Sydney has a month-long event called VIVID that happens each year starting in late May. For me, it just started last weekend. I’ve never really seen anything like it. The entire city is lit up, from individual bars and restaurants to the entire Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. While it has made the traffic significantly worse, especially on weekends, it’s made the city so much more vibrant. I didn’t really know how this city could get more exciting, but somehow it happened. It’s really something to see the Sydney Opera House and the entire Royal Botanic Gardens lit up in neon lights and images. There’s so much thought and art in each installation. I would post my own photos of it, but it won’t come close to doing it justice.
Even though VIVID just started, I can already tell that it’s going to become a favorite pastime of mine this next month to just wander around Sydney at night. Normally this is the season where I’d stop doing that (apparently this week has seen some of the coldest May temperatures in a decade, although it still feels like spring to me), but this is a nice incentive to continue exploring even though winter is approaching. I’ve never lived in a city that puts this much effort into making arts accessible to the entire populace, and I’m hoping I’ll have enough time and energy through finals to take advantage of it.
In general, Sydney makes the arts accessible. The entire month of May there was a comedy festival around the city, and while the more popular shows cost money to see, there were plenty of events that were free or very cheap–and they were all super funny. I wish I could have taken the Australian Sports class that’s offered at University of Sydney, because everyone in that class gets free tickets to go see 6 different sports games, from rugby to cricket to football (soccer). I also live near the Capitol Theater, which has had showings of Aladdin and Kinky Boots while I’ve been here. When we first arrived there was a month long art gallery festival, with different art showings every weekend at different galleries. It’s been an amazing way to see the city and to talk to local Australians.
One thing that I’ve noticed is that everyone is involved in the arts somehow. I feel like back home there’s a certain group of people that are into sports, a certain group of people that are into art shows, etc. But here it seems like everyone is somewhat into everything. Of course, people have their favorites, and certain neighborhoods are known more for certain entertainments, but overall Australians don’t feel like they have to be boxed into liking just a few things. They can enjoy everything.
