelopes the stage the goal of the night is intimacy, intimacy held perhaps at an arm’s length. No Mono the new project by #1 Dads and Big Scary member Tom Iansek and Tom Snowdon of Lowlakes relishes in the private moments, whether they are obscured by the…

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Vivid Live Review: H.E.R stuns with a perfect performance at Sydney Opera House

Shortly after emerging from Soundcloud obscurity within the past year or so, elusive musician H.E.R has surely become one of the most exciting new artists in popular music. Her voice, equal parts silky and slick, is matched by the excellent songwriting that can be found all throughout her self-titled EPs Volume 1 and 2, two…

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Vivid Live Review: Solange opens Sydney Opera House season with show bursting with bold honesty

Solange didn’t know if she’d make it to Sydney for her run of Vivid shows. Standing atop the stairs set up in the middle of the Opera House’s Concert Hall, she walked back and forth while telling the sold out crowd that there was a moment back in October where she seriously thought performing would be a…

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Vivid Live Review: DREAMS aims high in demonstrating the eclectic partnership between Johns and Steele

You know a show is going to be that extra bit extra when you walk into the Opera House and there are not just one, but three harps set up on stage. That said, if you expected any project by Daniel Johns and Luke Steele to side towards minimalist you may have recently had a…

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Your food and drink guide for Vivid Sydney 2018

It’s here! Vivid Sydney has begun for another year, stepping up to its now globally renowned reputation with a massive celebration of light, music and ideas. There’s so much going on from now until the 16th June so we’ve put together a quick food and drink guide to keep handy while you’re out and about….

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The Best of the Fest: 5 must-see events at Vivid Ideas 2018

Vivid Sydney is coming to town and this means our city will be adorned with colourful light displays. This festival also comes with a host of wonderful shows, especially those talks and events that fall under the Vivid Ideas banner. The AU Review have put together our top 5 must see Vivid Ideas events. 1….

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Jonathan Zawada’s Metathemagical work to light up the Opera House during Vivid Sydney

Jonathan Zawada will have the sails of the Sydney Opera House when Vivid Sydney comes calling this month, bringing the specially-commissioned piece Metamethemagical to life. The 3D light sculpture will debut at 6pm on May 25th, traversing themes of science, nature and culture. Having already established himself as an artist in demand and is renowned for his…

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Top 8 Artists to watch out for at Vivid 2018

Sydney’s annual lights, music and ideas show is back for another winter, and as Vivid celebrates its 10th year in the making, we delve into some of our top picks for artists to look out for this year. Ice Cube One of the founding fathers of gangsta rap will be performing for four nights only…

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Singapore Night Festival celebrates 10 years of magic. Here’s to the next decade!

Night festivals are a chance for cities to showcase their prowess in a way that glitters.  The Singapore Night Festival (SNF) is always evolving and in its tenth year they pulled out all the stops. For 10 balmy nights young and old were out of the house and hitting the streets in what was a celebration of…

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Vivid Ideas Game Changer Shepard Fairey talks early days of street art, comsumerism and ‘selling out’ as festival comes to a close

With a career spanning close to 30 years, Shepard Fairey is a veteran of world street art. In Sydney to talk as part of Vivid Idea’s Game Changers program as well as unveil a new mural work (his largest to date) and exhibition, he spoke of his early days building the now iconic Obey project…

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Happy Birthday, Purple Sneakers: How the PS name has become part of Sydney culture

Purple Sneakers have been, over the last eleven years, elevated to royal status when it comes to keeping Sydney’s nightlife pumping…especially now in the face of current adversity. When the collective and music blog celebrated a huge 10 years in the game last year as part of VIVID Sydney, the lines of people eager to get into…

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Nine things we learned at Vivid Ideas’ Unlocking Your Grey Zone: How Positive Ambiguity Can Help You Thrive In An Uncertain World

We often make breakthroughs when we reserve judgement and keep things like fear and prejudice at bay. Yet as humans the notion of embracing ambiguity can be a hard thing to swallow because the only certain things in life are death and taxes. Matt Whale is the founder and managing director of How To Impact,…

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Live Review: Confidence Man, Tkay Maidza and more stand strong at Curve Ball 2017

On Sunday of the Queen’s birthday long weekend, Vivid Sydney took their creative lighting installations to a new level combining with them with some top dance music artists for an ultimate audio visual experience at Curve Ball. After the success of its debut in 2016, the guys from Fuzzy who take care of Field Day, Harbourlife…

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Burger Watch: BL Burgers channel Vivid Sydney for “Got a Light?”

Welcome to Burger Watch, where we acknowledge the constant creativity bursting from all sides of the epic burger wave that regularly sweeps Australia. The highest-of-high demand is reserved for this timeless food staple and just about every interpretation of it, whether it to be an over-the-top glutton-fest or a focus on simple burgers done well….

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Live Review: Goldfrapp bring metallic shimmer to Carriageworks as part of VIVID Sydney

“This gig’s like the difference between metallic and metal. Metallic’s still shiny and impressive, but doesn’t have the strength of actual metal,” was the analogy a friend made as we watched UK electro legend Alison Goldfrapp, clad in a head-to-toe metallic suit, perform as a part of VIVID Music at Carriageworks on Friday night. The…

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Ananas introduces new menu just in time for Vivid Sydney

It’s grown to be one of the most popular and chaotic events of the year with hoards of tourists flocking to Sydney for the sensory overload that is Vivid Festival. There is more than one way to enjoy Sydney’s lit up surrounds during this event and given the chaos and crowds sometimes it’s nice to…

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Six rich & varied things we learned at Emotional Intelligence from the Dark Side during Sydney’s Vivid Ideas

We consider philosophers, world leaders, writers, artists, musicians and comedians as good sources of wisdom. But we don’t rate pirates, hackers and gang members quite so highly. Author Kyra Maya Phillips disagrees and thinks we should look to social misfits as sources of inspiration as she describes in her book, The Misfit Economy. The Venezuelan writer…

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Nine things we learned at the Marketing To The Machines Vivid Ideas panel; an interesting & frightening look at the future

It doesn’t matter if you’re the biggest technophobe or if you’re a digital whiz kid, there’s no denying that algorithms are becoming a pervasive part of our lives. Companies like Google know more about us than ever, Amazon can predict our shopping purchases and Facebook likes can be used to distinguish your class, race, gender…

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Live Review: Air light up the Sydney Opera House with a gleeful set celebrating Twentyears

After 20 years, Air have become something of legends – making a space like the Sydney Opera House the natural fit for their suave style of electronica. And now in their first visit in nine years, their last being for the great V Festival (RIP), Air have finally returned to the iconic venue for two exclusive shows as part of Sydney’s…

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