Vivid Sydney 2024 – Humanity has won 8 gold medals at the International Festival & Events Association’s (IFEA) Pinnacle Awards.
The Pinnacle Award winners were announced during the IFEA Annual Convention & Expo in Pittsburgh, the United States of America.
The IFEA’s Pinnacle Awards celebrate the best in event innovation, creativity & excellence in categories ranging from programming and marketing campaigns to sustainability initiatives.
Owned, managed & produced by Destination New South Wales (NSW), Vivid Sydney 2024 – Humanity attracted 2.42 million attendees from Friday the 24 of May to Saturday the 15th of June 2024.
Vivid Sydney 2024 – Humanity won the following gold medals:
Best Event Website
Best Promotional Poster
Best Sponsor Activation â Sennheiser
Best Overall Sponsorship Program
Best Accessibility Program
Best Overall Entertainment Program
Best Event/Program Within an Event to Benefit A Cause – Our Shared Humanity at Refettorio OzHarvest
Best Event (Within an Existing Festival) – Tekno Train by Paul Mac
They also won 9 silver medals:
Best TV Promotion
Best Video Promotion
Best Radio Promotion
Best Facebook Site
Best Instagram Site
Best Digital/Social Ad Series
Best Promotional Photograph
Best Outdoor Billboard
Best Street Banner
They also won a single bronze medal for Best Multimedia Component.
Vivid Sydney 2025 – Dream will take place from Friday the 23rd of May to Saturday the 14th of June 2025.
I am so proud that Australia’s largest festival of light, music, ideas & food has received 18 medals at the 2024 Pinnacle Awards.
Gill Minervini, ‘Vivid Sydney’ 2024 – ‘Humanity’ Festival Director
Winning 18 medals at the 2024 Pinnacle Awards provides global recognition for the Southern Hemisphereâs largest multi-artform festival.
Steve Cox, Destination NSW Chief Executive Officer
Barani, an Indigenous computer animation show projection mapped onto the roof of the Australian National Maritime Museum during Vivid Sydney 2024 – Humanity, has joined the Museum permanently, though not on its roof.
Barani during Vivid Sydney 2024 – Humanity Photograph: Destination New South Wales
It will now continue within the building in the Museum’s Bamal Yarning Space. However, unlike at Vivid, it is now just a simple, ordinary projection – there is no mapping involved.
The announcement was made on August 19 2024.
Developed by Studio Gilay, Barani – a Gadigal word meaning ‘yesterday’ – is a mother and son story, exploring themes of love, compassion, connection, independence & the inextricable link between humanity and nature, all set in Warrane (Sydney Cove) 500 years ago.
Vivid Sydney 2024 – Humanity was owned, managed & produced by Destination New South Wales while the Australian National Maritime Museum is located on the shores of Darling Harbour & is open, with free entry, every day between 10am & 4pm.
The Australian National Maritime Museum also has on exhibit one of the Schooling Banner Fish lanterns from the Sea Creatures Parade during Sydney New Year’s Eve 1999 – Sydney’s Millennium.
Barani is in part about the visibility of the women as fisherwoman, the first commercial merchants in what would become the colony. They saw the starvation of the newcomers & saw an opportunity to prosper as well as provide with the wisdom of their knowledge. Victimhood at the time was not part of their vocabulary.
Rhoda Roberts, ‘Barani’ Project Ambassador
Watching the storyboards develop for the Barani project, I could see that this was turning into an incredibly special project.
Itâs quite incredible how many pieces of information about Sydneyâs Aboriginal past informed the overall concept of the animation. I think the part I enjoyed seeing the most was the revitalisation of the fishing song, first documented in 1791 & performed for the Barani animation by Jacinta Tobin, Nardi Simpson and Kaleena Briggs for the 1st time in many years. Barani is primarily a story of joy & learning, learning from family and learning from country & captures the story of Sydneyâs Sea Country beautifully.
Matt Poll, Australian National Maritime Museum Indigenous Programs Manager
It is wonderful to give this excellent piece of storytelling a long public life & it now underpins a new initiative in our primary education program. Based on the Vivid Sydney 2024 theme â Humanity, it tells a story of the people who protected the harbour for generations. It encourages us to stop & listen, to look & to learn, to connect & protect what surrounds us. We thank Vivid Sydney for their vision in helping to bring this to life.
