Vivid Sydney, the largest light and music festival in the Southern Hemisphere, is on with new events and large-scale urban lighting never seen before in Sydney.

New South Wales Minister for Tourism Jodi McKay said Vivid Sydney is a major celebration of Australia's only global city between May 27 and June 21.

"The sails of the iconic Sydney Opera House will be illuminated with a stunning light art design by Vivid Live co-curator and internationally acclaimed performance artist, Laurie Anderson," Ms McKay said.

"Vivid Live, the centrepiece of the festival, is being curated by Laurie Anderson and legendary US rock musician Lou Reed.

"Sydney's Macquarie Street, the site of Australia's first Parliament, will also be brought to life with large-scale light installations and projections," Ms McKay said.

"Throughout Vivid Sydney there will be 30 different live street performances including fire dancers, stilt walkers, illuminated entertainers and more."

Ms McKay said Vivid positions Sydney as the major creative hub in the Asia-Pacific region, putting the spotlight on the diverse talent of Sydney's creative industries.

"Vivid Sydney includes Vivid Live at Sydney Opera House, Macquarie Visions, Fire Water, Creative Sydney, X Media Lab and the Song Summit. Last year images of the illuminated Sydney Opera House sails were seen by more than 60 million people in 200 countries." Ms McKay said Vivid Sydney is being heavily promoted in Australia and around the world in a bid to break last year's record turn-out of more than 200,000 visitors attending 187 events.

"We want to go bigger, better and beyond the fantastic results achieved from last year's Vivid Sydney," Ms McKay said. Vivid Sydney was developed by the NSW Government in partnership with the City of Sydney and Sydney Opera House.