Could you run Vivid Sydney? Now's your chance as they're looking for a new Festival Director

Destination NSW has announced that Gill Minervini will complete her final tenure as Vivid Sydney Festival Director.
Vivid Sydney has soared to new heights and smashed records at under Minervini‘s leadership.
The festival returns from May 23 until June 14 this year.
READ MORE: Vivid Sydney’s 15th anniversary program has Nigella Lawson and mostly free events

Vivid Sydney is a highlight of New South Wales’s cultural calendar, attracting visitors from across NSW, Australia and beyond. The 2024 festival saw around 142,000 people attend the opening night—the largest attendance on record—while the last Sunday of last year’s event welcomed the most attendees ever recorded in a single night.

That’s just one of the many records Vivid Sydney has broken while under the leadership of Gill Minervini, the Festival Director.

After injecting more than $180 million into the NSW visitor economy last year alone too, the festival scooped the Best Cultural, Arts or Music Event award at the 2024 Australian Event Awards.

With all these accolades and more, and as Sydney warms up for the 15th anniversary edition of Vivid Sydney, Minervini has announced this will be the final festival she will lead as Festival Director.

Gill Minervini steps down as Vivid Sydney Festival Director

Gill is one of the country’s leading creative directors and has helmed many landmark events, including Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. So her appointment as Festival Director of Vivid Sydney in 2021 came as little surprise.

Year on year, the festival has grown under her leadership. Speaking in 2023, after a record-breaking year, Minervini said: “After COVID-19, we proudly raised the bar in 2022 growing the festival’s attendance by 7%. This year we surpassed those figures. I’m still pinching myself.”

The launch of Vivid Food and Vivid Fire Kitchen at Vivid Sydney 2023 was one of the many successes of Minervini’s tenureship, and we’re sure that this year’s entirely free Light Walk will be yet another.

*Gill Minervini, Vivid Sydney Festival Director. Image Destination NSW.*

Inclusion and diversity have been central to Gill’s creative approach too. “I’m proud to say that Vivid Sydney has always, but especially over the last four years, has demonstrated a real commitment to [artistic inclusivity]—from First Nations work to queer work and multicultural work, to improving accessibility for people living with disabilities,” she says.

“It makes for a much richer, holistic experience, and I’ve been really heartened by the incredibly positive response it has received.”

Visitors to the festival this year can enjoy a unique culinary experience at the Native Food Experience, lead by chef Vanessa Harcourt and First Nations chef Dwayne Bannon-Harrison at NSW Parliament House.

Announcing her upcoming departure, Destination NSW shared a heartfelt thanks, saying “Her legacy will be felt long after the final light fades.”

What’s next for Vivid Sydney?

This year’s program looks even bigger and better than ever before. They’ve expanded to include Martin Place for the first time since 2018, international chef Nigella Lawson is hosting three exclusive dinners and Vivid Music events will take place in new venues including City Recital Hall and Metro Theatre.

And these are just the first announcements we’ve had. Speaking to PR Manager James Toovey, he shared that the Vivid Sydney team have a few more surprises up their sleeves…

Announcing her departure amid the festival’s record-breaking attendance numbers, soaring popularity and 15th anniversary celebrations, this year feels like a neat ending to Minervini’s four-year tenureship. But who will step up to job and continue the course of growth and success that Minervini has set Vivid Sydney on?

Could you fill Gill’s metaphorically large shoes and take Vivid Sydney to even higher heights? Well now’s your chance as they are officially advertising the role.