Vivid Sydney returns this Friday with a ’50s spin on the roller-skating rink and an American-inspired diner by rock star vegan chef Shannon Martinez, alongside reappearing favourites like the Vivid Fire Kitchen and the Vivid Chef Series.

Neon Dreams

New Vivid Sydney event Neon Dreams will transform the Pier Street underpass in Darling Harbour into a scene straight out of Xanadu. The experience will include a retro-inspired roller-skating rink, where you can strap on some skates and go for a glide, and a DJ booth set up in a grounded mail plane. It runs every night of Vivid, Friday, May 23, to Saturday, June 14.

The ’50s playground will also include an American diner helmed by Smith & Daughters restaurateur Shannon Martinez, who is one of the country’s leading vegan chefs. The menu will focus on plant-based versions of popular American comfort foods, including a burger, mac ‘n’ cheese and jelly doughnut, as well as frothy milkshakes and native ingredient-spiked cocktails.

Martinez says: “We all know and love the classic American diner menu, and what we have planned for Neon Dreams will be even more delicious. You won’t even notice it’s completely plant-based. All this with a retro aviation fitout and some roller-skating – let’s just say Vivid Sydney hasn’t seen anything like this before.”

Vivid Fire Kitchen

Elevated urban walkway the Goods Line in Ultimo will light up with live flames for Vivid Fire Kitchen, which will return with a new theme for 2025: Fire and Spice. Food trucks, barbecue stands and casual eateries will run the length of the repurposed railway line, selling Filipino skewers, South American-style BBQ, Korean doughnuts and Indian chaat.

Taming the flames will be Texan-based live-fire cook Jess Pryles, whose barbecue menu will include high-voltage bites like the flanken-cut ribs with chipotle tequila mop and tomahawk steaks with Vegemite miso butter. Lennox Hastie, from two-hatted restaurant Firedoor in Surry Hills, will be contributing Murray cod on paperbark with pil-pil and dry-aged wagyu rump cap cooked over the coals, while chef Annita Potter from Thai fine diner Viand in Woolloomooloo will be grilling Southern Thai-spiced baby squid with cucumber relish. Also on the line-up will be Morgan McGlone from Bar Copains and Bessie’s, US-based chef Nyesha Arrington from Leona and Native in Los Angeles, and Good Food’s 2025 Chef of the Year, Paul Farag, from Middle Eastern restaurant Aalia.

Learn more about the connection between First Nations culture and fire at First Nations Nights, held Tuesday, June 10 and Wednesday, June 11, where Indigenous chefs will showcase traditional cooking techniques over fire pits and share their knowledge of native ingredients.

Vivid Chef Series

Nigella Lawson isn’t the only food personality in town. If you missed out on tickets to her exclusive dinner in the Muru Giligu Tunnel, you can still nab a spot to the Vivid Chef Series, featuring top London-based chefs James Lowe and Claude Bosi.

Away from the bright lights, Lowe, the chef-owner of Michelin-starred Lyle’s in London, will team up with Mat Lindsay at his Chippendale restaurant Ester on an eight-course tasting menu. The dinner will run from Tuesday, May 27, to Thursday, May 29, with tickets priced at $250 per person and an optional wine pairing for $150.

Stay close to the action at Eleven Barrack, where French chef Claude Bosi, from two Michelin-starred Brooklands by Claude Bosi in London, will join forces with chef Brent Savage from the Bentley Restaurant Group for a multi-course lunch and dinner, which will include a camembert souffle with black truffles and a duck liver choux au craquelin. Held from Tuesday, June 10, to Wednesday, June 11, the menu will blend modern French gastronomy with Australian ingredients. Tickets are priced at $185 for the four-course menu and $285 for the six.

Hollywood Quarter

The party will continue across town in Sydney’s Hollywood Quarter, a tiny precinct that borders Central, Darlinghurst and Surry Hills and surrounds the heritage-listed Hollywood Hotel. The vibrant hub will be a festival hotspot this year, and the home of new event series Hollywood Dreaming.

Hollywood Dreaming: A Taste of HQ will take over Foster Street on Saturday, May 31, with an all-out street party, featuring food and drinks from top spots in the area, including Firedoor, Gildas, Kiln, Poly, Butter, Tio’s Cerveceria and more, accompanied by live music and roving performances.

The final night of Vivid Sydney (Saturday, June 14) will feature another street party – this time on Foy Lane. Hollywood Dreaming: Foy Lane Lights Up will take over the small, curved laneway that connects Elizabeth Street and Goulburn Street with a digital art show curated by creative community platform Arts-Matter and featuring work by digital artist Mila Kudis. The boutique Ace Hotel, which backs onto the lane, will oversee snacks and live music.

Other events as part of Hollywood Dreaming include the Neon Trail, an illuminated display of movie titles and cinematic quotes, the Food Trail, a film-inspired selection of food and drink, and the Gig Trail, a program of live performances at Hollywood Hotel, Paramount House Hotel Rooftop and Butter. It happens May 23 to June 14.