News

In a world first for artificial light festivals, the Smart Light Sydney Light Walk will turn off more power on the city grid than it uses, thanks to a switch-off campaign in conjunction with the Property Council of Australia.

Smart Light Sydney will celebrate sustainable innovations and the future of low-energy lighting design when it lights up Sydney, starting tomorrow night and running for three weeks.

A major component of Vivid Sydney, Smart Light Sydney will take place from 26 May to 14 June, headlined by a free public Light Walk including Observatory Hill, The Rocks, Circular Quay and Sydney Opera House.

Taking place nightly from 6pm to midnight, the Light Walk will encompass 25 light art installations, showcasing smart lighting techniques such as low energy, recycled materials, new technologies, innovative design and renewable power sources.

The switch-off lights campaign, incorporating some of the major properties located within the Light Walk precinct, will offset the low levels of energy being used by the Light Walk’s installations to ensure the event creates a minimal environmental impact.

“Smart lighting is the future for urban lighting, and is based on the priorities of low environmental impact, reduced light wastage for darker night skies and clever design,” said Mary-Anne Kyriakou, founder and artistic director of Smart Light Sydney.

“Through the installations on the Light Walk, we’re showcasing the possibilities offered by smart lighting design and educating the public on the future of lighting through inspiring light art sculptures.”

Three of the installations on the Light Walk use no new energy at all, while some others use solar and pedal-power to generate their beautiful lighting designs.

Smart Light Sydney is hosting a number of informative and engaging talks throughout the festival that are free to attend. The Smart Light Symposia series, held in conjunction with UTS, will take place on 27 May, 1, 2 and 9 June, and Illumination @ 72 Erskine will be hosted in conjunction with the Illuminating Engineering Society of Australia and New Zealand on 3, 4, 10 and 11 of June.

Smart Light Sydney’s Light Walk is an all weather event and includes some indoor light art experiences.

Vivid Sydney is one of five anchor events in the first ever NSW Master Events Calendar created by Events NSW on behalf of the NSW Government.

For the full Vivid program visit http://www.vividsydney.com/