Light Up Lancaster returns to mesmerise crowds once more, on a journey through the city’s squares and enchanting alleyways, creating an immersive world of light art installations and captivating performances of music, art, and dance. Due to its popularity, the festival is extending its usual two-day duration to a three-day spectacle, taking place from the 2nd – 4th of November from 5pm – 9pm.
A new addition this year will take place at Lancaster Market Square which will come alive with local street food stalls offering a wide range of hot food, cakes and drinks. Visitors can grab something to eat and drink from the stalls or surrounding shops, sit in a beautifully lit dining space and enjoy live music from local musicians throughout the night. Creating a community hub for LUL. The market is brought to us by LESS, a Lancaster-based charity.
Familiar locations return this year, with the ever-popular Castle Illuminations being created by Illuminos, who present; ‘The Great Cowcher’, promises projections that will capture the beauty, scale, imagination and fancifulness of the artists who embellished the Great Cowcher, more than 500 years ago.
Dalton Square will be lit by imitating the dog with their project ‘Dear Einstein’, In an elegy to a great scientific mind, they playfully ask some of the BIG questions about life’s ups and downs. Combining their trademark video design, an original score by James Hamilton and live performance with local singers.
St John’s church will feature an interactive, projected tempest – a hyper-real representation of bodies of water as a source of life, and the mysteries they hold within. Using a live generative particle system, the tempest will be reactive to the viewer’s presence, full of surprises, enchantment and encouraging playfulness as audiences move under the ‘curled clouds’ above. The third and final part of the company’s interactive ‘water’ trilogy, all supported and commissioned by Light Up Lancaster.
The Storey Gardens will feature a project called Firefly Field, a mesmerising light installation of numerous flying light points that stimulate the movements of these nocturnal Lampyridae. The ever-changing bioluminescence of each one is reflected in the grassy slope. On mass, they create a dynamic light scene that triggers visitors’ curiosity and awe.
With extended hours, running from 5 pm to 9 pm each night—almost double the duration from the previous year—visitors will have ample time to experience the brilliance and wonder of this one-of-a-kind festival.
Light Up Lancaster has captivated audiences since 2013, and thanks to generous funding from Arts Council England (ACE), Lancaster City Council, Lancaster BID, and several other esteemed contributors, promises to be an exceptional fusion of art, culture, and history, taking visitors on a luminous journey through the artistic interpretations of words and language as this year’s theme focuses on: The Art of Words.
We invite all to join in celebrating this remarkable expansion of one of Lancaster’s most cherished traditions.
For the full lineup of events visit: https://www.lightuplancaster.co.uk/
