Lights On! City sparkles as Vivid Sydney lights up for 10th anniversary celebrations

SYDNEY, May 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Sydney burst into breathtakingly brilliant colour tonight as the lights switched on for the 10^th anniversary of Vivid Sydney, the world's largest festival of light, music and ideas. Over the next 23 days and nights, Australia's largest event will transform the city into a colourful showcase of illumination, sensational sounds and creative thinking from 25 May to 16 June 2018.

Image gallery of Vivid Sydney available here 
Broadcast quality footage available here 

The 'Lights On' moment, marking the start of the festival, saw all eyes turn to the world-famous Sydney Opera House for the Lighting of the Sails, created this year by award-winning Australian artist, Jonathan Zawada, and featuring fantastical digital sculptures of everyday objects and natural specimens that evolve, dissolve, and metamorphose.

This year the lights shine bright each night at nine precincts across Sydney including Barangaroo, Chatswood, Circular Quay, The Rocks, Darling Harbour, Kings Cross, Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, Taronga Zoo and for the first time, Luna Park.

New South Wales (NSW) Premier, Gladys Berejiklian said, "It's always such a great feeling to see the city light up in a spectacular symphony of colour and movement, and we can't wait to see all the moments that will excite and delight visitors who are coming to enjoy Vivid Sydney's 10^th anniversary celebrations over the next 23 days and nights."

NSW Minister for Tourism and Major Events Adam Marshall said Vivid Sydney was an opportunity to showcase not only Sydney, but the entire State.

"Vivid Sydney is more than just a captivating light, music and ideas festival -- it drives our economy, attracting hundreds of thousands of overnight visitors to our State," Mr Marshall said.

"Nearly 38,000 visitors to Vivid Sydney last year chose to extend their stay in NSW and travel beyond the fringes of Sydney, staying more than 94,000 nights and injecting over $16 million into the State's regional economy.

"The NSW Government has worked hard to ensure NSW is the tourism and events capital of Australia and Vivid Sydney showcases our global city to the world, reinforcing Sydney's position as the home of creativity, culture and innovation."

Creative Director for Vivid Sydney, Ignatius Jones added, "Vivid Sydney is all about art meeting technology and throwing in a little magic on top of it all to entertain visitors. This year the creative visions of local and international artists have been brought to life as large-scale and interactive installations and projections that transform iconic buildings, landmarks and landscapes; from the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge, to the natural canvases at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney and Darling Harbour. We invite everyone to join our colourful celebration of creativity and community."