A brand-new city-wide light festival will come to Birmingham for the first time this February.

Running from Wed 19 Feb – Sat 22 Feb, the trail will transform a series of city centre locations into a spectacular gallery of illuminated artworks, in what will become an annual multi-day event.

Aiming to create a sense of ‘playful curiosity and spark joy’, Birmingham Light Festival will feature at least eight light artworks, all within walking distance of each other, encouraging visitors to come together and explore the city.

Some of the illuminated artworks will even remain in place after the festival, as organisers commit to brightening city spaces more permanently over time.

The Festival will be brought accompanied by a programme of events to be announced in the New Year, with local organisations being invited to be a part of the line-up.

Organised by the City Curator and Produced by Outdoor Places Unusual Spaces (OPUS), Birmingham Light Festival is bringing together all five of Birmingham’s central Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) as founding partners of this major event for the very first time.

The City Curator role, funded by Colmore BID, was created following ‘the ‘Future Business District’ study. This unique research by Colmore BID analysed the long-term impact of the pandemic on city centre places, and outlined recommendations to ensure Birmingham can remain successful as a place to attract business and deliver cultural vibrancy, including the creation of a City Curator role.

The City Curator’s previous projects include the test installation, Light is Coming, which saw a giant, heart-shaped glitter ball and an accompanying silent disco arrive in Snow Hill Square in March.

Working with OPUS, the test installation was designed to understand the appetite for future light art events. Over 500 people took part in the silent disco, and footfall increased by 68% across the weekend, compared to the same weekend in 2023 and feedback from attendees was incredibly positive.

Alex Nicholson-Evans, City Curator, said: “As a city we need free, accessible arts and culture more than ever before and I am so excited that we’re able to provide exactly that through the debut of Birmingham Light Festival. We’ll no doubt all need some literal light relief in those challenging post-Christmas months!

“We really want to encourage people from across the region to visit the city-centre and experience Birmingham in a different way during the Festival. To be curious, to explore and to have a great time in this fantastic city!

“We also know how much local businesses will be in need of a trading boost at this time of year and our test event data tells us that Birmingham Light Festival will deliver that too. We can’t wait to share more about the amazing installations and events programme in January.”

Local artists, organisations and businesses will have the opportunity to respond to an open call for light-themed events, activities, or promotions, to coincide with Birmingham Light Festival and be included in the official programme of events. Expressions of Interest can be registered before Thu 5 Dec here.