London Food & Culture

King’s Cross will be the shining star of Lumiere London 2016

For four nights next week, the city's biggest-ever light festival will see N1C illuminated by a riot of light, art and music (plus food & drink, of course)

Illuminating nights in King's Cross guaranteed: Lumiere London
Illuminating nights in King’s Cross guaranteed: Lumiere London

Perfectly timed for the grimmest of the winter months, the first ever Lumiere London festival takes place from 14th-16th January, bringing an urban light spectacular to the UK capital for the first time.

The aim is to rival international festivals such as Berlin’s Festival of Lights, Fête de Lumières in Lyon and Vivid Sydney. And King’s Cross is to be one of the key neighbourhoods featured in the totally free four-day bonanza, which sees 20 pioneering international artists commissioned to transform our buildings and streets with vast light installations.

Using the very fabric of the city as their canvas, look out for attractions (you won’t be able to miss ’em) across hotspots such as Leicester Square up to Piccadilly, St James’s, Carnaby Street and Oxford Circus.

Lumiere Durham's 'Garden of Light' in Noveber last year. Photo: Matthew Andrews
Lumiere Durham’s ‘Garden of Light’ in Noveber last year. Photo: Matthew Andrews

In King’s Cross, a ‘circus of light’ will dance across the Granary Building, featuring local residents and passers-by, while the recently re-opened German Gymnasium will be illuminated by a work called Joining The Dots, an intriguing-sounding study of perceptive psychology developed with the contribution of local school kids.


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There will also be pop-up installations including 40 undulating illuminated panels that respond to the electromagnetic waves of the city’s telecommunications infrastructure, and a structure resembling shanty homes, made in association with Central St Martin’s students. Up the road in Regent’s Place, look out for interlocking rectangles made from glowing wire.

To warm the cockles of those exploring these glittering attractions, there’s a pop-up Keller Bar on Stable Street, specialising in strong and flavoursome continental beers, plus regular lunchtime street food heroes, KERB, running throughout the evening with their Midnight Feast. Other key local joints including Grain Store and Drake & Morgan are offering special menus, drinks and deals throughout the four-day festival.

Buildings become canvases at previous Lumiere events.
Buildings become canvases at previous Lumiere events.

The event is being run by Artichoke, the ambitious creative company that works with artists to invade public spaces with large scale events. They’re the ones that brought over a million people onto the streets of London to see the Sultan’s Elephant six years ago.

They have had great success with Lumiere previously in Durham, so are bringing it to the capital at exactly the time we all could do with a little bit of a glow back in our lives.

Lumiere London runs 14th – 16th January at locations across the capital. Free. See website for more info.

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