Daryl Karp, Australian National Maritime Museum Director
I am incredibly proud that Vivid Sydney 2024âs legacy has resulted in Barani receiving a permanent home at the Australian National Maritime Museum.
The theme of the 2024 festival was Humanity. It aimed to foster connections, spark imagination & showcase the multitude of ways creativity enriches our lives. Barani uses First Nations wisdom to connect people more deeply with the world around us.
Gill Minervini, ‘Vivid Sydney‘ 2024 – ‘Humanity’ Director
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.âŻ
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. Itâs as old as time & as universal as life itself. Dreams donât discriminate. They are borderless, ageless & endless. They can be personal or public. Prophetic, life changing & inspirational, they can also be trivial, hilarious & terrifying.âŻ
Dreams are free.
When shared, our dreams can become a movement. They can inspire, motivate, spark excitement & connection.âŻ
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 Governmentâs tourism & major events agency.
Our analysis reveals what people thought was the case in 2024 – the Vivid Light Walk was not as entertaining as the previous year. The below graphs are designed to follow the Light Walk, from Bennelong Point to Railway Square. The lower the line, the less entertaining the Light Walk was.
As you can see 2023’s line is notably higher & fluctuating more than 2024’s line, this signals an entertaining Light Walk with something new always around the corner, particularly at the Museum Of Contemporary Art, the Sydney Harbour Bridge south-eastern pylon, Tumblalong Park, the Powerhouse Museum & Central Railway Station. Whilst Barangaroo Reserve was a significant rise in attention-grabbing, the line notably dips at the Barangaroo development just south of the Reserve & around the western and eastern shores of Cockle Bay in Darling Harbour – the only parts deemed not entertaining, though Cockle Bay’s dip is due to the best vantage point for the Bay’s water light show being on the southern shore.
2024’s line though is nearly flat with the Light Walk only entertaining around West Circular Quay & around Tumblalong Park and The Goods Line. Again, take into account Cockle Bay’s water light show. This time the line only significant peaks at The Goods Line. It seems like The Goods Line has been a target for this year’s edition particularly as the popular Fire Kitchen of Vivid Food (The Fire Kitchen is not part of the Vivid Light Walk) was relocated there after making its debut at Barangaroo Reserve in 2023.
Vivid‘s planning relies on interest from the artists. Expressions of interest (EOI) are advertised in August the year prior, closing around October. If there are less EOIs, there will be less installations – nothing Vivid Sydney can do about that. In 2023, there were 54 Light Walk installations. This year, there was 32 Light Walk installations – a decline of 40%.
The lack of activation in Walsh Bay & Barangaroo Reserve could have spread crowds out but given the line is so low, those areas may have looked like any ordinary night for spectators & so they turned around and headed back into Circular Quay, exacerbating the crowds waiting &/or watching the drone show.
I will point out that Vivid may have made another critical error here. Whilst last year’s drone shows were obviously extremely popular, the organisers may have only received 1 EOI for a drone show & for 3 nights only due to availability. They may then have accepted it as ‘better than no drone show’ and forgot to take into account the concept’s popularity due to the well-used EOI process. This was partly how the 2016 near-crowd crush occurred.
A counterargument to that is that the event’s director, Gill Minervini, personally creatively directed the drone show. She also creatively directed the extremely popular 2023 drone shows called Written In The Stars so she will have been well aware of their popularity & thus could have insisted on a requirement for more drone shows or none at all.
Those near-crowd crushes may have had an effect on the attendance as it occurred on the busiest day of the event. The next 2 days were expected to be the 2nd & 3rd busiest days of the event. The event’s final night was also expected to be a significant night with the final drone show but that drone show got cancelled. Whilst Circular Quay reached capacity the night after the near-crowd crushes, this might not have been enough to indicate usual attendance as we predicted a quarter of a million people to attend & Circular Quay’s capacity is around 70,000 so we can only be sure that 70,000 people attended the 2nd scheduled drone show unlike the previous night, where we are sure a quarter of a million people showed up, capacity wasn’t enforced, resulting in 94,000 affected by the near-crowd crushes.
