We present the VISTA-CFHT Stripe 82 (VICS82) survey: a near-infrared (J+K-s) survey covering 150 square degrees of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) equatorial Stripe 82 to an average depth of J = 21.9 AB mag and K-s = 21.4 AB mag (80% completeness limits; 5s point-source depths are approximately 0.5 mag brighter). VICS82 contributes to the growing legacy of multiwavelength data in the Stripe 82 footprint. The addition of near-infrared photometry to the existing SDSS Stripe 82 coadd ugriz photometry reduces the scatter in stellar mass estimates to d log(M-star) approximate to 0.3 dex for galaxies withM 109 M-star > 10(9) at z approximate to 0.5, and offers improvement compared to optical-only estimates out to z similar to 1, with stellar masses constrained within a factor of approximately 2.5. When combined with other multiwavelength imaging of the Stripe, including moderate-to-deep ultraviolet (GALEX), optical and mid-infrared (Spitzer-IRAC) coverage, as well as tens of thousands of spectroscopic redshifts, VICS82 gives access to approximately 0.5 Gpc(3) of comoving volume. Some of the main science drivers of VICS82 include (a) measuring the stellar mass function of L-star galaxies out to z similar to 1; (b) detecting intermediate-redshift quasars at 2 less than or similar to z less than or similar to 3.5; (c) measuring the stellar mass function and baryon census of clusters of galaxies, and (d) performing cross-correlation experiments of cosmic microwave background lensing in the. optical/near-infrared that. link. stellar mass to large-scale dark matter structure. Here we define and describe the survey, highlight some early science results, and present the first public data release, which includes an SDSS-matched catalog as well as the calibrated pixel data themselves.