September 20, 2025Lumiere 2025 programme revealed

A wide shot of two people interacting with a large, glowing cube on a grassy field at night. The cube is covered in vertical white lights that flicker and move like digital rain. The person on the left is holding a phone up to take a picture, and the person on the right is reaching out to touch the side of the cube. There are streetlights and trees in the background, dimly lit by the cube's glow and the distant lights of other installations.
As Water Falls by Iregular

The UK’s landmark light art biennial will transform Durham once again, from Thursday 13 to Saturday 15 November 2025

The remarkable programme of light artworks from international and UK artists has been announced today, with major new commissions, premieres, and community collaborations. It will transform Durham into an illuminated city-wide art gallery and for the first time will also cast its spotlight on Shildon.

Lumiere will take place over three evenings, from Thursday 13 to Saturday 15 November, 17:00-22:00 each night, and audiences will encounter a dazzling line-up of installations and experiences, ranging from large-scale spectaculars to intimate moments of reflection.

Lumiere is produced and curated by Artichoke and commissioned by Durham County Council, with additional support from Arts Council England, North East Combined Authority, Durham University and a raft of sponsors and funders.

Since its beginnings in 2009, Lumiere is now recognised internationally as the UK’s light art biennial inspiring light shows and festivals up and down the UK. Over the years, it has welcomed more than 1.3 million visitors and delivered £43m of economic impact. Its significance extends across the global light art community.

 

A crowd of people stands in a plaza at night, watching a large, curved LED screen. The screen is displaying a vibrant, abstract light show with swirling patterns in shades of electric blue and white. The figures in the foreground are silhouetted against the bright light of the screen, with the one in the center reaching out as if to touch it. In the background, there are other people, buildings, and a few small, glowing spotlights on the ground.
Point of (No) Return by Anastasia Isachsen

Lumiere tickets

Lumiere in Durham City and Shildon runs from 17:00-22:00 each night from Thursday 13 November to Saturday 15 November. Tickets will be required to enter the central controlled zone in Durham City throughout each evening and should be booked in advance. More than half the installations are outside the ticketed zone and can be visited without a ticket. Tickets are not required for Shildon at any time.

County Durham residents will be able to book free tickets (booking fee applies) from 10:00, Tuesday, 30 September. General release to the wider public will be from 10:00, Wednesday 1 October. 

Visitors are advised to register for an account in advance via the Lumiere website, ahead of tickets going live, to enjoy a faster booking process.  

A vibrant night shot of a park filled with large, glowing floral light sculptures. In the foreground are several tall, blue and purple lotus-like flowers. A path extends into the distance, lined on both sides by trees and more glowing red, pink, and blue flowers. The sky is a dramatic mix of orange and purple as the sun sets. A few people are visible, walking along the path and enjoying the light installation.
Elysium Garden by Jigantics

What’s On at Durham Cathedral

A highlight of the biennial since 2009 has been the artistic interaction with Durham’s Norman Cathedral both inside and out. Inspired by the building’s significance as a place of sanctuary, two new commissions for the Cathedral Nave and Cloister will engage with this history.

EVERYONE EVER by Nighthouse Studio (Elaine Buckholtz and Ian Winters, USA) transforms the vast nave of Durham Cathedral into a poetic confrontation in stone and light. Accompanied by an original soundscape, the work acknowledges past and present injustices while offering space for reflection and resilience.

The Cathedral cloister will be the site of a new commission by Amelia Kosminsky (UK). Solace fills the Cloister with hundreds of handmade lanterns, suspended as if in mid-flight. Offering comfort and hope during turbulent times, the lanterns invite audiences to imagine their journey while reflecting on their own.

Visitors approaching the Cathedral will be greeted by riot of colour as Palace Green becomes a supersized forest of illuminated flowers standing two metres tall. Elysium Garden by Jigantics (UK) was inspired by mythical gardens of paradise, the towering blooms offer a kaleidoscope of colour and light, an uplifting celebration of nature, empathy, and hope.

