After being cancelled outright in 2020 for the first time in its eleven-year history, this year's Vivid festival was set to be a triumphant signal of normal life returning to the Harbour City. However, due to the ongoing lockdown, Vivid Sydney’s return has now been postponed until the end of September.
Australia’s largest festival of lights, performance and ideas had been due to kick off on August 6 with one of the event's most ambitious programs to date. However, while the current lockdown orders are set to expire on July 30, there is still a likelihood that a fourth extension to the stay-at-home orders could yet be announced, and even if current rules can be relaxed by August, they are unlikely to be sufficiently lifted to allow for the kind of interstate tourist influx that Vivid had originally hoped to attract.
Minister for jobs, tourism and Western Sydney, Stuart Ayres, said that Sydney would need to work together to bring the outbreak of Delta under control. “We all want to see Sydney shine through the spectacular show of creativity and innovation that is Vivid Sydney,” Ayres said. “The recent outbreak has presented a new challenge for everyone, and the health and safety of our citizens and the entire event community involved in Vivid Sydney is our foremost concern.”
Earlier this year, Melbourne’s inaugural Rising Festival was cancelled in its entirety when an outbreak just days before opening forced the Victorian capital into lockdown. Vivid’s new dates are September 17 to October 9, and as of the publication of this article, there have been no announced changes to the originally released program.
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