Vivid Sydney has announced that the event will be themed Dream next year while Taronga Zoo will potentially return to the event after being absent last edition to allow a potential inclusion of experiences in the Music, Ideas & Food pillars of Vivid. However, the possibility of no Vivid Light experiences at Taronga Zoo has also been raised.
Vivid is aiming to return Taronga Zoo to the event after this year’s absence. The Zoo will only be excluded if they do not receive any acceptable ideas for the iconic zoo to feature in the event. Suggestions Vivid made themselves of potential Taronga Zoo events include playful, immersive installations (Light), outdoor feasts (Food), experiences (Music) & talks (Ideas).
The wide variety of potential events indicates the possibility that Taronga Zoo will be open at night with extended opening hours during Vivid rather than as a special night event as it was in the past. Until 2023, Taronga Zoo had been part of Vivid Sydney since 2016 as part of Vivid Light with an animal lantern walk through the Zoo as well as a projection mapping show on the top entrance.
With iconic views looking out to the Sydney central business district & Harbour Bridge, the Zoo provided a rounded Vivid Light experience that was very popular with families especially as it was far from the very crowded main event precinct of Circular Quay. The Zoo’s 1-way directional loop, implemented especially for Vivid, added to the very comfortable experience of the Zoo’s Vivid Light experience compared to the Quay.
The Zoo’s absence from the event this year was a sudden surprise. To hear of it’s potential return is good news. It was one of the brighter additions of Vivid over the years.
These announcements were made on August 6.
What do you dream about?
Everything starts with a dream, a wish, an idea.
Vivid Sydney 2025 is pushing the creative boundaries across our theme of Dream to deliver another unforgettable global celebration.
Dreaming is something we all do. It’s as old as time & as universal as life itself. Dreams don’t discriminate. They are borderless, ageless & endless. They can be personal or public. Prophetic, life changing & inspirational, they can also be trivial, hilarious & terrifying.
Dreams are free.
When shared, our dreams can become a movement. They can inspire, motivate, spark excitement & 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 & our past.
Ancient cultures share the belief that dreams are significant, that they occupy a space outside the everyday & 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 & 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 & innovation. They help us with problem solving, memory, learning & inspiration. Dreams evoke creativity, the motivation for many artists, the impetus for great stories, music & art.
For centuries, scholars & artists have analysed & utilised dreams. Yet to dream still invokes mystery, the blurring of the line between reality & imagination, a window into the subconscious. The place where anything is possible & 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 & 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 & discovery. Dreams that delight, provoke & engage – the motivational, the emotional, the beautiful & the quirky. Vivid dreams expressed through light, music, ideas & food in the most beautiful & inspirational city in the world.
Make your dreams come true in 2025.
Gill Minervini, ‘Vivid Sydney‘ 2025 – ‘Dream‘ Director
Sydney New Year’s Eve previously had its own dream theme in 2011 called Time To Dream. The narrative of the night, told through the former Bridge Effect, saw semi-circle bands of colour appear one at a time before forming a rainbow during the 9pm Family Fireworks. From then, until Midnight, a thought bubble appeared and grew before during the Midnight Fireworks the finite rainbow, grew to an endless rainbow.
Vivid Sydney 2025 – Dream will take place from Friday 23 May to Saturday 14 June 2025.
The media launch will be in March next year.
Vivid Sydney is owned, managed & produced by Destination New South Wales (NSW), the NSW Government’s tourism & major events agency.
For more information, go to www.vividsydney.com.
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