All this has resulted in a first for Vivid Sydney – a decline in attendance & not just a small decline. It was 900,000 people less at 2.42 million. This after breaking the record last edition to 3.3 million. Whilst we speculated Vivid‘s approaching peak in 2017, the COVID-19 pandemic, the subsequent 2 consecutive cancellations, prolonged the time before Vivid reached its peak. Last year’s drone shows resulted in an extraordinarily high record attendance, which puts to question why organisers didn’t see how 2024’s drone shows wouldn’t be as popular.
Whilst Vivid Sydney‘s creativity is ensured, its logistics and engagement (and not just on social media) needs improving.
The final Love Is In The Air drone show at Vivid Sydney 2024 – Humanity has been cancelled. It will not be rescheduled due to the event ending tonight.
Drones are highly vulnerable in rain as well as wind of 28 kilometres per hour (km/h) or higher. The Bureau Of Meteorology Terrey Hills radar picked up a “significant” rain/wind “cell approaching”, which the drone show provider, the Australian Traffic Network, concluded would arrive at 9:10pm, the same time as the start of the drone show. Despite forecasts of south-westerly winds at speeds of 17km/h, the approaching cell must have contained minimum 28km/h winds. They then made the decision to cancel “to ensure the safety of the public” around 8:15pm, with Vivid Sydney announcing it at 8:43pm.
Whilst official online posts referred to “forecasted weather conditions”, screens at the event said “inclement weather”.
We’re obviously monitoring the, the weather all the way through yesterday, yesterday: late afternoon & we’ve got, you know, a team of 10 pilots who would have been full operating, full time operations running, running our drone light show so it was about 8:15 last night our Pilot In Command had to make that difficult but critical decision to cancel the final drone show last night that was scheduled for 9:10. The decision was driven by pilot experience, forecasted rains & continuous monitoring of the Bureau Of Meteorology for 2.5 hours before the planned launch. During this period, we tracked a significant weather cell approaching, expected to coincide with our flight time.
The primary reason for this decision was to ensure the safety of the public. The risk of launching drones in such conditions was too great. Flying in poor weather conditions could lead to drone malfunctions or collisions, posing significant safety hazards to the audience.
The potential for malfunction or loss of control in adverse weather conditions presented an unacceptable risk. The Pilot In Command made his best judgement call for the safety & protection of everyone involved.
We fully understand the disappointment this has caused but the wellbeing of the audience & adherence to safety standards must always come first. We are grateful for the opportunity to be part of Vivid Sydney 2024.
We had 2 amazing drone shows last weekend. Weâre as disappointed as everybody else but Iâm, I’m, I’m, um, I’m happy that Iâm talking at this point at not launching them and having a malfunction.
Vic Lorusso, Australian Traffic Network Chief Executive Officer
Sydney Spectaculars saw the Bureau Of Meteorology rain radar last night & while there was a significant band of rain off the coast, which is likely the cell the Australian Traffic Network saw, the speed at which it was travelling, in our opinion, would not have allowed it to reach Circular Quay by the scheduled end time of the drone show, which might explain why a lot of spectators thought the cancellation was odd in, to them, otherwise fine conditions: The speed of the approaching rain/wind band may have been overestimated by Australian Traffic Network. The 27-minute delay in communication from the Pilot in Command to Vivid Sydney event management to the general public also did not help.
Other than the fact it was the event’s final night, it was not postponed to a later hour as Circular Quay needed to re-open to marine traffic.
Whilst crowds were anticipated to be a third down on last Saturday & Circular Quay has a capacity of around 70,000, 167,000 people were probably affected by tonight’s cancellation.
Unfortunately, due to inclement weather, the Vivid Sydney drone show will not proceed this evening. The show will not be rescheduled, as tonight marks the conclusion of Vivid Sydney 2024. We apologise for the inconvenience & thank you for understanding. Please be patient when exiting.
Weâre very disappointed that our final drone show was cancelled. Drone operation is very sensitive & the shows are weather dependent. Public safety is paramount & ‘Vivid Sydney’ follows the direction and advice of the specialist operators of the drones.Â
Vivid Sydney
In response to a question put by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation to Vivid Sydney at 6:30pm about whether the drone show would proceed, organisers said:
Drone shows are very hard to book & there is a shortage of barges currently in New South Wales. Therefore, the limited number of drone shows might have been due to the availability of both drone shows & barges to host them from.
