Daniel Johns, Matthew Weiner and a gigantic illuminated pig are among the highlights of a notably male-dominated line-up for Vivid Sydney 2015, as the winter arts festival continues its outward sprawl across the city.

The former Silverchair frontman will give the live premiere of his new Aerial Love solo EP, while the Mad Men creator and writer / producer of The Sopranos will join Monocle founder Tyler Brûlé as part of the Vivid talks game-changer series.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge and foreshore remains the focus of the 10-day festival in June, with British design studio Universal Everything, best known for creating Radiohead’s Polyfauna app, taking on the annual lighting of Sydney Opera House sails with a series of animated artwork projections. For the first time, the program will expand north to Chatswood, with a marine-inspired LED light walk, and into the inner west with a silent disco and night markets at the Central Park building on Broadway.

The Vivid Live music program will be a tight curation of Sydney-only performances. Headliner Morrissey has already created a stir for taking meat off the Opera House menu during his four day residency, tickets for which have already sold out. Other main stage attractions include singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens showcasing his new album and songwriter Bill Callahan.

Buzz centres around Sydney label Future Classic, which will throw a dance party on the rarely-used northern forecourt of the Opera House, headlined by Flume in his only 2015 Australian show, and also featuring Flight Facilities and Seekae. The Preatures, The Drones and US indie act TV on the Radio will also perform inside the Opera House.

The festival’s wider music program spreads across the city to new venues Oxford Art Factory, Goodgod Small Club, The Basement and Marrickville’s Factory Theatre, for eclectic one-off performances. The Powerhouse museum hosts all eight past and present members of 80s band Hoodoo Gurus as they regroup for a one-night only performance and Modular Records once again partners with Carriageworks for a series of club nights.

The festival’s most visible element, Vivid Light, will see 140 artists working on 60 light installations across the city. Last year’s popular illuminated bunnies at Dawes Point will be superseded by Entitle, an oversized rococo pig with a belly full of light, while a neon installation will brighten up Martin Place.

The lack of women performers or speakers across the 2015 Vivid program has drawn comment online.

Organisers responded to Guardian Australia, saying further acts are still to be announced.

“Vivid is not curated to within an inch of its life – people come to us,” said Ignatius Jones, creative director of the festival, pointing to the female artists behind the 2015 light installations, Affinity, Dolly and The Dresses. “We don’t have a policy that says that you must have as many women as you have men,” he added.

Also absent from the launch announcement was the much touted David Byrne and Fatboy Slim musical about Imelda Marcos, Here Lies Love, a hit in New York and London and set to play in a purpose-built Barangaroo venue during Vivid. The Sydney run was postponed in January due to “unforeseen acoustical engineering” issues.

Vivid Sydney runs at venues citywide from 22 May to 8 June

• This article was amended on 18 March to correct a reference to Sydney as capital city, and to reflect that Matthew Weiner was a writer and producer of The Sopranos, not the show’s creator.