Tag: Lights On

Vivid Lights Up Sydney For Another 18 Days

NSW Premier Mike Baird tonight officially launched Vivid Sydney 2014, the Southern Hemisphere’s biggest festival of light, music and ideas.

Mr Baird hit the switch as part of the annual ‘Lights On’ moment to officially launch the sixth year of the festival, lighting up the iconic sails of the Sydney Opera House.

“Vivid Sydney has become one of the city’s most anticipated events, drawing massive crowds from Sydney, interstate and overseas,” Mr Baird said.

“This event showcases the state’s creative talent and transforms the way the city’s most famous landmarks are viewed using spectacular lighting displays and projections.”

“Last year, the family friendly festival attracted an impressive 800,000 visitors, which in turn delivered a major $20 million boost to the NSW economy.”

“This event provides a welcome boost to shops, restaurants, cafes and bars during the winter period and I’d encourage everyone to leave the car at home and take advantage of more than 3,500 additional public transport services on offer during the festival.”

NSW Deputy Premier and Minister for Tourism & Major Events Andrew Stoner said Vivid Sydney is made up of more than 200 events that showcase the state’s creative industries, including digital media, design, animation and music.

“With 40 per cent of Australia’s creative industries based in NSW, nurturing our state’s creative sector through major events like Vivid Sydney has a positive impact on our economy and the overall strength of our nation’s creative industries,” Mr Stoner said.

“This year’s festival has been expanded to five new precincts, including Martin Place, Carriageworks, The University of Sydney, The Star and Sydney Harbour.”

“The festival includes 50 free light installations and projections transforming Sydney’s architecture and open spaces through Vivid Light, 80 Vivid Music shows, and 300 speakers at 180 creative industry events as part of Vivid Ideas,” he said.

Anyone attending Vivid Sydney is encouraged to view the full Vivid Sydney 2014 program and plan their trip to and from the event at vividsydney.com.

More Than 3,500 Extra Public Transport Services Light The Way For Vivid Sydney

Visiting Vivid Sydney will be easier this year with more than 3,500 extra public transport services available to help people travel to and from festival precincts, including the new Martin Place venue, as well as festival favourites Circular Quay, Darling Harbour, Walsh Bay and North Sydney.

Deputy Premier and Minister for Tourism and Major Events Andrew Stoner said public transport was the best way for people to get out and about in the Harbour City and enjoy Vivid Sydney.

“Last year 800,000 visitors experienced Vivid Sydney, and this festival is shaping up to be our biggest and brightest event ever,” Mr Stoner said.

“The NSW Government has been working hard to ensure that the best transport and traffic measures are in place for another huge year of Vivid Sydney, and to make sure that visitors can move around the city there will be road closures in effect at various times, as well as special event clearways.”

“We are also providing a one-stop shop for the latest information about trains, buses, ferries, taxis and light rail services at the vividsydney.com website.”

“This will include all the latest information about trains, buses, ferries, taxis and light rail services that connect the Vivid Sydney precincts right across Sydney,” he said.

Vivid Sydney begins with ‘Lights On’ on Friday 23rd May at 6pm and runs nightly, 6pm – midnight until Monday 9thJune.

Over the three weekends of the event, almost 3200 extra bus services will run in addition to the regular timetable services, moving an extra 160,000 passengers.

An extra 350 train services will also be running on top of the regular weekend services to move an extra 500,000 people.

And an additional 132 ferry services will also be running over the weekends however these are expected to be very crowded, so the extra train and bus services are the best way to get to and from Vivid.

Minister for Transport Gladys Berejiklian encouraged people to take advantage of the additional public transport services and suggested that they build travel time into their festival plans in order to make the most of everything Vivid Sydney has to offer.

“Vivid Sydney is a significant event for our city, so ensuring that our transport and roads network can contribute to a great event is critical,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“Just like planning ahead for New Year’s Eve and Australia Day, the message is clear – leave the car at home and catch public transport.”

“We encourage everyone to take public transport to and from the event, and those with young families and strollers should consider coming to Vivid Sydney earlier in the week, when visitor numbers are expected to be smaller than during weekends.”

For all the latest information about trains, buses, ferries, taxis and light rail services go to: vividsydney.com/transport.