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The Star
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Star
Seeing Sydney in a 'new light'
Every May since 2009, the Australian city of Sydney in New South Wales will go all out to stage a city-level party. Vivid Sydney is a light and sound extravaganza which has evolved over the years to become one of the most important events in Australia, as well as an icon of the country's creative culture. It's embarrassing to say that despite my many trips to the city, I have customarily given Vivid Sydney a miss. Nevertheless, I am aware of what the event entails. Vivid Sydney blends light-and-sound art with low-carbon technology, used to create a globally impactful art festival. Today, this festival is a full-scale global level that woos over 3.28 million visitors each year, bringing in an astounding AU$268mil (RM738.5mil) in tourist revenue. And the numbers break new thresholds every year. The 'main stage' of Vivid Sydney actually comprises the city's most iconic landmarks – the Sydney Opera House, the riverside high-rise towers and the majestic Sydney Harbour Bridge – transformed into glittering, dream-like neon monuments by blinding lights. Vivid Sydney is indeed a festive celebration everyone must make an effort to attend at least once in their lifetime, on par in scale and grandeur with the Brazilian Carnival (or Carnaval), or Japan's Gion Matsuri. I can't help but think about Rovaniemi, a tiny Finnish town of only 50,000 residents known for its Santa Claus village that draws close to five million visitors annually. The magic of tourism nevertheless does not lie with sheer numbers but the creativity and unique cultural vibe, and Vivid Sydney is an exemplary instance of such a magical appeal. It is more than just a short-lived light-and-sound show, but a tinder that creatively lights up the economy, empowers its youth, and bridges the world. The 15th Vivid Sydney was held over four weekends recently, and I knew I wasn't going to give it a miss this time around. Together with 12 travel buddies, we flew into Sydney, sat in the private balcony of The Quay – one of Australia's top three restaurants – and enjoyed an exquisite omakase dinner prepared by an 18-Hat chef (Australia's equivalent of a Michelin star). We gazed into the breathtaking spectacular show lighting up Sydney's night sky while savouring our delightful meal. According to the state tourism agency Destination NSW, Vivid Sydney can be divided into these four broad categories: The General Post Office and clock tower, built in 1866, is officially listed as a cultural heritage site. It is also a major space for Vivid Sydney. 1. Vivid Light The Opera House, Harbour Bridge, The Rock, Darling Harbour and other city landmarks are transformed into massive light monuments, creating a visual impact integrating the best in art and technology. 2. Vivid Music Featuring local and international artists encompassing a variety of musical styles such as techno, jazz and independent bands. Imagine yourself bumping into an unexpected live show on the street. 3. Vivid Ideas There are over a hundred forums, talks, and creative workshops held throughout the festival, anchored by designers, tech leaders and social innovators. 4. Vivid Food This is a festival favourite and continues to grow in excellence. It celebrates the state's vibrant culinary culture and world-renowned produce. The Sydney Opera House is well-known all over the world, and since 2009, has been a major site for Vivid Sydney. Vivid Sydney is held in the southern hemisphere's cool early winter, a peak season for outdoor markets and trade shows that coincides with the local fishery and agricultural harvest season. This is absolutely the perfect time to visit Sydney, in my opinion. I always believe that the success of a creative tourism project should not stop at just triggering 'first visits', but also galvanising 'repeated visits'. For example, Formula One racing, the Harbin Ice & Snow Festival in China, and other events that perfectly blend culture, climate and green tourism. Where this is concerned, I feel that our 'Visit Malaysia' organisers and stakeholder should perhaps learn something in order to create that wow factor. Even though I missed last year's Vivid Sydney, I did watch a clip of a black-and-white projection paying tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth on the exterior wall of the Opera House. I remember it was solemn and heart-moving as the night fell. This year's event featured generous quantities of Indigenous artworks and local creations. They relate the stories of this v ast land Down Under through captivating visuals, sound and light display. Creative tourism is not about gaudy display of technology but serves as an extension of the locality's culture and revival of local memories. Our trip was not just about being at the festival and snapping photos or capturing videos. It gave us an interesting experience that penetrated deep into Sydney's urban fabric. When the night fell, Vivid Sydney not only had the city's buildings brightly lit up, but the passion and imagination of its participants as well. The laughter, melodies, good food, the entire city was brought back to life instantly. Vivid Sydney painted the city's unique creative proclamation with dazzling light against the backdrop of the night sky. The success of Vivid Sydney stakes the claim that the festival is not just a tourism marketing gimmick but an expression of the city's culture, driving the local economy and deepening the city's sense of identity. Vivid Sydney has surely placed the city on the world map of creativity. The views expressed here are entirely the writer's own. Leesan, the globe-trotting traveller who has visited seven continents and 149 countries, enjoys sharing his travel stories and insights. He has also authored six books.
