Festival goers from Sydney, as well as regional NSW, interstate and international markets, turned out for the festival’s first weekend to experience some of the more than 300 events and activations that make up the 2023 program.
The opening weekend attendance represents a 4 per cent increase from Vivid Sydney’s previous highest opening weekend in 2022.
The most visited festival offerings were the Vivid Sydney Light Walk, Lightscape, Dark Spectrum and Vivid Food.
Restaurants, cafes and bars benefited from more than 120,000 diners (up 5 per cent on opening weekend in 2022). Overall, 85 per cent of attendees purchased food and beverages during the festival’s opening weekend.
Vivid Sydney 2023 started with First Light, a moving Welcome to Country followed by a celebration of First Nations peoples and culture, featuring Yothu Yindi performing the iconic song "Treaty".
Then the lights of Vivid Sydney 2023 were turned on as fireworks and drones lit up the sky around Circular Quay and the sails of the Sydney Opera House were illuminated with the vibrant works of the late John Olsen AO OBE.
Minister for Jobs and Tourism John Graham said: “It was great to see tens of thousands of families out enjoying the Vivid Light Walk and it was encouraging to see the city’s CBD so vibrant and businesses benefiting from the record turnout.
“This festival is about community, bringing Sydneysiders and visitors from around the state, the country and the world together to celebrate our creative industries, and experience something new from world-class activations and events to diverse food culture and hospitality."
More than 1000 drones took to the night sky on 28 May in the first of six scheduled drone shows titled “Written in the Stars”.
Tens of thousands of Sydneysiders and visitors watched images and animations from the largest drone show in the Southern Hemisphere.
“Written in the Stars” will be staged throughout the festival on Sunday and Wednesday nights, and on 12 June, from 9:10pm (subject to weather conditions). It is set to an accompanying audio track available on Cineway.
Vivid Sydney Festival Director Gill Minervini said: “Vivid Sydney is the ultimate celebration of creative industries and our spectacular city. The program this year raises the bar and reimagines the types of activations that we offer – there are festival firsts, world premieres and never before activated spaces, as well as the brand-new pillar, Vivid Food.
“The programming is so diverse – there really is something for everyone. We are thrilled that so many have been part of our first festival weekend – the feedback and response has been incredible. There is still so much more to come!”
Internationally acclaimed multi-sensory experience Lightscape has been dazzling visitors to The Royal Botanic Garden Sydney during Vivid Sydney.
Originally created more than a decade ago, it has become an international sensation, selling out at sites all over the world.
Lightscape has been designed to enhance the appreciation of The Royal Botanic Garden and is running until 16 July 2023.
Attendees can also explore the free Vivid Sydney 8.5km light walk, which is even bigger and brighter this year, with hundreds of installations along the way.
The public response has been overwhelmingly positive, with an abundance of social media posts from the Vivid Light Walk and events including Lightscape and Dark Spectrum, as people share the magic of the invigorated Sydney CBD.
Vivid Sydney runs nightly from 6pm until 17 June 2023. In 2022 the festival welcomed 2.58 million visitors and injected $119 million into the NSW economy.
Watch highlights from opening night here.
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