Lumiere street art festival brings thousands to downtown Sydney

Downtown Sydney businesses are giving the annual Lumiere street art festival a positive review — at least for the most part.

The event brought thousands of people into the downtown on Saturday night.

Coffee shop Downtown Nutrition was one of the businesses that extended its hours, staying open until midnight.

Owner Wayne Miller says it was an amazing night. 

"My estimates are probably close to a thousand people walked through the store. And a lot of them were getting coffee. A lot of families, a lot of people that we've never seen before, and for us that's a great thing for us because we see them after the show. So it's great for business."

Louann MacDonald, of Louann's Cafe, says it made a difference to have a portion of Prince St. blocked off for the first time this year, as well as much of Charlotte Street.

"All the streets were blocked off, so that's what's nice. That people can walk around with their children holding hands, no worries."

She says business was good selling hot-dogs, cookies and hot chocolate out on the sidewalk.

But not everyone appreciated having the streets blocked off. The owner of Peking Restaurant complained that his customers were having trouble picking up their orders.

Saturday marked the fifth annual Lumiere festival. It included 47 installations created by artists from across the country.