Vivid Sydney has got to be one of the most popular and famous light festivals in Australia. Having now run for 13 years, this festival is all about creativity, innovation and technology. Each year, plenty of free exhibitions light up the city. From the yearly Lighting of the Sails, to 2022’s popular Ephemeral Ocean, there is always plenty of highlights. In 2023, a major source of contention has been the number of paid experiences offered as part of Vivid Sydney. Historically, the most popular exhibitions have been free. One such experience is Dark Spectrum, set in the abandoned tunnels of Wynyard Station. This experience has been very heavily advertised, and appears to be a great drawcard to the festival. That is, except for its cost and potential crowds. In this post, I will be sharing my experience at Dark Spectrum in 2023, including whether I think it is worth the visit.
What is Dark Spectrum?
Dark Spectrum is a series of light displays set beneath Sydney in the abandoned tunnels of Wynyard Station. It’s first instalment was in 2023, appearing as part of the Vivid Sydney program. It will be returning to Wynyard tunnels in 2024, as well as touring globally in the future. A combination of lighting technology, electronic dance music, and robotics bring this underground world to life.
Visitors walk through a series of eight underground “rooms”, each with its own theme. In 2023, some rooms were based around colour; REFLECTION featured green lasers and felt like something out of The Matrix. Meanwhile, INTERACTION starred beautiful pink and purple flower-like bulbs. Other rooms, like UNFAMILIAR, placed more emphasis on robotics. In the case of PRESSURE, the focus was on the architecture of the tunnels themselves. Each room has its own soundtrack accompanying it, which lasts around five minutes. In between each “session”, a calmer track plays to signify to visitors that it is time to move on to the next section (where applicable). Movement to the next room on cue is not required, in fact, I would suggest against it for most rooms! However, some of the exhibits (like UNFAMILIAR) are best watched from start to finish.
Things I loved about Dark Spectrum
I personally really enjoyed my visit to Dark Spectrum and think it is worth a visit! I thought it was great fun wandering through the underground tunnels of Wynyard Station while admiring some pretty impressive light displays. You never know what you are going to experience next! The music was also super catchy! Each room is so completely different and yet beautiful in its own way. My personal favourites were REFLECTION with its bright green lasers, the seemingly never-ending tunnel that was PRESSURE, and the gorgeous pink hues of INTERACTION. I also loved walking through the final rainbow-lit tunnel (REVELATION) all the way to the exit. The way you are fully immersed in the underground word is quite incredible. It almost seems weird to re-enter the real world at The Rocks and find it is daytime (in my case, anyway)!
Cons of Dark Spectrum
Whilst overall I really enjoyed my Dark Spectrum experience, there are a few significant cons you need to consider before you visit. The main ones are the cost and the crowds, which I will discuss below. However it is also worth noting that you don’t get much of an “abandoned tunnel” vibe as advertised. Six out of the eight rooms are set in what are very obviously carparks. Only PRESSURE and UNSEEN (rooms three and four) truly appear to be old railway tunnels. So if you are attending only in hopes of exploring “abandoned railway tunnels”, this may not be the experience for you.
Cost
The major drawback of Dark Spectrum is its cost. Given much of the Vivid Sydney festival is free, to be expected to fork out between $35 and $45 AUD (plus ticketek handling fees) for an adult seems a little excessive. I must admit, I do somewhat agree with this stance. As much as Dark Spectrum was great fun and an exciting experience, I’m not sure it is worth that amount of money. Especially if you are bringing the whole family! Tickets for a family of four start at $98 AUD with additional child tickets starting at $24 AUD.
However, there are ways to keep the cost down when planning your visit to Dark Spectrum. I suggest booking at least 24 hours in advance. Booking day of will cause you to incur an additional $5 AUD fee. This is how I ended up paying $45 as opposed to the advertised $40 AUD. If possible, it is also worth booking a session outside peak times. These are available on weekdays (Monday to Thursday during Vivid, and on Wednesday and Thursday until 16 July) before 4pm. During off-peak times adult tickets cost $35 AUD plus handling fees. It may be possible to avoid paying handling fees by buying tickets on location. However, I doubt this is worthwhile due to the additional cost of same-day tickets. There is also no guarantee session tickets will be available.
Crowds
Depending on what time you go, odds are you are going to have to deal with fairly large-sized crowds. At the beginning of your journey, all visitors must watch a safety video (or part of a safety video, anyway – I only caught the end). This means that a large group of people will all move through to the first room together. The first room, SEPARATION, is tightly controlled. Doors in and out are closed and you must watch the full five minute presentation. This means you are stuck with that initial crowd at least for the meantime. The first room is also the smallest by far, so any crowd feels rather large.
Once beyond the first room, you are free to move through as quickly or slowly as you choose. This worked pretty well in my favour, as by taking my time I was able to get some great photos without anyone else around. Having said that, eventually the next group would catch up to me and I would be surrounded by people again.
Another bottleneck moment is the sixth room, UNFAMILIAR. This section could barely be considered a “room”; it seemed to be more like an exhibition thrown in between two larger rooms to fill space and meet the robots quota. The robots take up more than half of the tunnel with only a narrow space remaining for visitors to stand. They squash in as many people as possible into each presentation. So unless you’re lucky and end up on the end like me, expect to be squashed in like sardines.
When is the best time to experience Dark Spectrum?
Something I didn’t realise when I was planning my trip to Vivid Sydney is that you can actually experience Dark Spectrum during the day! The first session each day is at 12pm and sessions are offered every 15 minutes with the last entry at 9:15pm. I booked the 1pm session on a Sunday, and in the grand scheme of things there was hardly anyone there. I barely had to line up at all; only to get my backpack checked at security. The previous day, I arrived at Wynyard Station at around 4:30pm and noticed a constant stream of people heading into the tunnels’ entrance. There is also a long, looping pathway you need to follow outside; from initial ticket screening, through bag checks and getting your hand stamped (and checked about three times), before finally entering the safety briefing room. This implies the possibility of significant crowd numbers.
The beauty of visiting Dark Spectrum during the day isn’t limited to the reduced crowds. It allows you to use your time in the evening to explore other parts of the Vivid Sydney light walk! I wanted to experience Circular Quay, Barangaroo and Darling Harbour in one night, which required some planning. To add Dark Spectrum to that list would be very difficult! So booking a day time Dark Spectrum ticket allowed me to experience all of this and more. If you’re looking for ideas to explore in Sydney, you can check out my 48 hour guide here!
So is Dark Spectrum worth it?
Overall, I really enjoyed visiting Dark Spectrum and would say it is worth it for individuals or a group of friends. However, I don’t really think it is worth the cost for families. Especially considering children under the age of five cannot attend. There are plenty of other free, interactive experiences elsewhere in the Vivid Sydney program. Whilst there is obviously some significant cons to the event, by following the tips above, you can really make the most of your experience!