Irish Independent
19-06-2025
- General
- Irish Independent
Two sites repeatedly bringing Wexford down in litter rankings – ‘It wasn't just littered, but dumped upon'
While the town can be happy enough with a rank of 17th of 40 towns surveyed and a status of 'clean to European norms', it would have figured much higher in the rankings were it not for two repeat offenders – the Rope Walk car park and the bring facility in Tesco car park. Every year, the adjudicators single out these locations, but it appears that there's little appetite for those in charge of the sites to do anything about it. "These two sites have been consistently heavily littered, bringing down the overall ranking for the town. The Rope Walk car park remains heavily littered and the Bring Facility at Tesco was not just littered, but dumped upon.' Handing out a 'Grade C' to The Rope Walk car park, the adjudicators stated: 'There has been little change to the litter status over the last number of IBAL visits with litter seemingly a low priority for those running/managing this car park. "The main car park surface area was generally fine, but the perimeter harboured heavy levels of a wide variety of food and alcohol related items, along with some bedding. Broken glass was also a feature at the vehicular entrance and there was graffiti on a wide variety of surfaces.' There was even more frustration for the adjudicators reserved for the bottle banks, recycling facilities and clothes banks at Tesco, which earned a 'Grade D+'. "The front of the bottle / can units presented with bin units in good order and signage fresh and clean. However, a duvet was hanging out of one of the clothing units with substantial bedding material on the ground beneath,' the report stated. "The area to the side and rear of the units had suffered from significant dumping of bags of rubbish and miscellaneous items.' Frustratingly, every other site inspected by the adjudicators received a 'Grade A' – The Rocks Heritage Trail, The Quay, approach roads, North Main Street, Selskar College and Wexford Arts Centre – drawing some very complimentary remarks in the process. However, the same two sites have resulted in the town's overall ranking being dragged down. ADVERTISEMENT Having won awards for her work as Chairperson of Wexford Tidy Towns, Phil Murphy was extremely frustrated by the report. "I'm sick to the back teeth of those sites,' she said. 'It's actually quite upsetting now to be honest with you. We (Tidy Towns) are out there twice a week and we do little litter picks ourselves too. Every now and again, we'll go into those sites and tidy them up, but we shouldn't really have to because they're privately owned. "You could find anything dumped in The Rope Walk car park. Bags of rubbish, sofas, anything. "It's really frustrating because we work so hard. We have a dedicated team of around 15 or 20 that are out every single week tidying up. Wexford used to always be up near the top of these surveys and these sites are the only reason we're not now.'
BBC News
06-04-2025
- BBC News
Sandwich compass stone to mark Cinque Port town's naval history
A compass stone designed by a local sculptor has been installed in a Kent town to mark its history as one of the five Cinque Compass Rose in Sandwich aims to help visitors understand the role the town played in defending England's coastline from installation, created by sculptor Carrie Horwood, features arrows and distances to the other four ports - Dover, Hythe, New Romney and compass, funded by £10,000 from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, will feature an information board, maintained by Sandwich Town Council. Installed next to The Quay near the Bell Hotel, the compass was the idea of Jon Van der Dol, owner of the nearby Sandwich Card Gallery in King Street. He said: "I wanted to educate the public about what the Cinque Ports are, when they were established and what it means." The Cinque Ports were established before the Norman Conquest in 1066 when they were offered self-government and financial privileges in return for the loan of ships and men to the Crown each Lord Wardens of the Cinque Ports, who had use of Walmer Castle in Deal as a residence, included The Duke of Wellington, Sir Winston Churchill and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Horwood, who previously worked on a grotesque for the Maison Dieu in Dover, said that it was pleasure to be able to use local builders and experts to complete the said the project took four days to install.
