6pm-8pm: Circular Quay  
 

Lights On is at 6pm, the moment where the city glows up each night of Vivid Sydney. If you can, arrive a little early to watch the transformation from a spot in Circular Quay. Plus, you’ll be able to explore the Vivid Sydney Daytime Program, a series of dynamic artworks that shift between day and night. 
 

Arriving at Circular Quay, your eyes will be immediately drawn to the Harbour’s show-stopping sites. And none are more arresting than an illuminated Sydney Opera House.
 

This year’s Lighting of the Sails is Opera Mundi, which translates to ‘World Opera’. This custom projection by French artist Yann Nguema that pays tribute to the natural landscapes that inspired the House’s architect Jørn Utzon. 

But before you explore the Harbour, don’t miss The Fringe of Infinity at Customs House behind Circular Quay station. 

This meditative projection by Spanish artist Javier Riera plays with nature’s geometric designs, much like Opera Mundi and a reoccurring theme in this year’s works. 

Revelling in the beauty of mathematical perfection (think a shell’s spirals, or a honeycomb’s hexagonal structure), it invites us to imagine what we overlook in our day-to-day lives. Nearby, on Loftus Street, you can spin interactive installation Optik, and rest at The Prism, an immersive chill-out space. 
 

Next up is Vaiola, a visual spectacle by Samoan-Artist Angela Tiatia that transforms the facade of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia.
 

Bright, lush and beautiful, it draws upon Tiatia’s visual motifs – pearls, water, fire, flowers and the female form – to reflect on migration and longing. 
 

Vaiola

In the neighbouring First Fleet Park, you’ll find Invisible Cities, a sculptural world to explore from Sydney’s Atelier Sisu. 
 

Just above the park’s stairs, you’ll also spot a mysterious, monolithic cube cascading with a digital waterfall glitch-y code. That’s As Water Falls: Don’t be scared, give it a touch and see what happens. (If you can’t take the stairs, you can reach the work via George Street, coming from Circular Quay). 
 

As Water Falls

For a trio of ultra-photogenic works, continue walking north on Circular Quay towards the Harbour Bridge. Circles of Rhythm transforms the ASN Clocktower with a colourful, transfixing ode to Bauhaus, the 20th century art movement about paired-back design and form. 
 

Installations Dear You – a glowing message-in-a-bottle – and Koro Loko – a glittering, giant love heart – make for excellent selfie backdrops.
 

Koro Loko

If you’re ever lost, look for Glyph to point the way: created by James Dive for Vivid Sydney, these wayfinders are across the Vivid Light Walk! 
 

Glyph

Before we say bye to Circular Quay and The Rocks, you can’t miss two mind-melting projections incorporating cutting-edge laser technology – a trend of this year’s Vivid Light Walk, as you'll soon see.
 

(And we’re being literal: they’re both hard to miss, as they lead the way to Barangaroo alongside Argyle Road.)
 

Using the Argyle Cut’s curved sandstone ceiling as a canvas, TIME:WARPED is a seven-minute epic through time itself from Australian studio Neon Dynamo.  
 

To head to Barangaroo, you have two options: Cut through The Rocks by continuing through Argyle Street, following Glyph’s markers towards Barangaroo Reserve. While it’s possible to avoid stairs, The Rocks can be strenuous with its inclines. If you’d prefer a gentler journey, you can hug the Harbour via Hickson Road, walking past Walsh Bay (1.1km, 16 minutes).  

8pm: Barangaroo  

Getting hungry? 
 

Weaved into the Vivid Light Walk at Barangaroo Reserve, you’ll find Vivid Fire Kitchen – a free-to-enter casual dining hub illuminated by installation River of Fire. 
 

Uniting more than 60 of Australia’s leading culinary talent and 20+ vendors in an ode to the great Aussie backyard, Vivid Fire Kitchen has something new to see, experience, eat and drink each night. 
 

Be sure to check out each night’s line-up of chefs, talks, tastings, live music and themed events, so you can pick the best night to go. 
 

Once you’re fuelled up, the adventure continues! You’ll find several Light Walk works in Barangaroo Reserve, including Mycelium Network, Flea Circus and Peekaboo Parliament – a game of Green Light, Red Light featuring watchful owls. 
 

But you’ve no doubt already seen Molecule of Light – a staggering 23-metres-tall installation by revered UK artist Chris Levine that’s viewable from Balmain and Chatswood! 
 

Atop three metal legs sits a 6.5 ton ‘meteorite’ that brings the cosmos to Vivid Sydney with a stunning laser production as it moves in-sync with the Earth’s rotation! 
 