An outdoor light installation at night featuring a dense cluster of long, thin poles glowing bright orange-red. The illuminated poles crisscross upwards at sharp angles, creating the effect of fiery sparks shooting from the ground. Surrounding trees are faintly lit by the glow, contrasting against the dark night sky.
Sign by Vendel & de Wolf

Explore the natural world: Elemental Nature

From Koi carp to butterfly clouds, fire, melting glaciers and waterfalls, many of this year’s installations contemplate the joys of the natural world, the fragility of our planet in the face of climate change and its impact on the environment.

The Garden of Shadows by Jony Easterby (UK) takes the audience on a magical journey of eight installations through The College and South Bailey that blend sound, shadow and ecological reflection, contemplating the contrast between light and darkness, life and fragility.

Cédric Le Borgne’s (France) The River suspends three giant illuminated koi carp above Prebends Bridge. Majestic yet wild, the glowing sculptures conjure an unexpected encounter with nature, inviting audiences to look up and dream.

Glittering Grove by Sound Intervention (UK) creates an immersive 300-metre woodland walk, where mirror balls scatter dancing points of light like fireflies. Accompanied by an original soundscape by Dan Fox, the trail encourages visitors of all ages to wander among stars and trees.

Entanglement Is Existential (II) by Justin Brice Guariglia (USA) reimagines solar-powered highway message boards as roadside signals for change. Instead of traffic alerts, the boards display urgent ecological texts by writers and thinkers including Margaret Atwood, Robert Macfarlane, Timothy Morton, Zadie Smith, Re:wild and Guariglia himself, blending poetry, metaphor and humour, challenging audiences to confront the ecological crisis and sparks new conversations about our fragile planet.

Sign by Vendel & de Wolf (Netherlands) conjures an illusion of flames and sparks rising into the night sky. Both terrifying and mesmerising, the work reflects on fire as destruction and renewal, an elemental force of change.

Flutter by Emma Allen (UK) immerses visitors in a glowing swarm of butterflies at Crook Hall, inviting them to reconnect with the natural world. Inspired by Durham’s Green Corridor, the kaleidoscope of wings celebrates biodiversity and the fragile beauty of ecosystems.

As Water Falls by Iregular (Canada) is a digital waterfall that responds to human touch. Constantly evolving with organic patterns, no two moments are ever alike. Inspired by the power and unpredictability of flowing water, each interaction releases a surge of movement and sound, much like water breaking free from a dam.

POINT OF (NO) RETURN by Anastasia Isachsen (Norway) merges luminous visuals with music by Nils Petter Molvær in a powerful reflection on climate change. As audiences move, ice melts into water and spirals into storm, raising urgent questions about whether we have passed the point of no return.

A long-exposure, night shot of a light installation. A row of illuminated, stick-figure-like silhouettes, in different poses, runs along a beam. The figures appear to be in a sequence of motion, from running to jumping. The figures glow with a bright blue light against a dark sky. Below the beam, a building with colourful geometric windows is visible.
Run Beyond by Angelo Bonello

Dreams of Freedom and Connectivity

A number of installations address the human condition, be it a longing for freedom in body and spirit or patterns of connectivity.

Ralf Westerhof’s (The Netherlands) Take Flight! is a large-scale three-dimensional drawing in light, a neon bird perched on the dome of Hotel Indigo on Old Elvet. Visible across the city, for the artist it symbolises the freedom of letting go and the courage it takes to begin again.

In Market Place, Rhizome by Bobolito&Co (Belgium) is a living network of luminous ropes and sound that dominates the space. Reflecting on both the complexity of natural networks and the way we build digital and social connections. The tangled web of its glowing ropes, often found in forests or urban spaces, evokes a living structure – organic yet artificial, beautiful yet chaotic. 

Run Beyond by Angelo Bonello (Italy) is a large-scale light sculpture of illuminated figures leaping along Milburngate Riverside. Animated in perpetual motion, the work embodies the liberating leap towards freedom and the courage it takes to overcome fear.

