Vivid Sydney returns this June to light up the city for its 15th year, with a program that includes celebrity chef Nigella Lawson and Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós. This year's light walk — the free projections and installations across the city — will feature a host of prominent Australian artists, including the works of late Australian artist and queer activist David McDiarmid. Named after one of McDiarmid's most enduring works, Kiss of Light will feature animated versions of his colourful paintings and designs across the Opera House's sails. McDiarmid died in 1995, at the age of 42, from an AIDS-related illness. A former artistic director of Sydney's Mardi Gras (1988-90), he was celebrated in his first major retrospective almost 20 years later, in 2014, at the National Gallery of Victoria. Fashion designers Romance Was Born will take over the facade of Customs House, and Vincent Namatjira will light up the Museum of Contemporary Art with his work King Dingo (which shares a name with the artist's 2024 Sydney exhibition). Western Aranda artist Namatjira made headlines in 2024 after it was reported Gina Rinehart had requested the removal of Namatjira's portrait of her from the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra. The portrait appeared as part of the artist's work Australia in Colour, which also featured other prominent figures like Cathy Freeman and Scott Morrison. Responding to the controversy in May, the artist said: "I paint the world as I see it." Additional light installations include voice-activated animation, a tennis match with light, and the chance for audiences to design their own projection onto a clock tower in The Rocks. On the music side, Sigur Rós lead the Sydney Opera House's slate of Vivid Live gigs, performing with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra as part of a national tour backed by local orchestras. British singer Anohni (and her band The Johnsons) will also return to the Opera House for exclusive Australian performances off the back of their last celebrated album, My Back was a Bridge for You to Cross. They last headlined Vivid Live in 2016. Elsewhere, there will be gigs from German electronic band Tangerine Dream, Australian house producer Mall Grab, Papua New Guinean musician Ngaiire and surf rockers Skegss, Yorta Yorta, Djadja Wurrung, Kalkadoon and Yirendali rapper Miss Kaninna — plus 10th anniversary parties for both rapper Briggs's label, Bad Apples, and DJ Nina Las Vegas's label, NLV Records. Vivid's music line-up also shares some artists with Melbourne festival Rising, announced earlier today. These include the first Australian shows from Portishead's Beth Gibbons since she released her debut solo album, Lives Outgrown, last year; indie pop band Japanese Breakfast; grunge act Soccer Mommy; and Kiwi singer-songwriter Marlon Williams, whose album written in Māori language, Te Whare Tīwekaweka, is due for release next month. There's also a free music program at Darling Harbour, featuring local acts like Winston Surfshirt and Ayesha Madon (perhaps best-known as a star of Netflix's Heartbreak High), and internationals like Prince's one-time bass player, Monoamine. Nigella Lawson leads the food line-up, curating three dinners in events taking over the Sydney Metro's pedestrian tunnels in Martin Place. The final part of any Vivid Sydney is the Ideas program, which has run since 2012. The creative director of Time Magazine, D.W. Pine, will be appearing to ask: "Where do ideas come from?" And scientist Professor Matthew Walker will tell us why we sleep. There will also be an immersive Stranger Things experience at Luna Park. These events are joined by the Firetalk series at Barangaroo, focusing on First Nations storytelling, and a new work from physical-theatre company Legs on the Wall, titled Endling. You may remember Legs on the Wall from the 2022 Sydney Festival, where a dancer performed over three days on a melting block of ice, suspended 20 metres above Sydney Harbour. Vivid Sydney runs from May 23 to June 14.