Vivid Sydney outraged many by charging for the botanic garden. But is the show worth it?

A family ticket for Vivid’s botanic garden displays will set you back $128 – a huge amount for most, even without the transport and food. Photograph: Chester See

It seemed a brave decision for Vivid Sydney to start charging for entry to the Sydney Royal Botanic Garden in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.

Talkback radio callers were irate, the Daily Mail called it “obscene”, Sydney’s lord mayor, Clover Moore, called it “mean”, and the new Labor government blamed the previous Coalition government and promised to look into it. It does cost enough to be a non-starter for a lot of people: a family ticket will set you back $128 (two adults, two children), an adult ticket is $40 and children (three to 12 years) are $28.