24 May 2018: Australia will shine even brighter this weekend as Aussies celebrate the 10th anniversary of Vivid Sydney, the world's largest festival of lights, music and ideas.

Running for 23 nights from Friday 25 May – Saturday 16 June, Vivid Sydney lights up Australia's most iconic city with more than 90 light displays across the Sydney Opera House, Darling Harbour, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Taronga Zoo, Luna Park and more.

Last year's Vivid broke records when more than 2.3 million attendees injected more than $140 million into the local economy. The festival's Dreamscape installation also broke the Guinness World Record for the largest interactive lighting display, with more than 124,000 lights in the single artwork.

The full festival programme also includes more than 120 music gigs and nearly 300 speakers across hundreds of thought-provoking events.

To celebrate Vivid's 10-year anniversary, Tourism Australia looks at Australia's top lightshows, both natural and man-made: 

Field of Light – Uluru, Northern Territory
English artist Bruce Munro's internationally-acclaimed Field of Light, set at the glittering base of Uluru, is a jaw-dropping art installation of more than 50,000 solar-powered stems that cover an area the size of four football fields, lighting up at sunset and glowing throughout the night. More info here.

Enlighten Canberra – Australian Capital Territory
Named one of the world's top 10 cities to visit in 2018 by Lonely Planet, Canberra's reputation for cool continues to soar. See Australia's capital in a different light at the annual Enlighten Festival, where Canberra is illuminated with light, culture and creativity. More info here.

Aurora Australis – Tasmania
You've heard of the Northern Lights, but did you know that Aurora Australis lights up Australian skies? Like its Northern Hemisphere counterpart, the Southern Lights paint the night sky in colour, but unlike Aurora Borealis (which is heavily subject to seasons), Aurora Australis can be viewed all year round. Head to Tasmania from May to August (i.e. Australia's winter) and visit Bruny Island, Satellite Island, Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park, Bathurst Harbour or Tasmania's central highlands for the best chance to catch nature's own lightshow. More info here.

Gawler Ranges, Eyre Peninsula – South Australia
See the outback sky ablaze with the light of a billion stars in the Galaxy Suite at the Swagon at Kangaluma Camp, available on the Gawler Ranges Wilderness Safari in South Australia. It's a renovated covered wagon with mesh walls so you're protected from the elements, but you've still got a million-star view of the sky from your bed. More info here.

Climb to the moon – Broome, Western Australia
Every full moon, from March to October, something special happens in Broome. As the moon rises, its light reflects off the exposed mudflats of Roebuck Bay, creating a “staircase” leading up to the moon. This natural phenomenon is just one part of the town's long-running Festival of the Pearl, a nine-day celebration of Broome's culture and history with music, food and art events. More info here.

Winter Wonderlights – Ballarat, Victoria
Visitors come wrapped up to enjoy a fun-filled day of Christmas in July celebrations, complete with faux snowfalls and warming winter fare. At dusk, the magic of the 'Winter Wonderlights' begins, as the site lights up with over 20 grand-scale projections, creating one of Australia's largest lighting spectacles staged on one site – all set across a twinkling backdrop of cottage gardens lit by over 15 kilometres (9 miles) of fairy lights. More info here.

New Year's Eve – Sydney, New South Wales
You don't get more iconic than celebrating New Year's Eve in Sydney. Midnight comes earlier to Sydney than almost any other major international city, and around a million people flock to Sydney Harbour to see the dazzling annual fireworks. The 2018 display contained around eight tonnes of fireworks, produced 100,000 pyrotechnic effects and cost $7 million (£3.9 million) – and it only gets bigger and better every year!  Relive last year's spectacular here.

White Night Melbourne – Victoria
Discover Melbourne by night at this unique February event that shines a light on the passions of the Victorian capital. White Night Melbourne runs dusk-till-dawn and brings the city's dark corners to life with over 100 events. Celebrated cultural institutions shine with free and ticketed events, from outdoor light displays and street performances, to urban adventure and fashion experiences. More info here.

Field of Light: Avenue of Honour – Albany, Western Australia
The beachside city of Albany was the last sighting of Australia for many of the 41,000 men and women who set sail from here for World War I, and the city is set to shine even brighter in 2018 with another stunning light installation by English artist Bruce Munro. Field of Light: Avenue of Honour will be part of Albany's commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I and will feature more than 13,000 illuminated glass spheres, representing the national flowers of Australia and New Zealand. Open from October 2018 to April 2019. More here.

Vivid Sydney – New South Wales
More than 2.3 million visitors attended last year's Vivid Sydney to see hundreds of light shows projected onto buildings and public spaces. Giant light animals took over Taronga Zoo, fantastic flora and fauna claimed the Opera House and giant eyes appeared in the Botanic Gardens – and this year, those who climb to the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge during Vivid can celebrate on a 70's style, multi-coloured light-up dance floor, 134 metres in the air. More info here and here.

No matter what time of year you visit, Australia is the perfect place to light up your life. Plan your Australian adventure at www.Australia.com

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For further information contact:

Kate Hodges
Senior Public Relations Executive, Tourism Australia
Tel: +44 20 7438 4618
Mobile: +44 7795 657 294
E: khodges@tourism.australia.com

Naomi Pedlow
Senior Communications & Content Executive, Tourism Australia
Tel: +44 20 7438 4611
Mobile: +44 7768 330 670
E: npedlow@tourism.australia.com

About Tourism Australia:
Tourism Australia is the Australian Government agency responsible for promoting Australia to the world as a destination for leisure and business travel. The organisation aims to grow demand for the destination's tourism experiences by promoting the unique attributes, which will entice people to visit.

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