1999

2000 marked the year the city would host the Olympic Games, but prior to that, Sydney Festival put on its own spectacular show. As part of the Festival, internationally renowned Australian designer Marc Newson was commissioned to create a celebratory lighting scheme for the Sydney Opera House. The first of these, Sunset, was projected during the Festival, and the other three during the Olympic Arts Festival later in the year.

With new director Leo Schofield preparing his first Sydney Festival program, plenty of new exciting ventures were undertaken in 1998. Open Air Cinema had its first series of screenings on the Fleet Steps, at Mrs Macquarie’s Point, Royal Botanic Gardens and The Domain.