SYDNEY Event organisers who have groups congregating in the New South Wales (NSW) capital between May 25 and June 11 may want to incorporate into their itinerary some elements of the upcoming Vivid Sydney, the annual festival of light, music and ideas aimed at positioning the city as the creative industries hub of Asia-Pacific.
A must-see for any group who finds themselves in the city during this time is the lighting display around The Rocks and Circular Quay, featuring 50 interactive and immersive light art sculptures, illuminated skyscrapers and large-scale 3D mapping projections on the Sydney Opera House, Museum of Contemporary Art and Custom House.
The Vivid Light will be switched on from 6pm until midnight and will also feature light art works not only from Australia but also from France, Poland, Hong Kong, Scotland, Singapore and the US, to name a few. Meanwhile Vivid Live, the festival’s music element, is set to bring a stellar line up of local and international artists, amidst the backdrop of a lit up Sydney Opera House, which will add a dash of sparkle to a group’s post-event entertainment activity.
Furthermore, one of the cornerstones of the festival, Vivid Ideas will be bigger this year.
“Vivid Ideas will connect Australia’s creative industries with global leaders and emerging talent in over 100 events, more than double that of the previous years. These events will cover topics from electronic gaming, fashion, film, design, publishing, architecture and photography,” said NSW deputy premier Andrew Stoner.
Destination NSW chief executive Sandra Chipchase added that this year’s Vivid Ideas is a coming of age for the festival with a record number of business events on the programme.
“The festival is a ground breaking event model developed by Destination NSW. As well as providing entertainment for the public and attracting visitors, it’s a stage for creative industry events and may associated business events,” Chipchase said.
Vivid Ideas 2102 will consists of a selection of international keynote talks, information sessions and discussion panels all open to the public – some of them for free while others are ticketed events priced from A$15 (US$15.53) to A$30 (US$31.07) . There also industry-only events such as the Song Summit X, Media Lab, Mumbrella 360, CeBIT Australia and SPARC Design.
The festival is expected to attract about half a million people, generating an estimated A$10 million (US$10.36 million) to the NSW economy.
Gigi Onag
