Vivid Sydney is back, so things are lighting up, heating up, and getting delicious across Sydney/Eora.
As part of the annual event, the Vivid Food program promises memorable dining experiences, including free events to explore with delicious food trucks, bougie ticketed dinners with some of the world's top chefs, and family-friendly festival experiences.
These are Urban List's picks for the best of the Vivid Food program for 2025, plus more tasty ways to enjoy Vivid season in Sydney.
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- Vivid Fire Kitchen
- Chef Dinners
- Neon Dreams
- First Nations Food Experiences
- Vivid Food Parks
- More Vivid Food Experiences
Vivid Fire Kitchen
The Goods Line, Ultimo
Image credit: Destination NSW | Supplied
Gather around the fire at the return of Vivid Fire Kitchen, the hottest hub of the festival, where you’ll find flame-seared street food and live demonstrations from local and international culinary legends, including pitmasters, chefs and barbecue legends.
This year, the Vivid Fire Kitchen is celebrating the heat in another way, paying homage to the world’s spice-driven cuisines, taking over Mary Ann Street for the first time to host the Spice Lounge, with food pop-ups by top chefs and fire pits and drums for staying warm.
At The Goods Line, talent on the Fire Kitchen lineup includes Firedoor chef and owner Lennox Hastie; Aussie-born, Texas-based barbecue queen Jess Pryles; Paul Farag of Aalia, Joji and Ito; and Belles Hot Chicken founder Morgan McGlone, with a different expert foodie host each week.
THE DETAILS
When: Friday 23 May–Saturday 14 June
Where: The Goods Line, Ultimo Pedestrian Network, Ultimo
Cost: Free to enter
More information: Online
Chef Dinners
Various locations
Image credit: Trippas White Group | Supplied
We know Vivid Sydney dazzles with its light projections, installations and live events, and its unique and exclusive dining experiences continue the theme. In 2025, massive names from the culinary world—including Nigella Lawson, whose event sold out in a flash—are popping up in Sydney kitchens and iconic locations.
Highlights include Claude Bosi cooking in Australia for the first time at modern CBD steakhouse Eleven Barrack (from $185pp); James Lowe of Lyle’s in London collaborating with Mat Lindsay at Ester for three nights (from $250pp); and 20-person dinners with Luke Mangan held 87 metres above Sydney Harbour inside a Harbour Bridge pylon (from $395pp).
At the Sydney Opera House, culinary director Danielle Alvarez and dance collective NON will deliver an experience combining food, art and visual storytelling paired with wines by Clonakilla, Tyrrell’s and Bloodwood ($329pp), while winemaker Bruce Tyrrell will host a five-course menu matched with Tyrrell’s own Hunter Valley wines at Parliament House (from $250pp).
Neon Dreams
Tumbalong Boulevard, Darling Harbour
Image credit: Vivid Sydney | Supplied
Imagine a ’70s roller disco—but in the future. Neon Dreams is a funky immersive installation bringing together a retro airline aesthetic, old-school American diners, and vinyl DJ tunes for a perfect Vivid date night experience.
You can cruise (or crash…) around the roller rink before enjoying Americana-inspired eats by pioneering plant-based chef Shannon Martinez, and sip cocktails featuring foraged ingredients (like lemon myrtle margaritas and Illawarra plum sours) by Trolley’d.
Skate hire is free with your ticket purchase (or serious skaters can BYO), and the event is suited for all abilities and kids over five. Not hitting the rink? Neon Dreams is free to visit and enjoy the plant-based food offering and drinks pop-up.
The Details
When: Friday 23 May–Saturday 14 June, between 6pm and 11pm daily
Where: Tumbalong Boulevard, Darling Harbour
Cost: Free to visit, $18 to skate (skate hire included)
More information: Online
First Nations Food Experiences
Various locations
Image credit: Destination NSW | Supplied
As always, Vivid Sydney platforms First Nations talent, including on this year’s Vivid Food lineup. At Infinity restaurant inside Sydney Tower, Trippas White Group’s Indigenous ambassador Dwayne Bannon Harrison has crafted a three-course menu inspired by ancient wisdom and perspectives on the land, sea and sky accompanied by traditional dance (from $299pp).
Mark Olive of Midden restaurant has created the Saltbush & Starlight Dining events, held in a secret location inside the Sydney Opera House (following a private tour) with three-course menus matched with NSW wines and craft beer ($290pp), and NSW Parliament House will host a one-night-only, one-of-a-kind Native Food Experience ($160pp) highlighting native ingredients—some even grown on site.Vivid Food Parks
Various locations
Image credit: Vivid Sydney | Website
Popping up in key Vivid Sydney locations to offer a stop on a night out exploring Vivid Sydney or an experience in their own right, Vivid Food Parks are free-to-visit foodie hubs.
Barangaroo’s Food Park will host the Blacklight Dessert Lab, offering doughnuts, soft serve and desserts that glow under the UV lights, with LED ping pong and a wall for guests to decorate with glow-in-the-dark chalk. There’ll also be other food trucks, including Asian street snacks from Food Trap and churros and coffee from Bar Coco.
In Tumbalong Park, enter through a bright archway into a foodie hub with Korean fried chicken from Birdman, Mexican eats from Ash’s Nachos, and Japanese sweets and drinks from Mochii Mochii. A pop-up bar will serve a drinks list including a selection of NSW wines, and a signature Vivid Sydney cocktail.
More Vivid Food Events
Image credit: Vivid Sydney | Supplied
Boasting one of the best views of Sydney Harbour at the best of times, Aster at InterContinental Sydney is once again hosting a themed Vivid Food experience. In 2025, Dreamscapes at Aster (from $169pp) invites guests to choose a theme (sweet, spicy or adventurous) and settle in for a three-course tasting journey with a curated cocktail and matched wines.
In Surry Hills, Hollywood Quarter will host a Neon Trail running between its beloved venues, with Foster Street closing for a night for Hollywood Dreaming with exclusive dishes, small plates and festival specials plus live entertainment spilling out into the street, and Butter Beats ‘n’ Eats sessions at the fried chicken and hip hop hub.
On Circular Quay, the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Canvas restaurant is doing three-course dinners ($190pp) inspired by Vincent Namatjira’s projection on the building King Dingo, and you can enjoy a snack and glass of Champagne on the Sculpture Terrace ($70pp) to take advantage of the prime harbourfront location.
Now check out our guide to the rest of Vivid Sydney 2025.
Header image credit: Museum of Contemporary Art | Tim Levy
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