Dazzling drone shows will return to Sydney’s largest art and culture festival after a year hiatus following crowd-crush fears.
The city is set to come alive with light displays, food experiences, live entertainment and art installations as part of the Vivid Sydney festival from May 22 to June 13.
The festival will include daytime activities for the first time, including public art, theatre and dance events.
The festival will run from May 22 to June 13. (Supplied: Destination NSW)
Displays of 1,000 drones are set to be among the most popular events at the festival, with 22 shows planned across 11 nights.
The drones were axed from last year’s program due to the cost of safety measures.
The previous year, there were fears of crowd crush after more attendees than expected flocked to watch one of the shows in Sydney’s CBD.
There will be more than 20 drone shows during Vivid. (Supplied: Destination NSW)
Another show was scrapped at the last minute due to poor weather.
Safety top priority
First-time Vivid Sydney director Brett Sheehy said he initially thought the drones would be “out of reach” for the 2026 program before additional funding was secured from the NSW government.
Mr Sheehy said safety of attendees was the top priority, with more shows added to accommodate large crowds.
“We’ve done this in collaboration with the police, with emergency services, with security services, and with fencing services,” he said.
Brett Sheely says indoor activities will keep visitors entertained in the event of bad weather. (Supplied: Destination NSW)
“I’m really confident that anyone in Sydney who wants to go and enjoy the drone show, they’ll be able to pick a night and come and see it and enjoy it.”
Mr Sheehy said the risk of weather-related cancellations was more difficult to mitigate.
“Wind is more of an issue than rain,” he said.
“We do, of course, have a lot of indoor things happening.
“We’ve got 46 Sydney restaurants involved with the food festival, we have indoor music at the Metro, at the City Recital Hall, at Oxford Art, at Sydney Opera House, of course … and all of our speakers for the Vivid Minds Festival.”
‘Four festivals in one’
Mr Sheehy said more than 2.5 million people were expected to attend the festival in the coming weeks.
Mr Sheehy says Vivid is more than a light festival. (ABC News: Greg Bigelow)
“By attendance, it does mean that Vivid Sydney 2026 will be the largest comprehensive arts festival in the world, which is a great thing for Sydney, for New South Wales, and for Australia, and an incredible addition to the world’s festival landscape,” he said.
“Vivid is much more than a light festival, it’s really four festivals in one.
“It is a light festival, it’s a food festival, a music festival and a minds or ideas festival.”
Millions of people are expected to attend the festival. (Supplied: Destination NSW)
Other highlights of the festival include:
- The 6.5km Vivid Light Walk featuring more than 40 art installations.
- Live music events at the Sydney Opera House, Darling Harbour and The Rocks.
- Acrobatics and circus performances from Cristal Palace.
- Daytime activations and art installations across the CBD.
- Interactive light experiences for children.
- Guest talks from creatives such as Hamnet director Chloé Zhao, New York Magazine writer Jerry Saltz and Apple Music creative director Zane Lowe.
- A food and drinks hub at Barangaroo, and dining experiences presented by chefs including Yotam Ottolenghi.
Minister for Jobs and Tourism Steve Kamper said more than 80 per cent of activities and installations were free to attend.
“Vivid Sydney 2026 will showcase the creativity, innovation and energy that define Sydney as a premier destination for major events, welcoming visitors from across Australia and around the world,” he said.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.abc.net.au ’
