Vivid Sydney has unveiled its 2026 program under incoming festival director Brett Sheehy AO, with a lineup that moves well beyond the light installations the event is best known for internationally.
Running 22 May to 13 June, the 23-day festival will, for the first time, include daytime events alongside its established night program – a shift driven in part by a recognition that the festival’s global profile has not kept pace with the breadth of its actual program.
“One thing that struck me when I got back was that the rest of the world saw Vivid as a light festival,” Sheehy told Mediaweek.
“And I had no idea, nor did most of the rest of the world have any idea, there was also a food pillar, a music pillar, and an ideas pillar.”
Vivid Sydney 2026 Festival Director Brett Sheehy AO.
New art forms, same four pillars
The 2026 edition retains Vivid’s four programming pillars – Light, Music, Food and Minds – but expands what sits within them.
Aerial performance, theatre, dance and daytime public art installations are new additions, reflecting Sheehy’s background directing international multi-art festivals.
“Most of my experience has been in international arts festivals where you’re working with theatre, dance, music, opera, you know, plus, plus, plus,” he explained.
“So one of the things I wanted to do was to bring to Vivid a broader range of artistic genres.”
The expansion is also a response to attendance figures that have held steady around 2.5 million visitors annually in recent years.
“It seemed to me that Vivid has kind of plateaued at about 2.5 million visitors a year. And I know that’s an incredible number, but we are part of Destination NSW, and our mission is to grow visitation to Sydney, whether that be regional visitation, national visitation or international visitation.”
The daytime program is partly aimed at international visitors whose evenings are already committed to other activities.
“When tourists are here, often they have the things they want to do in the evening,” Sheehy said.
“So I thought, we should include some daytime things as well.”
The installation ‘As Water Falls’.
A tighter light walk
The Vivid Light Walk has been redesigned from 8.5 kilometres down to 6.5 kilometres, running continuously from Circular Quay through The Rocks and Argyle Cut, across to Barangaroo, down to Cockle Bay and along Darling Harbour to Tumbalong Park.
The shorter route loses Martin Place, the Goods Line and the Haymarket expansion, but the intent is a denser, more connected experience.
“I also thought that to do that, what I should have is no time when the audience is either literally or figuratively in the dark,” Sheehy said.
“And so that meant making sure there was an engagement with Vivid Light at every moment of that 6.5 kilometres.”
The walk features 43 installations and projections by local and international artists. More than 80 per cent of the overall program remains free, including the full light walk.
Anchor works include Molecule of Light, a laser-and-sound installation rising 23 metres above Barangaroo Reserve, and Obstacle, a 45-metre LED corridor along Wulugul Walk.
The Sydney Opera House sails will be illuminated by a new projection, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia joins the light program for the first time.
Vivid Food steps up
The food program has grown significantly, with the number of participating chefs roughly doubling or tripling from previous years.
Yotam Ottolenghi will host a dinner and a daytime lunch as the headline culinary booking.
Sheehy positions Vivid Food as now among the country’s leading culinary events: “It is now not only the biggest food festival in New South Wales by a country mile. It is now kind of rivalling Melbourne Food and Wine. So the two great food festivals in Australia now are Melbourne Food and Wine and Vivid Food.”
The Vivid Fire Kitchen moves from the Goods Line to Barangaroo Reserve, where it will operate nightly. A new Regional Dinner Series will highlight NSW produce through collaborative chef events.
Yotam Ottolenghi.
Music and ideas
Carriageworks becomes a major hub across three festival weekends, combining music performances, contemporary dance and immersive dining.
The Sydney Opera House will host more than 50 artists across the Vivid LIVE series, and Tumbalong Nights returns with 23 nights of free live music.
The ideas program, rebranded as Vivid Minds, adds a new format called Midweek Minds – shorter keynotes and panel sessions covering design, architecture, film and media.
Vivid Sydney is a key plank in the NSW Government’s winter tourism strategy.
Expressions of interest are open for the Vivid Sydney Local Business Program, which invites hospitality operators across the city to take part in the festival.
Vivid Sydney 2026 runs 22 May to 13 June.