Vivid Sydney 2025 Guide: Best Things to See, Eat & Do This Year

Smashd Sydney
May 12
4 min read

Updated: Jun 13

Vivid Sydney 2025 Guide: What to See, Eat & Do

A guide to the good stuff:

Vivid returns from May 23 to June 14, reimagining Sydney through the lens of dreams. Light installations, music, food and ideas take over the city for 23 nights. Most of it’s free. All of it’s worth wandering into.

Here’s what to see, where to go, and what not to miss.

LIGHT

The Light Walk

Free, nightly from 6pm–11pm

The Vivid Sydney Light Walk stretches from Belmore Park all the way to the Opera House, an 8km trail of light, sound and public art. It’s self-guided, totally free, and takes you through over 40 installations across The Goods Line, Darling Harbour, Barangaroo, Circular Quay and The Rocks. Expect large-scale projections, ambient tunnels, interactive pieces and a few moments that’ll stop you mid-step.

See the full walk here.

Highlights:

Kiss of Light – Sydney Opera House, Circular QuayA seven-minute projection tracing the work of queer artist David McDiarmid.
Starscape Tunnel – Hay Street, Darling Harbour. A glowing 40-metre galaxy tunnel made of 700 illuminated stars.
SomniUs – Stargazer Lawn, Barangaroo. Over 6km of LEDs respond to your footsteps beneath a suspended field of light.
The Cloud Swing – Village Green, Darling Harbour. Sit under glowing clouds that shift colour as you move. Originally shown at Burning Man.
Kickit Team Tennis – Darling Quarter. A game of tennis reimagined: pulsing light serves, neon footpads, collaborative play.
Samsung: Space to Dream – Cockle Bay. Three floating waterfalls lit with projections and sound. You can walk beside them, or through them.

FOOD

Vivid Fire Kitchen

The Goods Line, Ultimo – Free Entry

Flame, spice, smoke. The Fire Kitchen returns with open-air cooking from pitmasters and chefs across the globe. This year’s theme—Fire & Spice—leans into bold, smoky dishes and spice-heavy menus. Expect live demos, big flavours, and the unmistakable scent of something charred drifting down The Goods Line. Food is pay-as-you-go. Come hungry.

A Taste of HQ

Surry Hills | May 31 – Free Entry

For one night only, Foster Street becomes a street-long dining room. Part of Vivid’s Hollywood Dreaming precinct, this pop-up block party brings together dishes from Kiln, Firedoor, Chin Chin and more.

There’ll be natural wine in plastic cups, roving performers weaving through the crowd, and small plates served from makeshift counters under neon light.

No program, no bookings, just turn up and graze. A loose, low-key way to spend a Saturday night in the heart of Surry Hills. Free entry. Food and drinks available to purchase.

Ester x James Lowe

Chippendale | May 27–29

A three-night collaboration between Mat Lindsay (Ester) and James Lowe (Lyle’s, London). Wood-fired, ingredient-led cooking at its most focused. The menu is rooted in NSW produce, shaped by two chefs who understand restraint, texture and heat. One of the most anticipated tables of the festival. From $250.

Nigella Lawson at Vivid Food

Sydney Town Hall | June 9

Nigella in conversation, followed by a one-night-only dinner with a menu inspired by her work. A mix of storytelling and dining, held inside one of Sydney’s most iconic spaces.

MUSIC

Tumbling park stage lit up with lights for Vivid Sydney

Winston Surfshirt + Jerome Blazé

Tumbalong Park | June 14 – Free Entry

Free gig. Soul, funk and dreamy electronics under the lights. One of the best live sets on the program. A free night of genre-bending sound in the open air. Jerome Blazé opens with a live set of dreamy electronics, jazz textures and soft build-ups that pull you in. Winston Surfshirt brings his signature blend of soul, funk and hip-hop to the Vivid stage, backed by smooth vocals and brass. Come early, stay late, bring something warm.

Mall Grab

Carriageworks | June 13–14

Mall Grab marks ten years with his biggest Sydney show yet, two nights at Carriageworks with a stacked local lineup, immersive light visuals and heavy electronic sets in a proper warehouse-style rave. Friday’s already sold out, but a second show’s been added on Saturday.

Butter x Yawdoesitall

Surry Hills | June 14

Live hip-hop, exclusive merch, and fried chicken that hits. Hosted at Butter for Hollywood Dreaming’s Gig Trail.

EXPERIENCES

Luna park lit up under moody lights for Vivid Sydney

Luna Park in the Dark

Milsons Point | May 23–June 14

Luna Park turns the lights off for Vivid, literally. Rides run in near-total darkness, roaming performers take over the grounds, and the whole place feels like a surreal, low-lit carnival. There’s unlimited ride access, live acts across the park, and a walk-through experience called The Carnival Beneath. Fortune tellers, aerialists, and clowns move through the shadows as the skyline glows behind them.

It’s strange, playful, and unlike anything else in the program.

The Hollywood Dreaming Gig Trail

Surry Hills | June 14 – Free Entry

As part of Vivid’s Hollywood Dreaming precinct, the Gig Trail brings live music into the laneways, bars and corners of Surry Hills for one night only. Think jazz sets in dim rooms, DJs behind shopfront windows, and late-night hip-hop spilling onto the street. There’s no set route, just follow the sound and see where it takes you.

TALKS

Ideas Program

Various locations

Panels, conversations and keynote talks around the theme of dream.

D.W. Pine: Where Do Ideas Come From? – TIME’s Creative Director on storytelling through design.
Matthew Walker: Why We Sleep – The neuroscience behind sleep and why it matters.
Martha Stewart: In Conversation – On reinvention, building a brand, and staying relevant.
The Talbot Oration – Climate futures and bold action, with Matt Kean.
Firetalk – First Nations storytelling by the fire, curated by Jazz Money.