VIVID Sydney: "A Festival of Lights, Music, and Ideas"

For two weeks, Sydney is hosting the third annual VIVID Sydney light festival at Circular Quay and around The Rocks. The VIVID festival consists of over 40 light installations that attract thousands of families, street performers, and people with tripods to capture and experience the magnificent energy and lights that illuminate Sydney starting at 6 p.m. VIVID Sydney is the largest festival of light in the southern hemisphere and its goal is to promote creativity, celebrate ingenuity and innovation, and most of all, to inspire! Some of the installations are interactive such as “painting” the side of the Museum of Contemporary Art or clapping to make “firefly” lights in the trees light up.

However, one of the main attractions is watching the sails of the Opera House light up with projections that fit perfectly over the structure. Some of the projections are very geometric and conjured up thoughts within me of Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” album art.

The VIVID festival was so much fun to walk around that I went two nights to try and see everything. The first night I went, there was a street performer that managed to swallow a whole balloon (the long kind that are used to make balloon animals)! Let’s just say, that he did not manage to take it out again even after the crowd asked him to…

Even the Aboriginals that play the didgeridoo and dance at Circular Quay participated in the festival by having neon lights project on their performances.

My personal favorite aspect of the festival was watching the light show that was projected onto the Customs House. It was simply captivating, and I could not take my eyes off of the show! The Customs House projections reminded me of “It’s a Small World” at Disneyland around Christmas-time, when there are moving projections and music that cover the building. The projections did different special effects that looked like the Customs House was filling up with water or sand or that the whole building was inhaling and exhaling by rocking back and forth. I am amazed at the time and endless calculations that the creators must have spent making the projections align perfectly with the ends of the building and every column, step, and even the clock that is part of the building’s architecture!

In front of the Customs House was an ice sculpture polar bear that was left all day and night to represent the melting of glaciers and global warming. The polar bear demonstration was provided by WWF. The first time I saw the polar bear it looked like a polar bear. The second time I saw the sculpture, after only two days, the face had completely melted to show a skeleton that was underneath.

I am so happy that I was able to experience the VIVID Sydney festival. The best part was the atmosphere and seeing the famous buildings and structures that I have become accustomed to in a whole new light…literally! It was also an added bonus that the festival is FREE; all you have to do is walk around Circular Quay and The Rocks and let your mind and imagination absorb the positive energy!