Bristol Light Festival to return to the city in 2023 - dates, locations and features

Bristol Light Festival is returning in 2023, with interactive and captivating light installations creating a trail through the centre of Bristol from February 3-12.

The award-winning event will span ten days to include two weekends, making it the longest edition to date. Showcasing a collection of local, national and internationally-renowned light artists and featuring up to ten light installations, visitors will be able to wander and explore the city’s streets to see the light artworks come to life.

Across the evenings from dusk till 10pm, the installations will shine a light in a few unexpected places as well as illuminating some of Bristol’s most iconic landmarks across the city.

The organisers have announced a selection of confirmed content for next year’s event, with more still to be revealed. There will be a new commission by internationally acclaimed artist Morag Myerscough. Myerscough’s brightly coloured, bold and eye-catching pieces have been displayed around the world and she is creating a bespoke piece for the Bristol event.

Another show-stopping addition to Bristol Light Festival is ‘Ophelia’, a stunning light installation by Davy & Kristin McGuire that creates a life-size hologram of Shakespeare’s famous character. Set in the historic surroundings of St Mary Redcliffe Church, visitors to the festival will be able to have a rare opportunity to enter the venue at night and view ‘Ophelia’.

Illumaphonium will bring fun and playfulness to the festival with ‘Halo’, a dynamic, interactive installation in Broadmead that lights up and plays music in response to touch. Created as a series of towers that feature illuminated ‘halos’, visitors will be able to enjoy a sensory experience making music and an ever-evolving pattern of light as they interact with the piece.

A star of last year’s Bristol Light Festival, ‘Swing Song’ will return in 2023, bringing childhood fun and playfulness to those that hop on. A hit with families and friends visiting the festival, visitors can relive their playground memories as they swing back and forth on the light-up, musical swings, remembering how it feels to be a child. Music and light will be triggered by the swinging motion and play in sync with one another.

Bristol Light Festival is presented by Bristol City Centre Business Improvement District (BID) supported by Redcliffe & Temple BID and Broadmead BID. The festival is also supported by Bristol’s City Centre & High Streets Recovery and Renewal programme, which is funded by Bristol City Council and the West of England’s Combined Authority’s Love our High Streets project, with the aim of supporting the recovery of Bristol’s priority high streets. The festival is curated by creative director Katherine Jewkes.

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.

“By increasing the length of the event in 2023, we hope to give even more opportunity for visitors to enjoy the city centre and attract visitors from outside of Bristol to come and experience everything the city has to offer.

“The event embodies everything that Bristol represents and showcases it as the vibrant, playful and creative city that we know and love.”

Katherine Jewkes, Creative Director said: “We are absolutely thrilled to have some many incredible artists involved with the 2023 event. It’s a programme that feels really special and is reflective of the city’s creative spirit. Each year we want to bring new and exciting artworks to Bristol, creating spaces for people to play, explore and have new experiences.

“In 2023, visitors can take in each installation across one evening or come across multiple nights and really explore the city. We cannot wait to welcome everyone to Bristol Light Festival and once again fill the city with colour and light.”