Your kid-friendly guide to Vivid 2024
Us Sydneysiders often groan when cooler weather rolls around and our favourite beaches and pools are less appealing. But the truth is, there are many ways the city comes alive in winter thanks to a jam-packed calendar of cultural events for grown-ups and kids alike.
One of the most anticipated amongst them is Vivid Sydney, an annual festival of lights, music, and more. This year’s festival runs from the 25th of May to the 15th of June, and the program is filled with family-friendly highlights, many of which are completely free.
Grab your calendar and mark these events down — we can’t promise that bundling the kids for a winter evening outing will be easy, but we do know it will be worth the effort.
Music events at Tumbalong Park
Tumbalong Park in Darling Harbour will be home to a lineup of free children’s acts every Saturday evening throughout the festival. It all kicks off at 5pm — early enough to peek at the Light Walk before heading home for bedtime.
Saturday, 25th May: Buuja Buuja Dance
Buuja Buuja Dance will be onstage to teach the little ones about our First Nations people’s culture through music and a dance workshop. It’s a wonderful chance to celebrate Indigenous culture with your kids and open up a discussion about our land’s traditional owners.
If you can stick around a little longer, do! Buuja Buuja Dance’s performance will be followed by an all-women line-up of First Nations musicians like Christine Anu and Deline Briscoe.
Saturday, 1 June: The Beanies
If your kids have tuned into The Beanies on ABC Kids, you’ll know just how catchy their fun tunes are.
On Saturday 1st of June, you can catch them live on stage at Tumbalong Park where they’ll be sharing some of their silliest, most fun songs with the kids. It’s sure to be a night full of laughs for the littles.
Saturday 8th June: Formidable Vegetable
As part of the Vivid Sydney long weekend lineup, Formidable Vegetable’s ‘eco-funk’ songs teach kids about growing your own veggies, restoring ecosystems, and sustainable gift-giving. Their mission is to educate the whole family while having a whole lot of fun.
Making sustainability part of the household conversation is a wonderful way to practice more sustainable parenting, and this show is sure to kick off some uplifting conversations about what we can do to help the planet.
Saturday 15th June: The Quokkas
The Quokkas are a musical mash-up beloved for their clever songs. With different cultural backgrounds and physical abilities, seeing The Quokkas on stage is a live demonstration of what can be achieved when diverse people come together for creativity. It’s a powerful message and one we all want our kids to receive.
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Family-friendly moments on the Light program
The Light program will run every evening of the festival from 6 to 11pm. Whether you have a few moments to spare after a kid’s performance, or you want to get out and about with the family during the week, these family-friendly highlights are well worth a visit.
Embrace
Taking inspiration from the paper chains kids have been making for centuries, Embrace is an interactive installation at First Fleet Park that responds to human touch. The life-sized human silhouettes light up when touched, and then when the circle is complete a stunning light pattern is triggered – reminding us of the power of togetherness.
Global Rainbow
Beams of rainbow light will fan out from Sydney Tower Eye for up to 40km, creating an incredible spectrum of light into the night sky. This stunning display offers a beacon of hope and inclusivity, unifying us all with light, just as it has done previously in the city skies of London, Berlin, Toronto, and Northern Ireland.
Connection
Wander through a circular ‘forest’ of technicolour ropes at Hickson Road Reserve in Circular Quay and reflect on the shared experiences that bring us all together. This incredible installation includes an interactive element that kids will love — when one of the special posts is pressed, dynamic light patterns and sound sequences will set off.
Lightscape
Lightscape is back at the Royal Botanic Garden for another year with a reimagined design. For the unacquainted, Lightscape is a path through the gardens where you can wander beneath illuminated tree canopies, larger-than-life flowers, and glowing tunnels.
As a paid, ticketed event, there’s a little less congestion to get through with the pram or the kids who want to get their energy out before bed. Just make sure to secure your spot ahead of time here, as it gets booked quickly!
Vivid Sydney: A feast for the senses
Don’t let Vivid pass you by this year — it is one of Sydney’s most highly anticipated events for a reason and this year’s lineup has something for everyone, including kids big and little. Check out the full program at vividsydney.com.
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