The UK’s light biennial Lumiere returned to Durham for a final time, welcoming an estimated 120,000 visitors over three luminous nights.

Highlights included Jigantics’ Elysium Garden, a supersized forest of giant illuminated flowers and plants created by the artist over the last twenty years, Vendel & de Wolf’s Sign, a mesmerising illusion of flames and sparks rising into the night sky and Glimmer, a two-part installation presented in both Durham City and Shildon, each lantern carrying a message personal to the maker, evoking a moment of pause and reflection.

Inspired by Durhams’ significance as a place of sanctuary, artists re-imagined public space and historic monuments using all manner of light.

Learning & Participation initiatives for 2025 engaged around 550 local individuals. Glimmer – a display of hundreds of lanterns embellished with personal messages – was one of these artworks, created in collaboration with primary schools, youth groups, mental health charities and community centres. 

To find out more about Lumiere 2025 and see the highlights from the light art biennial, visit lumiere-festival.com.

At Dead Dog Gallery, a photography exhibition of winning images from previous Lumiere events was curated and presented by students at Durham Sixth Form College. The exhibition saw 5,000 visitors and was one of several Learning & Participation initiatives for 2025 which engaged around 550 local individuals in the event in addition to the 14,000 who have participated since 2009.

Glimmer brought together voices from groups of all ages and backgrounds: from primary schools to professional quilt makers, mental health charities to the local crafty coffee mornings. Working with 400 community members from across County Durham, Artichoke and a team of facilitators ran workshops which produced hundreds of decorated lanterns. Each lantern contains a message, a memory, a hope or a truth to be carried away.