Expressions of Interest 2025
Be part of the brilliance of Vivid Sydney 2025
Vivid Sydney is more than just a festival—it’s a celebration of imagination and connection through Light, Music, Ideas, and Food. Each year, we transform Sydney Harbour foreshore and the CBD into a dazzling display of creativity, technology and innovation, showcasing our city in a whole new light.
Owned, managed and produced by Destination NSW the NSW State Government’s major events and tourism agency, Vivid Sydney is the largest event of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, giving you a chance to shine on a global stage.
We’re inviting artists, innovators, musicians, chefs, producers, speakers, and out-of-the-box thinkers to join us in creating the magic that is Vivid Sydney. This is your opportunity to be part of a festival that celebrates creativity in all its forms and helps to cement Sydney as the creative capital of the Asia-Pacific.
In 2025, we are thrilled to be offering Taronga Zoo as a location for all four pillars. From an Ideas talk to an outdoor feast, a playful immersive Light installation or a Music experience. We’re open to hearing your wild and wonderful ideas.
This year we also welcome expressions of interest from drone companies or providers for the provision of shows in Sydney Harbour for Vivid Sydney ‘25.
We’re looking for groundbreaking concepts inspired by our creative direction that engage, provoke thought and inspire wonder Let your creativity run wild and help us celebrate the vibrant spirit of Sydney.
Dream big and submit your innovative ideas for Vivid Sydney 2025!
Creative Direction 2025
Vivid Sydney, Dream.
What do you dream about?
Everything starts with a dream, a wish, an idea.
Dreaming is something we all do. It’s as old as time and as universal as life itself. Dreams don’t discriminate – they are borderless, ageless and endless. They can be personal or public. Prophetic, life changing and inspirational, they can also be trivial, hilarious and terrifying.
Dreams are free.
When shared, our dreams can become a movement. They can inspire, motivate, spark excitement and connection.
The whole world dreams, it is something we have in common, something that unites us. Our human story is embedded in dreams, they help explain our existence and our past.
Ancient cultures share the belief that dreams are significant, that they occupy a space outside the everyday and offer an insight into a deeper understanding of ourselves and our connection to the universe and everything in it.
To dream is to create new worlds, desires and hope. A place where we can imagine the future, a world different to the one we are in. A better world.
Dreams have no rules, they are playgrounds for our imagination, opening doors to creativity and innovation. They help us with problem solving, memory, learning and inspiration. Dreams evoke creativity, the motivation for many artists, the impetus for great stories, music and art.
For centuries, scholars and artists have analysed and utilised dreams. Yet to dream still invokes mystery, the blurring of the line between reality and imagination, a window into the subconscious. The place where anything is possible and there are no limits, where everything is open to interpretation.
In 2025, Vivid Sydney invites you to dream big. To go to the outer reaches of your mind, to think differently, without boundaries or preconceptions and to immerse yourself in new experiences and ideas. We want you to dream with the lights on, to daydream, to dream without boundaries, to soar.
We want to share our dreams with you in 2025. Dreams that take you out of your everyday, that inspire awe, joy and discovery. Dreams that delight, provoke and engage - the motivational, the emotional, the beautiful and the quirky. Vivid dreams expressed through light, music, ideas and food in the most beautiful and inspirational city in the world.
Make your dreams come true in 2025.
Gill Minervini
Vivid Sydney - Festival Director
Vivid Sydney Guidelines
Destination NSW is committed to reducing barriers and delivering an event that is accessible, diverse and inclusive. Our program prides itself on a diverse representation of artists, identities and communities, recognising and celebrating people’s differences through art. Applicants are encouraged to consider universal design principles in the development of all submissions, considering the elderly, parents with small children and those living with a temporary, permanent, visible or invisible disability. You may wish to consider designing accessible features to provide sensory, tactile, auditory or visual interactivity options.
As Australia’s largest event of its kind, Vivid Sydney is actively working towards the delivery of a more sustainable event. As a festival that champions creativity, innovation and cutting-edge applications of technology, our vision is to become industry leaders in the delivery of sustainable events of an international scale. We strongly encourage you to demonstrate how you intend to incorporate sustainable practices into each stage of the planning, design, construction, transportation, operation and decommissioning of your Expression of Interest is encouraged.
Vivid Sydney is committed to showcasing the greatest ideas, talent and creative endeavours, and recognises that magic happens when a diverse group of minds and experiences intersect. Vivid Sydney provides opportunities to artists, speakers and musicians from all walks of life to connect, create and be a positive force for change in our community.
This Expression of Interest is not applicable for industry or corporate hospitality events, brand activations or product launches. Please contact the Vivid Sydney team if you would like to discuss opportunities to align your brand with the festival.
Required Reading
Applicants are required to read the following documents prior to applying:
There is no fee to apply to Vivid Sydney. Any/all costs incurred in the preparation of the application are borne by the applicant.
Applications for Light Installations and Projection Art must be submitted online via the application form by 5.00pm 2 September 2024.
Applications for Music, Ideas and Food must be submitted online via the application form by 5.00pm 27 September 2024.
Applications must be submitted via the online application form. No applications will be accepted via email or hardcopy.
Please contact us for further assistance. Destination NSW takes no responsibility for access or connection issues.
Applicants may propose a sponsor as part of their application. Any sponsor will need to be approved in advance by Destination NSW in writing. Approved sponsors are recognised in the following way:
- Name or logo on website
- Name or logo on signage at Light Installation or event
Destination NSW reserves the right to grant exclusive sponsorships for Installations and events
Applicants will be required to take out and maintain, on its behalf, a minimum of AUD (Australian Dollars) $20 million public liability insurance cover. Where applicants do not already have or are not legally required to have this insurance, Destination NSW may provide the opportunity to opt-in to a group insurance policy facilitated by Destination NSW. Group insurance policies may be offered for the following products only:
- Group Public Liability Insurance
- Group Accident Insurance
Applicants must ensure that all public or product liability purchased internationally is valid worldwide, preferably with the interests of Destination NSW noted.
Applicants must ensure that any personal costs associated with their application are included in their proposed artist fee.
For updates and important information on Vivid Sydney we recommend signing up to MyVivid.
We recommend monitoring vividsydney.com and Vivid Sydney social media channels, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for any information or announcements.
Please submit your application under the Cross-Art Expression of Interest.
There is no limit to the number of entries allowed per individual, however only put forward your strongest submissions, focusing on quality rather than quantity.
