LEICESTER city centre will be lit up with some extraordinary artworks next year, with the return of a world-class festival last held in the city in 2022.
Thanks to successful bids for funding from Arts Council England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Light Up Leicester is set to transform the dark winter evenings with performances, events and illuminated installations that will create a trail of light through the city’s streets.
Presented by Leicester City Council, BID Leicester, Leicester Cathedral and Art Reach, and with additional backing from headline sponsor Highcross Leicester and PPL PRS, Light Up Leicester 2025 will feature four nights of family-friendly performances and activities.
Assistant city mayor Cllr Vi Dempster said: “More than 80,000 people enjoyed the stunning installations that Light Up Leicester brought to the city back in 2022, so I’m very pleased to announce that, thanks to the generous support of our funders and sponsors, this free festival will be back in March 2025 to give a welcome boost to Leicester’s night-time economy.
“This time, we want the festival to reach even more people across Leicester and provide lots of opportunities for people to get involved, so our partners at Inspirate and Art Reach will be working with schools and communities in the run-up to the event to ensure that the festival is a celebration of the city’s diversity.”
Jiten Anand, executive director at Inspirate, said: "Our work with local schools and communities will engage hundreds of children, parents and teachers for a real celebration of the city as we launch Light Up Leicester 2025.”
Arts Council England, which is supporting Light Up Leicester with a £100,000 grant, is proud to be involved.
Peter Knott, Midlands area director at Arts Council England said: “We’re delighted to have awarded Light Up Leicester £100,000 through our National Lottery Project Grant scheme. The event promises to be a highlight in the city’s cultural calendar.
“We know that investing in creativity and culture, through events like this, can help people feel happy and proud of the place they live. Light Up Leicester attracts lots of people into the city, bringing communities from all backgrounds together to enjoy stunning light displays alongside performances, workshops, talks and participatory events.”
Simon Jenner, BID Leicester director, said: “We’re thrilled to see the return of this fantastic event. The 2022 festival attracted over 80,000 visitors to explore the trail of artworks, creating a lively, family-friendly atmosphere and a fantastic buzz around the city. Major events like this are an excellent way to boost footfall in the city centre, supporting our retail, hospitality and leisure sectors. We’re looking forward to welcoming even more people to experience Light Up Leicester in March 2025.”
Jeremy Lees, director at Savills, property management provider for Highcross Leicester, said: “Highcross are delighted to be the headline sponsor of Light Up Leicester 2025.
“Working alongside Leicester City Council, BID Leicester, and other valued partners, we’re proud to play a role in bringing this much-loved festival to life, once again.
"At Highcross, we’re committed to supporting local initiatives that not only bring people together and create memorable experiences, but also those that celebrate Leicester’s creativity and cultural diversity. So we look forward to inviting everyone to this free event in March 2025 to experience the vibrant atmosphere the festival will undoubtedly bring to the city."
The four-day festival promises to showcase works from some of the world’s leading ‘light’ artists, featuring light-inspired artworks, installations and performances – with some generously subsidised by the Global Streets national partnership.
Now, local artists are being invited to take part too, with the city council seeking to commission up to five brand new pieces of work for the festival.
“We want to hear from local artists who can bring their creativity to the Light Up Leicester programme,” said Cllr Dempster.
“Working with founding festival partner Art Reach, we’re hoping to commission up to five artists, who will see their work presented alongside the work of some truly showstopping international artists and performers.
“Their inspiration may well be the theme of light, but it could also be the 10th anniversary of the reinterment of King Richard III, or the festival of Holi or the month of Ramadan – which all fall during the dates of Light Up Leicester.
“These commissioned works will form part of the exciting programme of events, which we’ll be launching early next year.”
Interested artists can find out more at artreach.org.uk/latest/lul25artscallout
The closing date for applications is 23:59 on Sunday 1 December.
Light Up Leicester will run from Wednesday 12 March until Saturday 15 March 2025.
A full festival programme will be available in January 2025 at lightupleicester.com/home
Sponsorship opportunities are still available for those wishing to be involved in Light Up Leicester 2025. Those interested in sponsoring the event should email festivals@leicester.gov.uk
Picture caption:
The ‘FierS à Cheval’ spectacular by French street theatre artists, La Compagnie des Quidams – one of the exciting installations that will be heading for Leicester in March.
Photo credit: G. Charlier
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About Arts Council England
Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. We have set out our strategic vision in Let’s Create that by 2030 we want England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish and where every one of us has access to a remarkable range of high-quality cultural experiences. From 2023 to 2026 we will invest over £467 million of public money from Government and an estimated £250 million from The National Lottery each year to help support the sector and to deliver this vision. This year the National Lottery will celebrate 30 years of supporting good causes in the United Kingdom through raising £49 billion and awarding over 690,000 individual grants since the first draw was held in 1994. Visit our website to learn more.