Vivid Sydney, which will be staged this year from 23 May to 9 June 2014, is Australia’s major winter festival and a signature event on the Sydney and NSW Events Calendar, and is owned and managed by Destination NSW, the NSW Government’s tourism and major events agency.

“Last year more than 800,000 Sydneysiders and visitors from around Australia and overseas flocked to Sydney’s harbour and surrounds over 18 days and nights to experience Vivid Sydney’s world-class program of lighting art installations and projections (Vivid Light), music (Vivid Music) and creative ideas and events (Vivid Ideas),” Ms Chipchase said.

“With growing demand for the Vivid Ideas program, we are delighted that two world-class events, Semi-Permanent and The Good Design Festival, will now feature in the 2014 Vivid Ideas program, bringing global leaders in design, art and media to Sydney to participate in and experience a range of creative industry conferences, exhibitions and networking events.”

Both Semi-Permanent and The Good Design Festival are supported through funding by the NSW Government through Destination NSW. Semi-Permanent will take place exclusively as part of Vivid Sydney, meaning the only chance creative practitioners will have to experience this event in Australia will be at Carriageworks from 22 to 24 May.

The Good Design Festival which is one of the only forums for professional designers and manufacturers to showcase their design expertise to a national and international audience, will take place from 23 May to 9 June and feature the prestigious Good Design Awards Gala Night, formerly the Australian International Design Awards.

Vivid Sydney’s Creative Director, Ignatius Jones, said, “These two events and the Vivid Ideas program, which fall within the Vivid Sydney Festival, reinforce Sydney’s position as the creative hub of the Asia-Pacific region, with this year’s program sure to attract even more international creative industry leaders and professionals to NSW during winter.

“Vivid Sydney is a major international player in the creative industries events calendar, and we are looking forward to welcoming returning visitors and those experiencing Vivid Sydney and Vivid Ideas for the first time to the festival and to NSW.”

Ms Chipchase said the 2013 Vivid Ideas program featured more than 180 events with over 50,000 tickets sold.

“The Vivid Ideas program during Vivid Sydney is a unique platform for global creative industries to come together in a striking harbourside city to network, share ideas and do business,” she said.

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