Light up Lancaster returns for 2024

Light Up Lancaster invites audiences to explore this magical light-art trail throughout the city, discovering enchanting light-artworks and captivating installations in Lancaster’s streets and squares.

This year’s theme is The Art of Science, playfully exploring how art and science can be ‘creative twins’. From electron microscopes to a photograph of a black hole taken from a ‘virtual telescope’ science and art are often linked through the visual world.

This year festival artists have been having fun reflecting on how science can produce art, how art can shape science and, sometimes how it can be difficult to tell the two apart! Installations, located across Lancaster, include creative projection and video mapping, music and dance, and multiple magical illusions to deceive the eye and make you smile.

Take a LEAP at the Judges’ Lodgings, as beautiful projection, inventive storytelling and uplifting music carry you on a journey across the sky and into the future. Head to The Storey Gardens for The Matter of the Heart, an intimate and moving installation portraying the heartbeats of the city’s residents as they beat in unison in the darkness. Or visit the canal by the Water Witch where the stunning Monad, a giant water screen projection from Norway, captures beautifully the perpetual motion of the universe.

All the artworks and installations are free to view and suitable for families, and they will all be running on each of the Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. And for this year they’ll be open from 5pm right up until 10pm, giving you longer to explore, experience and enjoy the festival.

Plus there will be a tempting food market in Market Square, curated by Food Futures – the perfect opportunity to visit the festival after school or work and grab a bite to eat before exploring.

We will also be offering two British Sign Language interpreted tours of the artworks, on Saturday evening at 5pm and 7.30pm, led by specialist facilitator Martin Glover. We look forward to welcoming BSL users to join Martin’s tours to access the artworks and learn about the meanings and creative processes behind them. Please email hello@lightuplancaster.co.uk to find out more about these tours.

Plus – brand new for 2024! We are delighted to announce EXPLORE WEEK, taking place from the 21 – 25 October (Half Term); five days of free workshops will offer fun and exciting creative experiences and hands-on activities learning all about light, art and science! The workshops will be located in The Storey and have been coordinated together with the Engagement team at Lancaster University, with support from the University’s Impact Acceleration Account funding programme.

Details of the programme for both Explore Week and the main festival will be uploaded to the website in the coming days: www.lightuplancaster.co.uk