There is just one week to go until Lightwaves Salford returns this Salford Quay for it’s eleventh consecutive year.
The showcase that will run from Thursday 5 December until Sunday 8 December, will feature a 2km fully accessible trail around Media City.
The trail will be accompanied by a spectacular display of lights across the water, as well as interactive exhibits as well as thought-provoking artwork.
Across the Salford Quays there will also be illuminated displays set to enchant and excite visitors, all for free, with the artwork coming from around the world.
Artists have travelled from Latvia, Norway, France, Slovakia, and closer to home in Manchester to showcase their work.
SomniUs is an installation from Devon-based studio Illumaphonium, and will feature a huge lights and sounds pattern, that changes with the people moving underneath.
Gemma Mills from Illumaphonium said: “We are so excited to be back! To know that there’s still an appetite for light art is incredible.”
The group were previously in Salford in 2021, with their display featuring 150 hand tuned and illuminated chime bars, each of which responding to visitors touch as they toured the Lightwaves festival.
“I just remember the crowds were really great,” said Gemma. “We hope to see lots of people there. There’s no limit apart from physical space!”
The building for the SomniUs installation begins on Friday, with the whole process taking several days to set up.
“It is a humongous piece,” Gemma said: “It’s made up of six kilometres of LED, all individually constructed into 975 light bars, and suspended three metres above the audience.”
Guests can follow a set route, or wander as they please, with a wide range of food and drink available from KargoMKT.
Additionally, Wagamama are offering a free hot drink to any Lightwaves Salford guests. The light trail begins at 4pm and ends at 10pm, so there’s plenty of time for guests to stroll around the showcase.
Creative design studio Lazerian is also bringing their installation to the festival, with Manchester-based artist Liam Hopkins creating a kinetic light installation.
Liam Hopkins said: “It’s a very simple piece, but there’s so much going on, and I think the beauty of it is that the simplicity can be interpreted by the viewer on different levels.”
Liam has always loved line drawings, and “letting the negative space breathe,” and so wanted to create a piece that represented that, as well as tying in elements of gravity and physics.
“I’ve known and visited Lightwaves for a number of years now,” said Liam. “It’s an amazing festival for anybody to go to and appreciate the beauty of light and how it can trigger people’s emotions. I think it’s quite a beautiful thing.”
You can discover more about Lightwaves Salford here.
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