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 11 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.

Amongst the many highlights, Flux, by French design studio Collectif Scale, will bring a mesmerising display of dancing light beams and exciting electronic music to Snow Hill Square.

Centenary Square will become a space for play, hosting several participatory artworks including Floor is LAVA x Silent Disco. Funded by United By 2022 and created by Outdoor Places Unusual Spaces, the ‘ultimate silent disco experience’ will encourage festival goers to dance along to their favourite party tunes until they hear the ‘Floor is LAVA’ track, when they’ll need to avoid the lights.

Visitors to Centenary Square will also be able to enjoy Twist & Shine by Kaleider, a collection of interactive light prisms that can be twisted into thousands of shapes, and ahead of the Yonex All England Open, Badminton England will be challenging visitors to a game of Night Badminton.

Alongside the illuminated artworks, a programme of over 50 events will be running, staged by organisations and venues across Birmingham, including a free 5km run led by RUN OF A KIND, which will follow a route designed to take in all of the illuminations.

Roundhouse Birmingham is taking over the waterways and hosting Neon Paddle, a guided night-time kayak tour through the canals for £40pp, while Cuddle Paws asks dog owners to don their best light-up gear and join Paws of Light (£2 donation for Birmingham Dogs Home), a dog walk starting in the Jewellery Quarter and taking in the artworks.

Restaurants and bars throughout the city will be hosting events or introducing special menus to celebrate Birmingham Light Festival.

The Mailbox plays host to a Culinary Light Trail (£48pp) where guests will embark on a journey between three restaurants (Bazar, Indico, The Mayan) for exclusive light-themed snacks and cocktails, while Jewellery Quarter Neighbourhood restaurant Otto will be hosting a three-course dinner by candlelight, including an exclusive festival cocktail, for £45pp.

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.”

A Birmingham Light Festival map is available for download from the festival website, making artworks easy to discover and allowing visitors to be ‘called’ to discover an extra glowing surprise in the Colmore area. All artworks are fully accessible, with step-free access and an audio description tour running on the Thursday evening.

For more information, and the full festival programme, click here.