Bristol Light Festival: Much-loved event set to return with new displays including mermaids in the harbour

Bristol Light Festival is almost upon us - with new installations announced including mythical mermaids in the harbour and artwork brought to life with sound.
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Bristol Light Festival is set return next month, illuminating the city centre with dazzling, interactive light installations. A further seven incredible installations have been revealed for this year’s event, featuring internationally renowned artists and some of the South West’s leading talent.

Bringing light, fun and colour to Bristol to brighten up the winter evenings, visitors can explore the light installations as they come to life, enjoying the city’s food, drink and hospitality offerings along the way. With a total of 11 installations now confirmed for the event, most of which have never been seen in Bristol along with brand-new commissions, this year’s festival will have “something for everyone,” say organisers.

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Vicky Lee, head of Bristol City Centre BID, said: “Bristol Light Festival demonstrates the importance of free-to-attend events to support city centre businesses encouraging people to spend leisure time in the city during the quieter months. The positive impact it has was evident earlier this year with £3.4m additional revenue in local businesses reported across the 2022 event, providing an economic boost for businesses when they need it most.”

Here are some of the installations that will form a captivating trail through Bristol city centre:

  • Internationally acclaimed artists Marcus Lyall, known for his award-winning stage visuals for The Chemical Brothers will bring interactive piece Scream the House Down - activated by sound of voice into a microphone, the artwork comes to life in line with sound.
  • “Sirens is a stunning, underwater projection that will bring mythical mermaids to Bristol harbour
  • Temple Church will be open for the installation of Continuum, 25 mirrored monoliths that create a maze of reflections in this historic location
  • Super-sized flowers will fill Cabot Circus with light and music, as people walk through the huge “Trumpet Flowers” garden
“Sirens” is a stunning, underwater projection that will bring mythical mermaids to Bristol harbour.“Sirens” is a stunning, underwater projection that will bring mythical mermaids to Bristol harbour.
“Sirens” is a stunning, underwater projection that will bring mythical mermaids to Bristol harbour.

When is Bristol Light Festival returning to the city?

Bristol Light Festival returns to the city from February 3 until February 12, running from 5pm until 10pm each night.

How to find your way around Bristol Light Festival

Visitors are encouraged to plan ahead for their visit to Bristol Light Festival, considering sustainable travel arrangements as well as places they may like to eat, drink or stay in the city. You can plan your journey using the event’s travel guide which includes special offers on rail and bus travel.

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Bristol Light Festival is also working with Guide.AI to create a free audio guide that visitors can use by downloading the Guide.AI app. The audio guide is easy to use and will be available in twelve languages including English, Mandarin, Spanish, German, French, Danish, Italian, Dutch, Japanese Polish, Hindi and Portuguese.

Internationally acclaimed artists Marcus Lyall, known for his award-winning stage visuals for The Chemical Brothers will bring interactive piece “Scream the House Down” - activated by sound of voice into a microphone, the artwork comes to life in line with sound.Internationally acclaimed artists Marcus Lyall, known for his award-winning stage visuals for The Chemical Brothers will bring interactive piece “Scream the House Down” - activated by sound of voice into a microphone, the artwork comes to life in line with sound.
Internationally acclaimed artists Marcus Lyall, known for his award-winning stage visuals for The Chemical Brothers will bring interactive piece “Scream the House Down” - activated by sound of voice into a microphone, the artwork comes to life in line with sound.

Users will see a map showing the locations of all the art installations and can then be used to get directions to the chosen art installation. Once at an installation the user can choose to either read or listen to the information.

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