Hold onto your pomegranate molasses – the superstar chef is getting ready to serve up a feast.
In 2026, Vivid Sydney is taking its first steps into a new era with an expansion into daytime activities that will allow even greater access to a range of installations, performances, talks and food experiences before the city transforms again each night into its signature magical Vivid glow.
But for food-loving festival-goers, the biggest Vivid news is that star UK chef Yotam Ottolenghi will be headlining the Vivid Food program. This comes off the back of the chef’s sell-out An Evening with Yotam Ottolenghi tour across Australia.
When is Vivid Sydney 2026?
Vivid is a 23-day festival, running from Friday, May 22 to Saturday, June 13, featuring a program that spans Vivid Light, Vivid Music, Vivid Minds and Vivid Food. More than 80 percent of the festival remains free.
Related story: Matt Preston asks: is ‘fricy’ the year’s hottest new food trend?
What food events are on at Vivid Sydney 2026?
Vivid Food returns with a feast of flavour celebrating everything that makes NSW so delicious, including Vivid Fire Kitchen at its new home in Barangaroo Reserve. This brings global and local chefs together for open‑fire cooking, demonstrations, tastings and conversations, creating a free nightly hub of bold flavours and shared stories. In 2026, the program features leading Australian chefs including Mark Best, Luke Mangan, Sharon Salloum and Annita Potter, and for the first time expands to showcase celebrated food innovators and culinary personalities such as Julia Goodwin, Adriano Zumbo, Declan Cleary and Karima Hazim, with more to be announced.
At the Sydney Opera House, Saltbush & Starlight will take you on an exclusive guided tour, followed by a three-course dinner from First Nations chef Mark Olive in one of the House’s hidden spaces. And over at Refettorio OzHarvest Sydney, Our Shared Future will see students collaborate with top chefs to create menus using up to 90 percent rescued ingredients.
Across the city, visitors can also discover pop‑up dining experiences at Parliament House, The Mint and other unexpected venues, alongside custom menus and special events at Aster Bar, The International, Shell House, Infinity and more of Sydney’s most acclaimed restaurants.
Related story: Easter eggs ranked: the good, the bad and the ‘yuckers’
What to expect from Yotam Ottolenghi at Vivid Sydney 2026
Ottolenghi will be featuring in the festival’s Regional Dinner Series with A Shared Table with Yotam Ottolenghi. This will see the world‑renowned chef bring together ingredients and flavours from across the state, placing regional identity and provenance at the heart of the menu.
You can catch the star chef on May 29 (for dinner) and May 30 (for lunch), with tickets coming in at $340pp.
His headline event sets the tone for the wider Regional Dinner Series, which brings regional excellence to Sydney through a series of chef collaborations. These dining experiences champion standout ingredients and artisans from across the state, including pairings such as Mindy Woods with Danielle Alvarez at the Sydney Opera House, Ben Devlin with Lennox Hastie at Firedoor and Christine Manfield with Sander Nooij at Yellow.
Tickets for Vivid Sydney are on sale now. For more information and for a full list of events, go to vividsydney.com
Related story: ‘I worked out the other day that 800 chefs have gone through the Quay kitchen’: Peter Gilmore on the legacy of Quay
Comments
Join the conversation
Log in Register