Organisers of Vivid Sydney have announced the full program for this year’s VIVID Live, set to take over various venues across the city – most notably the Sydney Opera House – from May 24 to June 15 2024. The complete rundown of artists performing, broken down by venue, can be found below. Headlining this year’s festival are three exclusive Australian performances from French duo Air, who will be belatedly celebrating the 25th anniversary of their breakthrough 1998 album Moon Safari.
Other Australian exclusives include the debut of prolific Venezualan electronic artist Arca, Welsh prog-house duo Underworld and famed UK producer/songwriter Devonte Hynes – who will perform his classical arrangements with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra after having to pull out of last year’s Vivid due to his mother passing away.
Gill Minervini, Vivid Sydney’s Festival Director, has described this year’s line-up as “diving deep into what makes us uniquely human,” adding that each performance is “designed to foster connections, spark imagination and showcase the multitude of ways creativity enriches our lives.”
“We have curated a diverse program that explores the human spirit,” she said. “Everyone is
invited to be part of this global event in the world’s most beautiful city to connect, create and
celebrate.”
Air – ‘Kelly Watch the Stars’
In addition to Vivid returning to the Opera House, Redfern venue Carriageworks, Darling Harbour’s Tumbalong Park and Mary’s Underground in Circular Quay, the festival will also debut a new venue dubbed the Machine Hall Precinct. Based in the Sydney CBD, the venue is an abandoned substation that was recently reopened to the public. US indie-rock band Deerhoof will head up the performances at the newly-christened venue, which will also feature Jen Cloher and a rare performance from Indigenous rock band No Fixed Address.
Vivid is also set to serve as the farewell for two of Australia’s longest-running independent labels: Elefant Traks and Spunk! Records, which are folding after 26 and 25 years respectively. Each label will have a showcase of their artists as a proper send-off, with both taking place in the Joan Sutherland Theatre of the Opera House.
Elefant Traks’ finale will include performances from Hermitude, Horrorshow and Urthboy, as well as reunion performances from The Herd and The Last Kinection. Spunk!, meanwhile, have invited Explosions In The Sky back to Australia for the first time since 2017; they will perform their 2003 album The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place in its entirety, alongside a reunited Middle East and Aldous Harding across two nights in the theatre.
Vivid LIVE 2024
Sydney Opera House
Friday May 24 – Saturday June 15, 2024
- Arca
- Air (performing Moon Safari)
- Underworld
- Fever Ray
- Devonté Hynes with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra: Selected Classical Works
- Snoh Allegra
- Sky Ferreira
- Thelma Plum
- Yung Lean
- jonatan leandoer96 x Frederik Valentin, Ecco2K, oqbqbo & Scandinavian Star, Aya Gloomy
- Spunk Records: 25 Finale (with Explosions In The Sky, Aldous Harding and The Middle East)
- Tinariwen
- Barkaa
- Jlin
- Kaiit
- Spice Trail (with Sid Sriram, Priya Ragu, Raf-Saperra)
- Elefant Traks: The Finale (with Hermitude, The Herd, OKENYO, Horrorshow, ANESU, The Last Kinection, Urthboy & more)
- South Summit
- Jonti presents The Moonblades
- Tia Gostelow
- Vv Pete
- Bumpy
- xmunashe
- Maple Glider
- Tasman Keith, Flewnt & Inkabee
- Cult Shφtta
- Zion Garcia
- Fred P
- Mala, Alec Sander & Jungist
- Barney Kato presents Alien feat. Radioactive Man, Mark N, au4r33y & Magda Bytnerowicz
- Club Mince
- dstreet (with Mad Miran, Piezo and Kate Miller b2b Emelyne)
Sydney Opera House insiders pre-sale is on now (Tuesday March 12). Sydney Opera House What’s On newsletter pre-sale opens from 10am AEDT on Wednesday March 13. Tickets on general sale from 10am AEDT on Friday March 15. All ticketing information can be accessed via the Sydney Opera House official website.
Carriageworks
Friday May 31 – Saturday June 15, 2024
- Yasiin Bey (FKA Mos Def): The Ecstatic Anniversary Show and Beyondoom
- Tirzah
- Synthony
- Electric Fields
- Yves Tumor
- Emma Donovan
- Montell Fish
- X Club
Carriageworks newsletter subscriber pre-sale is on now (Tuesday March 12). Tickets on general sale from 10am AEDT on Wednesday March 13. All ticketing information can be accessed via Carriageworks.
Supper Club @ Mary’s Underground
Friday May 24 – Friday June 14, 2024
- Mo’Ju + Zoe Coombs Marr
- Georgia Mooney + Rhys Nicholson + Nikki Britton
- Tanzer + Don’t Thank Me Spank Me + Michael Hing
- Up-Late Play Date: A Kids’ Party For Adults
- Divas Live: A Night Of Worship
Tickets on sale now via Vivid Sydney.
Tumbalong Nights @ Tumbalong Park
Friday May 24 – Saturday June 15, 2024
- Club Broadway + The Carpenters From Kempsey
- K-Indie Music Fest (with Silica Gel + sunwoojunga)
- 3% (Kill the Dead album launch)
- Sounds of Afrobeats
- grentperez + FRIDAY*
- Jalbu Muna (with Christine Anu, Kee’ahn, Deline Briscoe, Nadeena Dixon and Akala Newman)
- Bare Necessities
- Forest Claudette + The Blssm
- Mallrat + Tiffi
- Budjerah + Jem Cassar-Daley
- Wildfire Manwuurk + Battlesnake
- VIVID Kids (with Buuja Buuja Dance, The Beanies, Formidable Vegetable and The Quokkas)
- Teenage Joans + Lola Scott
- The Push
All shows are free entry.
Machine Hall Precinct
Wednesday June 5 – Saturday June 15, 2024
- Deerhoof
- Jen Cloher
- No Fixed Address
- Ngulmiya
- The Grand Silky Ball
- The Huxleys present Personality Crisis
- Underscores
- Windchill
- Black Milk
- Club 4A
Tickets on sale now via Vivid Sydney.
Further Reading
Yaeji Takes a Hammer to Her Anger at the Sydney Opera House
Max Richter Review – Sydney Opera House the Perfect Venue for Composer’s Genre-Bending Music