During the show, you’ll also hear a serene hum, as the meteorite emits a tone set at 528hz, a frequency believed by some to have calming, healing properties. Both awe-inspiring and meditative, Molecule of Light is unlike anything else.
 

Afterwards, head south to Nawi Cove where you’ll spot Constellations – an ethereal 3D projection hovering on a cloud of mist that travels through the cosmos and tears through the heart of a black hole.
 

Resembling a hologram from another universe, Constellations comes from Belgium’s Studio Lemercier. Behind you, outside the Bond Building, you’ll find Letter – a digital whisper-chain of 30 touchscreens, each showing a sealed envelope. Read a secret message and be sure to leave your own.  
 

From here, the Vivid Light Walk continues along the waterfront towards Darling Harbour with five artworks to explore along the way, including interactive works Sunrise, complete with a see-saw that controls a gorgeous time-lapse of Sydney Harbour’s skies, and Point of (No) Return, a stirring reflection on climate change from Norwegian artist Anastasia Isachsen. As its cylindrical LED screen’s gorgeous swirl of icy hues melt and regenerate depending on how close or far people stand from it, it intuitively reveals how we all have an impact on the environment, for better or worse.  
 

Alighting the way to Darling Harbour is Electric Dandelions, a series of 20 towering sculptures whose petals burst with colours like suspended fireworks, and OBSTACLE, a multi-sensory monolith that stretched 45 metres left-to-right. 
 

As you enter the wharves of Darling Harbour, don’t miss Laniakea – a three-act intergalactic epic projected onto Barangaroo House, complete with an original symphonic score.
  

Inspired by artist David Moraton’s synaesthesia – a condition where he processes colours simultaneously as sound – this cosmic connection explores the repeating visual patterns and designs between our planet and the galaxies beyond. 

9:30pm: Darling Harbour 

Ready for a show? How about Australia's most ambitious free outdoor laser spectacular? 

Over 23 nights, choreographed light transforms the Sydney Harbour sky unlike ever before with Laser Lightfall, the inaugural Vivid Sydney Laser Show and a tour-de-force over Cockle Bay. Running continuously each evening, Laser Lightfall runs four sequences each hour from 6-11pm. 
 

Laser Lightfall

Plus, if your Light Walk adventure falls between Sunday-Wednesday nights, you’re in luck! Star-Bound, the Vivid Sydney Drone Show, is about to take off at 9.30pm (with the exception of Monday 7 June).
 

Glittering above the waters of Cockle Bay, this technological feat is an ode to universal connection as 1000 drones work as one to showcase the strange, beautiful ways that mathematical patterns are found in nature from waves to the very origins of our universe. There are 22 sessions of Star-Bound across Vivid Sydney, with 7.30pm and 9.30pm sessions – you can find more info here.
 

But that’s far from all Darling Harbour has to offer. 
 

The Australian National Maritime Museum transforms each night with Mythical Mashup: the Graphic Worlds of Brian Robinson, two major works that draw upon the playful world of the decorated Torres Strait artist. Take it in from afar as you walk south down the broadwalk, or get up close by taking the Pyrmont Bridge. (The Bridge also doubles as an excellent vantage spot for the Laser and Drone Shows, though may temporarily close if it reaches capacity.) 


The Museum is also a major hub of Vivid Sydney events, home to immersive and interactive children’s experience Wonderverse, plus Sea Gathering, a free night of art, live music and hands-on artmaking, and panel event Beyond The Bleach. 
 

Mythical Mashup: Floating Realm

Close to the W Hotel, you’ll also find two interactive musical experiences: The wacky Musical Mind, and Piano Walk, a supersized set of ivories that sings out in song and colour with every step and skip! 
 

From here, head towards the finish line at Tumbalong Park – home to Tumbalong Nights, Vivid Music’s 23 free nights of live music under the stars, complete with a bar and local favourite food trucks, and two mesmerising artworks: Voxelevated and Afterimage, a 3D-projection mapped mural. 
 

Afterimage: A Projection Mapped Mural

What better way to send off the Vivid Light Walk? Depending on the night, you’ll be able to groove to local DJs or catch gigs from Australian pop heroes Mallrat and Matt Corby, international icons such as K-Pop star SHAUN or Jamaica’s legendary roots reggae act The Congos. Be sure to check out the full lineup.

But the Vivid Light Walk’s not over – there are more impressive artworks to discover in the surrounds, including Lumiverse Transporter, Continuum and The Daydream Machine, where an AI “dreamer” creates your very own live ‘portrait’. A little chaotic and a lot of fun, these portraits make for a perfect spot to snap a shot commemorating the night.  

And just like that, you’ve conquered the Vivid Sydney Light Walk. Congrats!