Vivid Sydney

For about three weeks from late May, Sydney runs a festival built around projected light. The Opera House sails become a moving canvas, the sandstone facades around Circular Quay and Customs House are lit with animation, and a marked walking route strings installations through The Rocks, the Royal Botanic Garden and around to Darling Harbour. Much of it is free and outdoors. Alongside the lights there is a paid music programme in venues across the city and a talks strand. Held in the coldest, quietest part of the Sydney year, it was designed to bring people into the centre in winter, and it works: the harbour foreshore is crowded every night of the run.

What you actually see

• The Opera House sails - the projection commission that changes each year, best viewed from across the Quay.
• The Circular Quay light walk - the marked route of installations through The Rocks and along the foreshore.
• The Botanic Garden installations - larger interactive pieces spread through the gardens, usually the least crowded section.
• Darling Harbour - the western end of the route, with water-based effects and a separate crowd.

When to go

Lights switch on around sunset, roughly six in the evening in June, and run until about eleven. Weeknights are noticeably less crowded than Friday and Saturday, and the first week is quieter than the last. Arrive before dark to walk the route in order. Dress for a cold, damp harbour wind; June evenings in Sydney are colder than visitors expect.

Honest expectations

The crowds around Circular Quay are severe on weekends, with one-way pedestrian flows and long waits at ferry wharves and station gates. The walk is several kilometres end to end and much of it is standing and shuffling. Restaurants near the route book out and raise prices. Some installations are underwhelming in person after the promotional images. Rain closes parts of the route without warning.

Nearby

The Opera House, the Harbour Bridge walkway and the Royal Botanic Garden all sit on the route.