By Laveena Francis

Light Night Leeds, which is claimed to be UK’s largest annual art and light festival, enchanted several hundreds of people, not only from the city but neighbouring towns as well, with their ‘art in dark’.

Various social media platforms flooded with pictures, videos and live streams creating a buzz as people couldn’t resist capturing the installations while watching the magic created with lights and sounds. 

For nearly two decades, Light Night Leeds has become a yearly October tradition. Spectacular artwork and performances by local, national, and international artists at the renowned indoor and outdoor spaces can be witnessed during the two day event.

Decked up in fairy lights, Ben Hawking who hails from Sheffield has been attending the light festival for nearly half a decade now. “Every year, they come up with something different. This year, the festival had a ‘future dreaming’ theme and it was really interesting,”  smiled the 50-year-old who covered the installations running and wanted to stand out in the dark.

As many as 56 installations at various locations divided into nine zones including- Millennium Square zone, Headrow zone, Briggate zone, Station zone, Wellington place zone, South Bank zone, SOYO Zone, University zone, and Outside the Centre zone.

Most of the installations and events started at 6:30pm until 10:30pm. International artists had installations such as Liquid Fire by Artist: TS/CN (France),  I wanna be loved / Everybody does by artist West University of Timisoara Faculty of Arts – Sculpture Department (Romania), Public Trust Artist: Paul Ramírez Jonas (USA), Harp Artist: Jonas Vorwerk (The Netherlands), Evanescent, by artist Atelier Sisu from Australia.

The Enchanted Glade, a set straight from a fairytale at the Park Square left everyone especially the kids spellbound.  “This is a presentation of the ancient forest of Leodis which existed before the city,” emphasized 14-year-old Keelie Robins who loved the fireflies and the moon besides the flowing flowers.

It was co-produced by the British Library and presented in partnership with the British Library.  The firefly field was supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Leeds 2023.  

Another visitor, Becki Whitelock was impressed by ‘Theatre of Illumination’ by director and designer Will Simpson, 3D artist Julien Lasson and composer Jinje  at the Leeds Civic Hall which showcased futuristic 3D optical illusions. “I’ve been attending a light festival for seven years now. My outlook towards this huge White Civic hall has changed entirely. I now see it as one of the most aesthetical canvas for such shows,” said Whitelock, who felt that the crowd was almost the same as pre-pandemic.

Many streets across the city centre glittered with stalls selling light and sound items including crowns, baubles etc which was one of the go-to places for kids. There were many food and drink stalls too for those hangry souls who had been walking  throughout the evening.

“I will not drink and stay sober”, ” I will love and Keep God first”, ” I will love my friends” were some of the many promises written on the colossal wall as many youngsters ensured making promises at the Public Trust by Paul Ramírez Jonas (USA) in The Light. They also took a copy of it as remembrance.

Although Leeds City Council provided free bus rides to cover the installations, most of the people, especially youngsters decided to cover various locations on foot, calling it a healthy practice.

“Walking to various indoor and outdoor spaces is fun especially when friends are tagged along,” chimed Rebecca Latz who had come from Bradford and covered the majority of the installations in one day along with her friends. The Evanescent, by artist Atelier Sisu from Australia was one of her most favourites as it reminded her of bubbles and thankfully she could touch them and take some selfies.

Besides the area in the city centre, local communities including Gipton, Harehills, Chapeltown and Meanwood also had beautiful installations. “I had never witnessed a light festival such as this. It’s certainly the best I have ever been to,” giggled NGuyen Hoang Le who came from Vietnam a couple of months back to pursue her masters.

She wasn’t the only one. Several other international students who had come to the city for the first time were mesmerized by the beauty of the light show. “Two days isn’t enough to cover all the installations owing to the short span of duration during the evenings,” sighed Karan Sharma from India.

In case you’ve missed it this year, you can gear up and brace yourself to cover all the installations next year as it will certainly be worth the wait.