Vivid Sydney 2026 will take over Sydney after dark from Friday, May 22, to Saturday, June 13, spreading 23 electric nights across five zones from 6pm to 11pm. The festival will move through Circular Quay and The Rocks, Darling Harbour, Barangaroo, Sydney CBD, Sydney Opera House and Carriageworks, with light works, performances and installations drawing crowds across the harbour city.
The biggest draw will again be the harbour foreshore. French artist Yann Nguema’s Opera Mundi will light up the Sydney Opera House sails, while Sāmoan-Australian artist Angela Tiatia’s Vaiola will be projected on the Museum of Contemporary Art. Spanish artist Javier Riera will turn Customs House into a canvas of geometric projections inspired by patterns found in nature and the universe.
The free Vivid Light Walk will return as a 6.5-kilometre trail linking Circular Quay, The Rocks, Barangaroo and Darling Harbour, giving visitors a single route through much of the festival’s core. At Barangaroo Reserve, Molecule of Light will stand as the tallest installation in the program at 23 metres high, while Obstacle, a 45-metre-long artwork, will stretch along Barangaroo’s waterfront boardwalk.
That scale is part of what has made Vivid Sydney one of the world’s most celebrated light festivals. It combines light installations, drone shows, outdoor dining, live music, immersive art and big ideas, taking over Sydney’s harbour foreshores and city areas after dark.
Vivid Minds will also return with a packed program of talks and conversations, bringing together Academy Award-winning director Chloé Zhao, critic Jerry Saltz and author Roxane Gay. For families, Wonderverse at the Australian National Maritime Museum will offer a colourful, interactive experience for children, who will create their own universe of light before walking through it.
For Sydney, the festival’s appeal this year is simple: it is not just a night out, but a full-city event that opens on May 22 and runs every evening until June 13. The crowd will come for the light, but the breadth of the program is what will keep them moving from one zone to the next.
