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A spectaclar line up of light projections, installations and events is set to light up the Pitt Street Mall for the 2014 holiday season as part of the Sydney Christmas festival. A magical Christmas Light Forest installation is captivating shoppers with a virtual forest of ‘trees’ in spectacular changing colours. Created by using thousands of special LED lights, the tree canopy is suspended along the length of the mall and appears to float and undulate as if by magic. In line with recent international trends towards more interactive experiences, this event also offers the opportunity for crowd participation with a free smartphone app allowing users to play with the sequence of colours for some free holiday fun and then share their experiences with the hashtag #sydxmas.

In another first for 2014, dazzling new digital light projections will transform the facades of buildings after dark at the Pitt Street Mall’s King Street entrance into spectacular vivid dreamscapes. This is a new addition to the City of Sydney’s Christmas Projections which also includes the dramatic projections on the Town Hall façade and likewise should become an unmissable highlight of the festival. Another ‘must see’ at the Mall this year is the spectaclular LEGO Christmas tree in front of Westfields, built completely from LEGO bricks with its own Santa and Sleigh, it will also feature a nightly lightshow set to all your favourite carols from 8pm onwards. Setting a record for the largest LEGO Christmas tree in the Southern Hemisphere, it’s a marvel to behold and sure to delight the kids as well as the kid in all of us. To bring even more Christmas cheer to holiday shoppers, there will also be Carols at the Pitt Street Mall every Thursday evening  with a schedule of groups performing between 6-8pm.

Many more light installations, decorations and events are planned to illuminate the streets of the city centre as part of this year’s Sydney Christmas festival series of events. This season sees the return of the popular Martin Place Christmas Tree which is also encouraging participation with a new jump-on interactive dance pad that can change the tree’s colours. You can also interact with it by sending messages by text to 0427840851 or #sydxmastree that will then appear on the tree’s branches for everyone to see. Also at Martin Place, a new ‘Street Light Disco’ transforms the promendade with shimmering banners creating a mirror ball effect of sparkling light. This new initiative has been developed through Art & About Sydney as a joint initiative by City of Sydney and Office Feuerman design to jazz up the festive atmosphere so there’s never been a better excuse to get into the season’s spirit. With all these events and attractions within walking distance, why not make a night of it?

The festival is being produced by the experienced event team at Sydney of City, who are also responsible for producing such successful and popular events such as Sydney’s New Year’s Eve and Chinese New Year festivals with the talented Gil Minervini as its creative director. Minervini has announced the overiding theme for the City’s Christmas decorations and events to be the Christmas Tree, “the evergreen symbol of celebration, life and giving.” This theme will be developed over the next three years to transform a different area of the City each year and form a cohesive narrative for the events. As a result, this evolving festival of light and celebration seems destined to grow in popularity in line with the City’s other succesful events and perhaps become as iconic as making the annual pilgrimage to see the Christmas window displays once was.