The next day (Sunday 16th of June), the New South Wales (NSW) Premier, Chris Minns, acknowledged that families and children would have been disappointed but said the late notice by Vivid Sydney had nothing to do with “inconveniencing” people:
I am really sorry about last night. A lot of families & a lot of kids were looking forward to it so it’s deeply regrettable & I’m sincerely sorry for it. Uh, the decision was made by the, the drone operator & it was completely weather dependent. They made the call as late as possible not to inconvenience families but to actually see whether they could go ahead with the program in any event. Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible.
I know families are doing it really tough at the moment & the free entertainment that comes about as a result of Vivid & the drone show is welcome because it means you can take your kids and family out & it doesnât cost anything to see it.
We are determined to see more of that in Sydney particularly over the next 12 months. This one didnât go ahead but there will be many more opportunities in the months & years ahead.
Last Saturdayâs crowd was not good. Mistakes were made. I think there was an under-appreciation of how many people would go out there.
To give the organisers credit, they did a major walkthrough the next morning. No one tried to, I guess sort of, um, sweep it under the rug. They did a huge walkthrough with Police, emergency services & Vivid organisers. As a result of that, there were more road closures.
We are a major city. We should be able to accommodate hundreds of thousands of people even close to a million people on our foreshores. We have done that for the fireworks.
Our job is to communicate for the best way for people to have fun & enjoy it. I am confident that we have learnt the lessons notwithstanding the fact that last Saturday wasnât great.
Chris Minns, NSW Premier
Gill Minervini, ‘Vivid Sydney’ 2024 – ‘Humanity‘ Director spoke on both topics:
You know, over 2 million people from Sydney & around the world came, uh, to what is the biggest event in Australia & you know, it was fantastic.
I can’t lie it’s, its, you know, a show about love & I was heartbroken.
We will be reviewing all of our plans in, including drone plans &, & crowd management.
Gill Minervini, ‘Vivid Sydney’ 2024 – ‘Humanity‘ Director
Due to a forecast of a high chance of showers, Vivid Sydney in The Goods Line is cancelled tonight along with 2 Vivid Light Walk installations, Neolithic & Horizon. The Vivid Light Walk installation, Embrace, is also in non-interactive mode. Nest & Portal are also with limited access.
Due to continued bad weather, including lightning being detected within the radius of Sydneyâs CBD, please be aware of the following changes to the Vivid Light Walk tonight: đĽ đŠđśđđśđą đđśđżđ˛ đđśđđ°đľđ˛đť and all other displays at #TheGoodsLine are closed for tonight â¨đđźđżđśđđźđť in #Barangaroo will not be open tonight â¨đĄđ˛đźđšđśđđľđśđ° in #TumbalongPark will not be open tonight â¨đđşđŻđżđŽđ°đ˛ in #CircularQuay is in non-interactive mode Access to ⨠đĄđ˛đđ and ⨠đŁđźđżđđŽđš in #Barangaroo is limited for the remainder of the evening due to wet weather impacts. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. If you are visiting #vividsydney this evening, please keep a close eye on our social channels & digital screens for further information/updates & please take care when traveling.
Vivid Sydney
High chance of showers forecast for tomorrow, but they are forecast to ease & be less likely during the evening. Tomorrow is also the last day of Vivid Sydney 2024 – Humanity.
Speaking on Today this morning (Monday 10th of June), the NSW Premier said he believed the crowd size could be attributed in part to the cost-of-living crisis and the draw of a large-scale free event & said the resulting crowd crush criticism was âfairâ:
Not good & not enough. We need to do better. We didnât anticipate the crowds on that night. What I can say is that the organisers, the NSW Police worked quickly to learn from the mistakes of the night before. They did a major walkthrough with all the agencies, Destination NSW as well as NSW Police.
Some street closures were brought in earlier in the day. Some of the crowd barricades were moved to different sections & the following night worked better.
I’m grateful that we learned from the mistakes of the night before but I want to see families out enjoying Sydney. I know people are doing it tough at the moment. When youâve got free entertainment & this is an opportunity to get with your families to spend time together, you’re going to take it up & enjoy something that doesn’t cost any money. We’ve got to make sure it’s a safe night out. Get out there and enjoy it.