A tall illuminated archway installation set outdoors between two trees at dusk. The arch is black with white glowing outlines and decorated with repeating motifs of stylized eyes and hands. A spiral design sits at the top centre of the arch.
Conduit, render by Mani Kambo

BRILLIANT – Lumiere’s small-scale commissioning programme

Since 2011, Lumiere has nurtured new talent through this scheme, which encourages anyone from the North East and across the UK, to submit their artistic light ideas to be created and exhibited. This year five artists have been selected and helped to develop their work, including three from County Durham. Conduit by Mani Kambo (UK), is a luminous archway inspired by sacred thresholds across cultures, that invites audiences to step through a ritual portal. LOVE IS by Kevin Edworthy (UK) is a playful homage to his own true story, reflecting Durham’s everyday life through street photography-inspired humour. A light still shines by Lewis Hobson (UK), is an installation inspired by austerity-era window grates, offering space for reflection on inequality and resilience in Durham’s communities.

FluoreCycle by Hannah Ayre (UK), presents a canopy of woven UV-reactive bicycle wheels, a colourful celebration of cycling, sustainability, and joy. Vault of Echoes by Aaqib (UK), is a mirrored installation that blends Islamic geometry with Durham’s brutalist landmarks, revealing hidden threads between heritage and place.

Night-time scene at the Locomotion museum in Shildon. A crowd of silhouetted visitors watches a vivid light projection on the museum’s brick building, showing glowing orange industrial interiors with wheels and workers under a starry sky.
Alight by NOVAK

Spotlight on Shildon

This year’s “Spotlight on Durham” falls on Shildon, currently celebrating the 200th anniversary as home of the first railway station and passenger service. Two new commissions reflect on this history at Locomotion.

Newcastle-based NOVAK (UK) return to Lumiere with Alight, a celebration of 200 years of railway heritage through a spectacular projection-mapped artwork at Locomotion, telling a story of connection and imagination inspired by the world’s first railways. Also at Locomotion, Iron Horse Junction by Hannah Fox (UK), created with Durham Academy students, offers a whimsical signal-box journey through 200 years of railway history, blending light, sound and original heritage objects.

A nighttime photo of a park bench on a grassy field. Above the bench, hanging from the branches of a dark green tree, are four glowing cylindrical lanterns. Each lantern has different text or images, with
Glimmer by Laura Brenchley

Beyond the lights: Lumiere and Community Participation

Community creativity remains at the heart of Lumiere which continues to deliver lasting benefits across the county. Since 2009, its Learning & Participation programme has engaged more than 14,000 local people, inspiring schoolchildren, supporting community creativity, and offering skills and training opportunities.

For this year’s light art biennial, hundreds of local residents of all ages have taken part in lantern-making workshops across County Durham to create Glimmer, a two-part installation presented in both Durham City and Shildon. Each lantern carries a message, a memory, a hope, or a truth, personal to the maker, evoking a moment of pause and reflection.

Celebrating Lumiere’s Brightest Moments at the Dead Dog Gallery presents a retrospective of Lumiere through the lens of North East locals and visitors. Artichoke has worked with Durham Sixth Form Centre students supporting them through the process of designing a photography competition, to curating the final exhibition of images of Lumiere over the years.

New College Durham’s media students have also been involved in a film-making project, guided by the Artichoke team, memorialising Lumieres past and present through interviews and voxpops with Durham residents.

 

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Image credits:
  • As Water Falls, Iregular. Photo courtesy of the artist
  • Elysium Garden, Jigantics. Photo courtesy of the artist
  • Sign, Vendel & de Wolf, Festa delle Luci. Photo courtesy of the artist
  • Run Beyond, Angelo Bonello. Photo courtesy of the artist
  • Conduit, Mani Kambo. Render courtesy of the artist
  • Alight, NOVAK. Render courtesy of the artist
  • Glimmer, Laura Brenchley
  • Point of (No) Return, Anastasia Isachsen. Photo by Hamie Robataille