Vivid Sydney turns the city into a competition for attention. Every venue within range of the light installations is trying to give people a reason to step inside, stay longer, and spend money. The ones that win aren't necessarily the ones with the best food or the most dramatic fit-out. They're the ones that give guests something to do, something to talk about, and something to remember.
Chin Chin Sydney understood that. What they built with Bearish across multiple nights of Vivid was a private dining experience that earned its place in the festival, not by borrowing the light show outside but by creating something equally vivid inside.
The Concept: Paint First, Then Eat
The format was clean and clever. Guests arrived for a private dining session built around Chin Chin's iconic set menu, but before the food hit the table, Bearish took the floor. Each guest received a Chin Chin Bunny canvas, the restaurant's signature character [note: confirm whether this was a custom canvas mould or a standard Bearish bear canvas customised with the Chin Chin Bunny design], and a palette loaded with neon drip paints chosen to match the electric energy of Vivid Sydney.
The painting came first. Bearish guides walked groups of 60 to 100 guests through the neon drip process, letting colour run, layer, and bleed across the bunny canvas in ways that felt genuinely psychedelic under the right light. Then, once every bunny was painted and set aside to dry, dinner began.
The sequencing mattered. Painting before eating meant guests arrived as strangers and sat down as a group that had already made something together. The shared experience before the meal changed the energy at the table, loosened the room, gave people something immediate to talk about with whoever was sitting next to them. By the time the first dish landed, the hard work of getting a room of unfamiliar people to relax had already been done.
Why This Format Works for Venues
Restaurants face a particular problem during major event periods like Vivid Sydney. The city fills with people who are already stimulated, already moving, already deciding in real time where to land for the night. A set menu and a table reservation is a fine offer. A set menu, a reservation, and a hands-on neon art experience tied to the venue's own brand identity is a different conversation entirely.
The Chin Chin Bunny was the key element that elevated this beyond a generic paint-and-dine concept. Using the restaurant's signature character as the canvas meant every finished piece was a piece of Chin Chin merchandise. Guests left with a neon bunny they painted themselves, a physical souvenir that ties directly back to the restaurant. That's a level of brand recall no printed matchbox or loyalty card comes close to matching.
For venue event coordinators thinking about how to program a busy festival season, that combination, proprietary character plus creative activation plus signature dining experience, is a replicable model. The specific details change with each venue; the logic holds everywhere.
Running Across Multiple Nights
Delivering a consistent, high-energy creative activation across multiple consecutive event nights requires reliable facilitation. The painting setup needs to work the same way on night five as it did on night one. The guide needs to read different rooms, different energy levels, different mixes of guests, and keep the experience landing properly every time.
Bearish handled full setup and pack-down each night, managed the painting session across groups of up to 100 guests, and ensured every canvas was properly labelled and ready for guests to collect at the end of the evening. Chin Chin's team ran the dining experience. Bearish ran the activation. The two operated in parallel without friction, which is exactly what a multi-night program needs.
Thinking About Activating Your Venue?
If you run a restaurant, bar, or event venue and you're looking for a way to make a booking feel like an experience worth seeking out, a Bearish activation is worth considering. Custom canvas options are available to incorporate your venue's branding or characters, and the format works across intimate private dining rooms and larger event spaces alike.
Get in touch to talk through what a Bearish dining activation could look like for your venue.
