We all enjoyed White Night, the nightlong celebration of arts and entertainment which took over the Melbourne CBD last weekend to some rave reviews, but while we were busy enjoying music in some of Melbourne’s most unconventional venues and extravagant light installations, we were all getting trolled… by Sydney.
As the Daily Telegraph reports, Sydney’s own light festival, Vivid, infiltrated Melbourne’s party night to advertise the harbour’s 18-night long program of light installations, holograms, laser shows, art, and a word-class music lineup, which this year will be headlined by former Smiths frontman Morrissey.
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Sitting high above the CBD, on the roof of the Prince’s Bridge Hotel pub on the corner of Flinders and Swanson, Vivid organisers took over the electronic billboard that local residents know for regularly featuring upcoming attractions on Foxtel and Telstra ads to spruik the “Australian event of the year”.
Not content with enflaming interstate rivalries by simply advertising their competing event in one of the city’s most iconic blocks, the billboard questioned, “Why have 1 night when you can have 18?” alongside an image of the Sydney Opera House illuminated with variegated colours.
However, the ad did little to detract from the enjoyment of punters, who were treated to a new, streamlined White Night, which saw less congestion in the CBD than in previous years. However, as Tone Deaf previously reported, it hasn’t yet inspired the state government to commit to funding the event in 2016.
When asked on Sunday, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews would not commit to funding the event beyond the previous government’s initial three-year allocation. “I think this event’s got a big future and we’ll have more to say about it soon,” he told reporters, saying that he would be looking “very closely” at the event’s funding.
