Outcry from Sydney’s Mayor over Vivid Sydney charging up to $128 for previously free event
By ABHA HAVAL
Vivid Sydney is coming back with a price to enter the most beloved part of the event. The Lightscape event hosted at the Royal Botanic Garden will no longer be free for visitors this year.
The event commences on 26 May and is running until mid-July. Since the pandemic, this year will mark as Vivid’s first event at the garden since 2019, when access to the event was free. The tickets for a family of 4 at peak times will charge up to $128 with children aged 12 or below, just to see the light installations at the garden.
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On top of the cost-of-living crisis in the city, Sydneysiders have expressed concerns that the most-awaited festival in the community will be ‘out of their pockets’ to attend.
Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said she was “very disappointed to discover this week that the NSW Government has decided to charge a fee for part of the Vivid Light Festival.
“This proposal – to make money from a community event – should be dropped immediately. The Vivid Festival was created with the aim of attracting people to the city during the quitter winter months.”
“The City of Sydney is providing $400,000 in support of Vivid this year. One of the reasons we sponsor this event is to ensure everyone can enjoy this fabulous city.
“To monetise entertainment means creating a class system where some people can afford to visit Sydney, and some cannot,” she said.
“Offering free tickets for crowd control is understandable – we do that for New Year’s Eve – but asking people to pay for entertainment defeats the purpose of the event. Part of Vivid’s success and appeal has always been to ensure there is a range of free offerings that appeal to families and communities across greater Sydney, NSW, and the world.”
Sydney MP speaks against use of public land for profit
Independent MP Alex Greenwich (in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald) said, “I’m increasingly concerned about events that used to be free on public land suddenly becoming ticketed.
“We’ve got to really watch that as we continue to deal with the cost-of-living crisis, that we don’t become an ‘us and them’ city with public events that only people who can afford to pay for can attend.”
The Royal Botanic Gardens have been a part of Vivid from 2016 – 2019. The light installations across the city are principally free and the access to the event was free at the time. Some of the light installations at the garden are fairly similar to what they have been previously.
So here it is. The taxpayer is giving $400,000 in cold hard cash to @VividSydney. The hide of Vivid to then charge the good burghers of Sydney $40 a pop to visit our own @BotanicSydney. @ChrisMinnsMP must end this farce now. Vivid is a fabulous free event. Let’s keep it that way. pic.twitter.com/Bj3TnMtsZU
— Dr Magpie 🍀 (@lightfootsj) May 8, 2023
A Vivid Sydney spokesperson said “The programmers decided to host Lightscape as a paid ticketed event in the Botanic Garden because it provided a ‘unique experience’ and it had run as a paid event in United States, Britain, Perth, and Melbourne and always sold out.”
The light walk at the Taronga Zoo that has been running since 2016 is a part of the paid light exhibits along with a new installation in the tunnels below Wynyard Station.
“The Vivid Sydney Light Walk from Circular Quay to Central Station via Barangaroo and Darling Harbour, and many other events remain free.”
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