What else is at Vivid?

The ideas part of the programme is wide-ranging, from a talk by Orange is the New Black creator Jenji Kohan, to brainstorming sessions for business owners looking to go global, to a lesson on how to fold a paper lamp.

The event ‘‘Killer Clothes: How to Stand Up To Fast Fashion’’, which I attended, featured Cue brand manager Kate Bielenberg, Patagonia Australia general manager Dane O’Shanassy, designer Celeste Tesoriero, and University of Sydney law lecturer Sacha Callaghan, who have all come to the same depressing conclusion in different ways.

Over the course of two hours they explained exactly why you should be suspicious of that $10 T-shirt on the sale rack, because while it may not cost you much, it is most likely costing the makers a lot — in poor working conditions and environmental damage, for starters.

The music on offer at Vivid is similarly varied. I went to New Order; the man sitting next to me on the plane told me he was catching an up-and-coming double bass-player.

In its three-week run, Vivid offers 1500 hours of musical programming, including DJ-led dance parties, hip hop at Luna Park, and the silent disco at Central Park, a popular return from last year. Two DJs stand in a booth lit up to look like an oldschool boom box while a crowd of headphone-wearing dancers bounce around in a picket-fence enclosure.

If you wonder why they don’t appear to be dancing in time, it’s because there are three different music channels for them to choose from.

While you are in Sydney, consider visiting the Museum of Contemporary Art (great cafe, great bookshop, great views of the harbour and, of course, some