Vivid Sydney 2024: The other big issue with the festival – as Aussies call out two major problems: ‘Shut this down’

The highlight of Sydney’s Vivid festival – a three-night drone show – has been branded ‘boring’ on social media by spectators who flocked to see the show this weekend.

And another major attraction, a “Tekno Train” experience where commuters can sit and listen to music, has been dismissed as “paying $30 to ride the train around the city.”

The Vivid Festival is one of the biggest events on the Sydney calendar, attracting millions of visitors every year. It is a great boon to the tourism industry during the quiet winter months.

So many spectators flocked to Circular Quay to watch the Love Is In The Air drone show – featuring 700 flying robots – that festival goers were nearly crushed.

But many of those who came in to see the spectacle this weekend were left unimpressed – with many users claiming there was little to like about the show.

They claimed it was boring, not as good as last year’s show and that it had been co-opted by sponsorship and advertising.

One post on X (formerly Twitter) denounced the use of the drones to promote a Netflix show.

‘The Sydney Vivid Drone show complete with Netflix logo and Bridgerton promo – can our city get any more sticky?’

A reply to the post agreed: ‘Lively used to be exciting, now it’s just another corporate wh***fest.’

Many agreed and posted similar comments.

“The drone show was basically three minutes of content and the rest was their sponsors. They literally put the Netflix, Amex and some hotels logo in the bloody drones.

“Just an excuse for a Netflix ad. Very disappointing.’

Other social media users were also not very impressed with the drone show.

“Is Sydney that boring, that’s all people have to do on a Saturday night?” one commenter asked.

“Really people are rushing to watch that crap that makes no sense,” another user wrote.

“Gender equality in the air is a waste of time,” wrote one aggrieved participant.

Other people commented on Saturday night’s terrifying incident when spectators were caught crowding a huge crowd at the Overseas Passenger Terminal on Circular Quay after the drone show.

“People were pushing, being aggressive, shouting, I even felt unsafe,” one person wrote.

“Shut this shit down, it’s not worth the massive crowds and the inevitable crushing death event that seems closer every year.”

Another Vivid attraction this year, the Tekno train, was also criticized.

The Lively website promotes the Tekno train as ‘an immersive audio experience, transforming an everyday commuter train into an extraordinary ride’.

There are two Tekno Train experiences, ‘The Scenic route’ and the ‘Tech Express’.

Many social media users didn’t find the experience all that special.

“In any other major city in the world, events like the ‘techno train’ would be dancing with a bar. Here you have to sit and pay $30 to travel on the train,” wrote one participant.

‘You don’t even have to wait for Vivid to catch the techno train. Eshays with their boomboxes on the nighttime commute sometimes give the experience for free, whether you agree or not.

‘No drinks or dancing???? Sydney party style hahahah.”

Vibrant Sydney is described on the Destination NSW website as ‘the largest festival of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere and the largest celebration of the creative industries in the country’.

The website says the latest edition of Vivid Sydney attracted a record 3.48 million visitors and delivered ‘$206.1 million in visitor spend to the NSW visitor economy’.

One social media user returned from Vivid Sydney with more than fond memories.

“Two years in a row and I came back from Vivid with COVID….”

Vivid Sydney continues until Saturday evening, with the final drone show at 9.10pm.