Chris Minns, New South Wales Premier
Vivid Sydney & NSW Government agencies undertook the major walk-through on Sunday morning according to news.com.au.
Last night, the 2nd of the 3 drone shows occurred but thankfully, capacity limits were enforced this time & no incidents occurred. The final Love Is In The Air drone show is on at 9:10pm, Saturday the 15th of June, which is also the final night of Vivid Sydney 2024 – Humanity. Crowds are expected to be significant but two-thirds the size of last weekend’s drone shows’ crowds.
Vantage points for the Vivid Sydney drone show have reached capacity. Please avoid Circular Quay and The Rocks. Other Vivid Sydney locations are operating at Barangaroo, Darling Harbour and The Goods Line.
Vivid Sydney‘s Love Is In The Air drone show resulted in 2 near-crowd crushes, 1 behind the Overseas Passenger Terminal in The Rocks & 1 at the intersection of Albert & Phillip Streets. The Rocks near-crowd crush occurred before the show had even started.
The Rocks near-crowd crush was the worst near-crowd crush since, though slightly not as bad as the one that occurred at the Moore Steps in 2016. It was 5 times larger in size but less serious in terms of medical incidents, of which there were none.
The scientific definition of a crowd crush is when crowd density reaches 9 to 10 people per square metre & this number is sustained for a significant amount of time but a density of 6-7 people per square metre is when people become uncomfortable & the situation becomes dangerous. When Circular Quay’s capacity of 70,000 for Vivid‘s drone shows are reached, the density should be about 1-2 people per square metre.
1 woman told The Daily Mail that VividSydney 2024 – Humanity staff were failing to direct the crowd out of the chaos:
We waited 1 hour standing to see 10 mediocre drone formations & a bunch of ads & took us 30 minutes to just leave the spot.
We had to get on top of the grass bedding to avoid the crowded part. It’s half a metre high but we have kid & elderly.
In the crowd there are baby less than a year old crying. Even as an adult. I felt pushed around. Very, very badly organised. Don’t recommend.
Vivid Sydney attendee
Sydney Spectaculars believes 94,000 people were caught in it. Both near-crowd crushes lasted until 9:50pm – half an hour after the drone show concluded.
I felt like I was going to die. It was terrifying. All it would have taken was just 1 person pushing too hard or for someone to fall over for the situation to have catastrophic consequences. There was no form of crowd control. It was shocking & clearly poorly managed.
People were barging through the eating areas to try to find their way out of the crowd. 1 of the women sitting down to eat said people who came to the restaurant were leaving because so many people were in the alfresco area.
It’s sad that businesses were losing money when ‘Vivid’ is designed to bring business to the CBD (central business district). We decided to keep pushing through the crowd until we were at a laneway & were able to bail out & then we went home.
Vivid Sydney Attendee
‘Love Is In The Air’ drone show near-crowd crush on Argyle Street looking west from West Circular Quay (Photograph: The Daily Mail)
After the drone show, New South Wales (NSW) Police reportedly weren’t told anything & according to Today, the riot squad had to remove metal barriers to let the crowd leave the area from all directions. According to 9News, the mounted unit had to be called in.
Red – Near-crowd crush Locations, Purple – Drone Show Location
Absolutely dangerous scenes at Vivid festival. After the 9:10pm drone show finished, there was a crowd crush starting to happen by the overseas passenger terminal. Police had to step in to remove barriers because of how serious it was.
People management very poor. For example people flowing into dead ends like the food trucks near the passenger terminal entrance and had to turn back.
Last year, the extraordinary crowds for the Written In The Stars drone show created a ‘traffic jam’ from the Circular Quay railway station/ferry wharves after the show due to 98% of people trying to immediately go home. Last night, trains were still at capacity as late as 11pm – when the lights of Vivid go off each night, most likely as a result of the crowds which were anticipated to be 4 times as large as last year.
Australian Associated Press reporter Scott Bailey said people were squeezed in like cattle with no security or event staff to be seen:
Was as if organisers didn’t account for anywhere near the crowd they got.
Scott Bailey, Australian Associated Press Reporter
We were there part of this crowd & itâs very scary. We were pushed from side to side by the crowd. Many kids were crying & parents pushing prams didnât know where to go. We heard the police saying they were not told anything. 1 mother was crying she lost 2 of her children. It was a total disaster. No proper coordination. They closed lots of areas which was a problem, so difficult to exit.
