03 Feb 2023
Tags: #visitwinchester, #lighttrail, #enchantedlightgarden, #DaysOut, #Winchester, #hampshire
Winchester City Council is pleased to announce that Abbey Gardens will become a magical Enchanted Light Garden from the 11th February until 5th March.
Building on the success of the 2022 'Lights in the City' event, Abbey Gardens will become a magical, Enchanted Light Garden with displays of light-up tunnels, fairy tale creatures and flowery delights. Access to see the lights is free of charge, the best time to see the lights will be as night falls, but daytime visitors will still be able to enjoy the displays enhancing the natural beauty of their surroundings.
The lights will be on display for Valentine's Day and a gentle stroll through the gardens is a perfect way to end your romantic evening in Winchester. Moreover, on the 18 and 19 February the lights will be complemented by free interactive entertainment. Walkabout artists will dazzle with their light performances at certain times throughout late afternoon and early evening.
Cllr Lucille Thompson, Cabinet Member for business and culture says: "The event in 2022 was so well received by residents and visitors, so we want to build on the success of this. Not only will the event provide a free activity for families to do over half term, but we also hope our local hospitality and retail businesses will benefit from increased trade as people come into the city to experience the lights. We hope residents and visitors will enjoy exploring Abbey Gardens as we transition to Spring and welcome the lighter evenings.”
Visitors and residents alike will be able to enjoy the displays for three weeks as part of a 'season of light', culminating in Winchester Cathedral's Luxmuralis event: The Elements (https://www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk/event/the-elements-immersive-light-and-sound-show-by-luxmuralis/). The elements will be conveyed through artistic interpretations, sound and light allowing you to witness volcanoes, be immersed in the sky and experience the power of the oceans, storms and great stories linked to water.
After an open procurement process, Icthus Event Solutions Ltd, who ran the successful Lights in the City in 2022 and who organise Winchester's Christmas Lights, have been appointed to lead the way.
Christine Cook, Managing Director of Icthus Event Solutions Ltd said: 'Icthus, as a local specialist in lighting displays, is delighted to be working with the council to bring this exciting new event to Winchester, our home city. We hope everyone will enjoy seeing the city lit up on what can be a gloomy time of year.'
Winchester's Enchanted Light Garden project has been funded via the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, supporting communities and place by investing in arts and culture. Winchester City Council has allocated £45k from the fund over the next two years to further build on the 'season of light' in the city and across the district in future years.
For more information see https://www.visitwinchester.co.uk/event/enchanted-light-garden/
Notes to editors
About the UK Shared Prosperity Fund
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK government's Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills. For more information, visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus #UKSPF
About Icthus Event Solutions Ltd
Icthus provide complete technical and management solutions for events or activities and have successfully provided support to a variety of satisfied customers running public events, concerts, private parties and large-scale Christmas lighting displays.
About Luxmuralis
Natural phenomena and the creation of our world is explored in this new spectacular immersive sound and light show by Luxmuralis at Winchester Cathedral.
Luxmuralis is a collaborative team combining artists from different backgrounds and artistic disciplines – creating works across multiple media and presentation formats. Core to their work is the opportunity to explore the development of fine art tradition through new media and place the medium in an art historical context. The primary purpose of Luxmuralis is to take art onto the streets and provide access to visual artwork in public as well as unexpected places.The teams lead artists are : Artistic Director, Peter Walker MRBS FRSA & Composer, David Harper Msc.
