LIGHTBULB MOMENTS Well, this is exciting: a new Bristol festival designed to brighten the dark, cold last weekend of February. What’s it all about, and where’s it to, then? (PS score one point every time you read the word ‘immersive’…)
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he idea behind the Bristol Light Festival was to introduce light, colour and fun into the coldest, dreariest time of year. It’s brought to you by the team at Bristol City Centre BID, working with local creatives Katherine Jewkes and Vashti Waite. “Our aim was to create a new cultural experience for the city, while inspiring people to explore and enjoy different areas of Bristol to which they might not normally venture on a cold February evening,” says the BID’s project manager, Vicky Lee. “The installations have been carefully
34 I BRISTOL LIFE I www.mediaclash.co.uk
positioned to encourage visitors to navigate the city along routes which support local, independent businesses at a notoriously quiet time of the year. “It’s taken us two years to develop plans for the festival, which is Intended to embody the playful and creative spirit of the city. Our ambition is to continue to grow it, in both size and duration, over the next couple of years.” Set across the city centre over four days, the festival launches with a preview evening on 27 February, allowing everyone to experience the installations for the first time. They’ll light up from 5-11 pm, giving you the whole evening to follow the trail through the city, taking you down streets
and along paths which you might not usually travel. Be ready to interact and play with some of the pieces; they are there to create a fun and fresh new experience. There are eight locations, each with its own site-specific installation. You can track them through several different routes, but the suggested trail starts in Quakers Friars and leads through Castle Park, the city centre, up and down Park Street, Millennium Square, Harbourside and Queen Square. Oh, and it’s all free; as are the guided tours, bookable through the website below. Bristol Light Festival runs 27 Feb-1 March www.bristollightfestival.org