Vivid Sydney attendee (‘CitrusHoneyComte‘ Daily Mail commentator)
The Love Is In The Air drone show is on again tonight (Sunday 9th June 2024) and next Saturday – the final night of Vivid Sydney 2024 – Humanity, both at 9:10pm. Attendance is expected to be just as crowded tonight for the drone show.
Victor Dominello attended Saturday’s drone show and told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that crowd control was “non-existent from what I saw”.
It was human sardines. These are New Year’s Eve crowds but on steroids. No-one anticipated how many people would be on the foreshore
Victor Dominello, MyGov Advisory Group Chairperson
Vivid Sydney attendee, Anthony Warren, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, “something bad” was going to happen as people tried to leave the area saying he could not see any crowd control people:
Looking at the crowd, you could see it was all families and people with prams, and they were packed together like sardines. It could have gotten so much worse very quickly, if someone started running or shouted âfireâ. They had nowhere to go.
People didn’t know where to go and started to crush. People with babies, prams, elderly people â I noticed some were quite distressed. It was quite confronting to see.
People looked a bit panicked but were trying to keep their cool.
People just could not get out â there were people stuck there for over an hour, just standing & I noticed some of the barricades were being disassembled, which eventually eased the crush.
Anthony Warren
Another attendee wrote that she was sorry she went to the event:
A huge crush saved by a random opening a barrier. Bloody lucky no one panicked. The worst crowd control. No coordination, direction & clearly untrained crowd management staff…
Vivid Sydney attendee
Sydney Spectaculars anticipated this would happen since the drone show was announced in late April, publishing on Friday an article on the drone show stating:
Whilst we cannot be 100% sure when predicting crowd numbers, Sydney Spectaculars is expecting 194,000 people to attend per long weekend drone show in 2024, about a 270% increase on last year, due to the limited number of drone shows. Circular Quay cannot handle this amount of people at once. As implied earlier, Circular Quayâs capacity for a drone show is around 70,000 people. To have nearly 3 times that amount is dangerous, especially with a Harbour on 1 side. People falling into the water, crowd crushes & impatience leading to violence is all very possible if this situation plays out.
The full cancellation of most of Vivid Light on the just recent Saturday didnât help. That meant about 174,000 people missed out their night and may return, most likely, on the drone show nights. That would add an extra 58,000 people per drone show to the numbers above. In other words, 252,000 people per drone show â nearly 4 times the amount of the average drone show audience of last year.
Sydney Spectaculars
Our article was only published on Friday, a day prior to the 1st drone show, for 3 reasons:
Sydney Spectaculars is currently working on a major project, resulting in less time to write.
Vivid Sydney should have learnt the lesson from 2016 plus they have issued capacity limits in the past.
To avoid extra publicity of the drone show, adding to the predicted crowds.
I donât think Iâve ever been this scared in my life. Everyone pushing from all sides with no escape.
Our predicted quarter of a million people attending did occur as 7 News reported that 500,000 extra trips on public transport were made. If there was 1 trip to the drone show and 1 back home, that would equal to a quarter of a million people.
Staff described the events last night as like New Year’s Eve
Howard Collins, Transport For NSW
Vivid Sydney slowly realised the chaos about to ensure. They did deliberately hold off their drone show announcement by 3-4 weeks after the main media launch, most likely to avoid the publicity but last week, they announced the Facebook LIVE live stream would be screened near the stage in Tumbalong Park, Darling Harbour & on the day of the 1st drone show they announced that Macquarie Street between the Sydney Opera House & the State Library Of NSW will be closed to traffic between 8:35pm & 9:20pm due to the Love Is In The Air drone show.
Unlike previous years, we believe Vivid Sydney did not enforce capacity limits last night. Instead they just encouraged people to “avoid” Circular Quay. If you are planning to attend, arrive before 8:40pm – that’s 40 minutes before the drone show starts.Vivid Sydney 2024 – Humanity Director, Gill Minervini, says capacity limits will be enforced tonight.
According to ABC News, Vivid Sydney & NSW Police met this afternoon (Sunday 9th of June).
NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said this morning said that extra police would be on duty tonight for the 2nd drone show. As we’ve said before, more police just takes up more space. Mr Park also advised people not to go to the foreshore unless it was necessary:
It’s an incredibly popular event. It’s a long weekend. It’s good weather at the moment, people are out and about. Police advise that there was a lot of people there, a lot more than expected. They’re not saying anyone was injured or there was any serious incidents. The crowd was able to disperse, uh, very quickly.
We’re saying to people that if you can see the city, you’ll be able to see the light show. You don’t have to be right down there at the foreshore.
NSW Health Minister, Ryan Park
In regards to the drone show, the drone show only faces the southern side of Circular Quay so if you’re on the northern side while you can see the city & the drones, you will see a back to front drone show. The only view of the drone show is on the southern side of Circular Quay and from The Rocks, both places where you can see the city. However, for Vivid Light in general, the main walk is the 8km foreshore walk from Central Railway Station, via Barangaroo, to the Sydney Opera House. For Vivid Light in general, you do not need to be at Circular Quay as the NSW Health Minister states. NSW Police will also tonight more move barriers if needed to, according to 7News.
It’s slow & it’s busy but we will ensure your safety if you listen to what’s said.
NSW Police Detective Superintendent, Jodi Radmore
Vivid Sydney 2024 – Humanity Director, Gill Minervini, said that all agencies working at the event, including NSW Police, Ambulance & Transport For NSW, had vast experience in managing big crowds & were prepared. She said more police officers were sent to the near-crowd crushes when they occurred. She also urged people to exercise “patience, kindness and tolerance” at future drone shows:
The crowd did move safely through the festival. Yes, it was very busy but like when you go to a football game or a concert, it was a very big crowd, all moving out at once. Of course, we’re always reviewing our plans & have continued to do so today, as we do every day with this event. Police will have a lot of officers on site. We will be closing some of the areas earlier when they’re full & a variety of other operational things are in place for tonight so yes, we’re hoping that it will be a smooth & enjoyable experience for everyone.
It will be slow. If you need to stop & have a rest, stop and have a rest but we just ask for people to bring their understanding & their patience to see this fabulous drone show in the best harbour in the world. Some people weren’t comfortable in the crowds but we just, um, ask people to be very understanding to one another. Be very kind to one another.
Not all people felt afraid for their safety & of course, we’ve acknowledged that some people felt uncomfortable in the crowd but the crowd did move safely through the egress through the festival.
Gill Minervini, ‘Vivid Sydney’ 2024 – ‘Humanity‘ Director
Vivid Sydney organisers work with government partners & agencies to plan & deliver a successful & safe event including to manage the crowds that turned out to see last night’s drone show.
Event and security personnel monitor crowd flow & implement scalable measures to manage crowd flow at various points if required, particularly on the busy nights and peak periods.
This includes advising visitors that certain areas have reached capacity and adjusting infrastructure to support crowd flow
We understand that a large number of people leaving a major event at the same time can be slow & challenging and are grateful to the public for their patience and cooperation.
We encourage our festival attendees to plan for their Vivid Sydney visit & stay up to date including via our social media channels and the digital signage around the footprint.
Vivid Sydney spokesperson
At the conclusion of yesterdayâs drone show (Saturday 8 June 2024), officers working for ‘Operation Vivid’ 2024 assisted the large crowd in leaving Circular Quay.
Larger than expected attendees resulted in pedestrian traffic congestion, particularly in and around the transport hubs; however, the crowds dispersed after a short period and there were no injuries or incidents reported.
NSW Police continue to conduct a highly visible and coordinated policing response to this yearâs ‘Vivid’ event.
As of 8:40pm, Vivid Sydney is telling attendees of Vivid Sydney tonight, particularly of the Love Is In The Air drone show at 9:10pm, to avoid Circular Quay.
Earlier tonight, Vivid Sydney announced Macquarie Street between the Sydney Opera House & the State Library Of New South Wales will be closed to traffic between 8:35pm & 9:20pm due to the Love Is In The Air drone show.
We are experiencing large crowds for the Vivid Sydney drone show this evening. Please avoid Circular Quay. The show will also be live streamed near the stage at Tumbalong Park in Darling Harbour.
Sydney Spectaculars 
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