Light Up Wakefield returns

Wakefield Council is excited to announce the full line-up for this year’s Light Up Wakefield from Friday 21 to Sunday 23 November.

This year’s light art trail is bigger than ever before with fun, unique and interactive elements allowing visitors to take direct part in the different installations.

The light switch-on will take place on Friday 21 November at 5.30pm on the Cathedral Precinct, with lead-up entertainment starting at 4pm.

Discover the different installations across the city centre:

• ‘Let’s Draw’ by Maxime Touroute (County Hall) - discover Let’s Draw, an artistic experience where you become the creator of a monumental mural. Armed with your phone, join us to draw live on building façades alongside dozens of fellow participants.  
• ‘Interactive Gaming’ by Light Art Creatives (opposite Wakefield Cathedral) - using the latest projection mapping and digital gaming technology, Light Art Creatives are converting a local building into an interactive gaming platform. Come and have a go.
• ‘Ship of the Gods’ by Heinrich and Palmer (The Shed, WX) - using 3D laser scanning technology, film, sound and lighting effects, Ship of the Gods is inspired by the Norse myth of Skidbladnir, a magical shape-shifting vessel. Ship of the Gods created by artists Heinrich & Palmer was originally commissioned by Absolutely Cultured.
• ‘Rhythm of Rhubarb’ by Phantom Production Design (The Bull Ring) - ‘Rhythm of Rhubarb’ is an immersive light and sound installation comprised of a sculptural garden of towering, illuminated rhubarb stalks inspired by Wakefield’s iconic Rhubarb Triangle. Talk and clap and watch the stalks react.
• ‘Marbles’ by Gertjan Adema (Coronation Gardens) - ‘Marbles’ is a giant and rotating marble run that plays with the exchange and connection between inner growth and outer expression, providing an enchanting interplay of geometry, movement, light and sound. 
• ‘Wandering’ by Amelia Kominsky (The Factory, WX) - using photographs of Wakefield buildings, people and transport, ‘Wandering’ reflects on the district’s relationship to nature as the past heavy industry of coal mines and canals gives way to a gentler more rural future.
• ‘Rever’ by Outpoint Studio (Cathedral Precinct) - ‘Rever’, meaning ‘to dream’, is an immersive audio-visual piece utilising lighting equipment typically found on stage, inviting you on a journey into dreamscapes and into the realm of the subconscious mind.  
• ‘The Public Dream’ by Emma Bolland (The Art House) - ‘The Public Dream’ is a poetic installation of drawing, light, and text. Developed during a two-week experimental residency at The Art House, this work invites audiences into an evolving space where dreams, archives, and speculative futures converge. 
• ‘The Relic of Mirchwood Forest’ by Laura Spark (Wood Street) - here reside the last living ferns of Mirchwood; an ancient mythical forest driven to extinction purely by being forgotten. The Relic acts as both a celebration and a warning - to never take nature’s irreplaceable magic for granted.  

There will also be a few surprises along the way so keep an eye out on your light art trail adventure.

Event partners Trinity Walk, Wakefield Library, The Art House and The Hepworth will also host festive activities including crafts, Santa’s Grotto, face painting and much more.

For more information about Light Up Wakefield, please visit
expwake.co/LightUpWakefield