Bristol Light Festival looks to return to the city for ten unmissable nights next year (February 19 to 28, 2026)—with the first few days to coincide with school half-term, allowing families more time to explore the free installations together. In anticipation, the first two large-scale artworks from acclaimed Liz West have been announced.
Known for her immersive light sculptures and chromatic environments, the British visual artist will headline two installations at Cabot Circus—transforming its multi-storey car park into a vast, reflective, colour-saturated spectacle. And it’s just the start of what looks to be Bristol Light Festival’s most ambitious year yet.
Tell me about the artworks at Bristol Light Festival 2026…
Liz West’s acclaimed installation ‘Our Colour Reflection’ will take over Level 7 of the Cabot Circus car park and turn it into a shimmering spectacle. Over 765 mirrored acrylic discs, in 15 vivid hues and arranged at different heights, will form a reflective landscape that bathes visitors in shifting light, echoing colour across concrete and steel.
If that wasn’t enough, Liz’s second installation, ‘Our Colour’, returns to the city for the first time since its 2016 premiere at Bristol Biennial—this time twice the size. Using coloured theatre gels, the installation saturates the space in a radiant spectrum of shifting hues, inviting audiences to walk through colour as if it were tangible.
“These works invite people to experience colour not just visually, but physically and emotionally,” said Liz West. “By playing with light, material and space, I want to transform the everyday into something vivid, reflective and full of discovery.”
Elsewhere, the world-renowned hot air balloon manufacturers, Cameron Balloons, will light up College Green with a brand-new interactive installation, The Lite Series, that celebrates Bristol’s ballooning heritage. You’re invited to fire up a cluster of illuminated hot air balloons by pulling a simple cord, triggering a burst of colour and a resonant whoosh inspired by a real burner.
What more do I need to know?
In its 6th year, Bristol Light Festival will span a wider range of the city—including Redcliffe, Cabot Circus, Park Street, Spike Island and Portland Square—thanks to the newly unified Bristol BID. The 2026 edition will also feature a more participatory and interactive programme, encouraging more Bristol venues to get involved with their own accompanying events.
Anna Farthing, Interim Head of Place at Bristol BID, said: “Bristol Light Festival is a powerful example of how culture can support placemaking and drive economic vitality. By extending footfall across a wider area of the city centre, the festival benefits hundreds of local businesses while creating a welcoming, vibrant environment for residents and visitors alike.”
The full Bristol Light Festival programme will be announced in early 2026.