Bristol Light Festival Is Making A Return To Illuminate The City This March
Bristol will be all aglow this month with the return of the city's dazzling light festival.
After an unpredictable couple of years, it’s about time we got some brighter news. Luckily, this comes in the form of Bristol City centre BID bringing the long-anticipated and glowingly beautiful event, Bristol Light Festival, back this year.
The Bristol Light Festival will be bringing colour, light and play to city centre spaces with a series of commissions from local and internationally renowned artists this March. The incredible installations first came to Bristol in 2020, lighting up the city and leaving both Bristolians and visitors to the city in awe.
However, the much-loved festival is not only about bringing light to Bristol but it also allows local artists to showcase their work in some of the city’s most iconic places. This year the festival will feature six world premiere works from some of the best UK light artists, all making their Bristol debut at carefully selected locations across the city, including some unexpected spots.
There will be 14 installations across the city including some brand new commissions never seen before made especially for the show. These include light up musical swings that can be played on and music starts with the movement; a gigantic light up disco ball as high as a two story building; a giant sized illuminated slinky, slinking into the harbourside; and graffiti art projections beside a famous Banksy’s work of art.
Visitors can wander along several different routes from Cabot Circus to Park Street, via locations such as Castle Bridge, Temple Gardens, Queen Square, Harbourside, St George’s Bristol and the City Centre, discovering different installations along the way. The installations will shine from from March 1-6, 5pm-10pm every night during the festival. There will also be a selection of daylight and green energy installations, adding a new dimension to the event and the opportunity for those visiting and working in the city to experience some of the artworks throughout the day.
The event is once again organised by Bristol City Centre Business Improvement District (BID), working in partnership with Redcliffe and Temple BID, Arts Council England and Cabot Circus. It has been curated by the festival’s creative director, Katherine Jewkes.
The safety and wellbeing of visitors is a priority, and a series of COVID-19 safety requirements will be implemented including social distancing, hand sanitiser stations, the inclusion of artworks that can be viewed from a distance, and an increased event duration to spread visitor numbers across six days and evenings. Find out more information about the event and installations here.