Vivid Sydney is lighting up the city for the 15th time when it returns this May, and for 2025, the festival is truly embracing its nocturnal roots, with the theme of ‘Dream’. 

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The hordes are expected to be stampeding towards the city’s glistening splendour at an even more frenzied pace than usual this year, with the announcement that the Queen of Home Cuisine, Nigella Lawson, will be making a special appearance. 

Madam Lawson will be curating three Vivid Sydney Dinner events in Muru Giligu (Path of Light), the recently opened pedestrian tunnel that runs beneath Martin Place. Over three nights, the space will be completely transformed with a light and sound experience, all celebrated with the best NSW produce and wine. 

“Visitors cram themselves into Sydney in summer, but for me, the magical time is in winter, during Vivid Sydney,” Lawson says. “And having loved it for years, it is the hugest thrill to be part of the Vivid Food program this year. I’ll be curating an exclusive menu for the three Vivid Sydney Dinners, and it is simply a dream come true. I mean, you know me: there can never be too many fairy lights! See you there!”

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Festival organisers are taking the dream theme and running with it by dreaming big – the Vivid footprint has been redesigned to present five zones: Circular Quay and The Rocks; Barangaroo; Martin Place and CBD (for the first time since 2018); Darling Harbour; and The Goods Line and Inner City. Each connected zone will feature events from each of the festival pillars – Light, Music, Ideas and Food. 

Festival favourite Vivid Fire Kitchen will return to The Goods Line. This year, this free-access, open-air event will be honouring fire and spice, celebrating the world’s most colourful, spice-driven cuisines and the classic flame-seared foods that are loved the world over.

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Vivid Chef Series will once again see the world’s most innovative chefs collaborate with Sydney’s revered dining institutions.  This series of special dinners will see local legends team up with international star-players, with each pair working together to create a totally unique, never-to-be-tasted-again meal that heroes NSW’s very best produce.

Adjacent to the Fire Kitchen, Maryanne Street will transform into the Spice Lounge for Vivid Sydney – a place to spend time around the fire and take it all in. Vivid Food will also activate in Surry Hills’ Hollywood Quarter, including exclusive gig and food trails from institutions such as Golden Age Cinema, Hollywood Hotel and The Soda Factory, as well as street parties you won’t want to miss. 

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Other big names appearing on the Vivid Food line-up this year include Neil Perry, who will be presenting a special  dinner event at Refettorio OzHarvest as part of the festival’s Our Shared Dream: A World With No Waste series. Luke Mangan and BridgeClimb Sydney also present Luke’s Vivid Table at the Pylon Lookout, an intimate thee-course dinner which will offer incredible views of the resplendent harbour, 87 metres below. And delicious. contributor Danielle Alvarez will be presenting a dream-inspired Dance of Dreams immersive dining experience at the Yallamundi Rooms in the Sydney Opera House. Each dish on Alvarez’s tasting menu is heightened by the combined integration of live contemporary dance, music and visual storytelling. 

For the full Vivid Sydney 2025 line-up and to book your tickets, head to vividsydney.com