Lantern parade highlight of Light Night festival in Spilsby

After a very successful launch event at the Spilsby Methodist Church, the Different Light Collective is gearing up for this years’ Spilsby Light Night which organisers say will be on a larger scale than the original event last year.

The event itself will be held at sites across the centre of Spilsby on the evening of Saturday, March 7.

Free programmes will be available on the night showing a trail map showing where all the main lighting installations can be found, but people are encouraged to look out for a smaller hidden light moments too!

During the last week of February two professional artists will be working with a wide range of local schools and community groups to create special space themed lanterns for the Community Parade.

The Parade will gather outside the Primary School on the Saturday evening and will set off around 6.15pm-6.30pm and make its way slowly to the central Car Park in the centre of town arriving by 7pm latest.

There will be a rolling road closure as the parade moves down the route and in addition the central car park and the Buttercross car park will both be closed all day Saturday and the High Street will be closed to traffic from 2pm until 10pm.

As well as projections and lighting on the front of the Sessions House, the Methodist Church and other buildings in town, there will also be an Illumaphonium you can have a go on near the statue of Sir John

Franklin, a big outdoor screen near the George Hotel where you can play Space Invaders, a beautiful interactive sound & light piece called the Celestial Sound Cloud inside St James’ Church, an exhibition of amazing photographs by students from Woodlands Academy inside the Methodist Church, a Silent Disco, a chance to draw some digital graffiti on Tinn Criddle’s building and even a special VR experience in the New Life Church!

There will also be a special contemporary dance & light performance called Version 2.0 inside the Franklin Hall by Tom Dale Company, a Nottingham based group who have gained a national reputation for their cutting edge blend of movement and digital technology. The piece is just 20 minutes long and is performed by a single dancer, Jemima Brown, who was recently highlighted by The Guardian as one of the 5 best dancers in the UK. There will be 3 performances of Version 2.0 at 5.30pm, 7.30pm and 8.30pm and to be sure of a place email [email protected]

Simon Hollingworth, Creative Producer of Spilsby Light Night is really excited about sharing everything he and the Different Light Team have been working on and can’t wait to see what people make of it all.

He said: “The 2019 event was such a rewarding project as people were so supportive and enthusiastic and kept asking if it would return.

"Thanks to increased funding from Arts Council England and additional support from loads of local companies and organisations (see full list below) this year’s event is larger in terms of the number of installations we are bringing, so we are hopeful that it will feel like a big step up from the original and we really hope that people enjoy themselves.”

Bruce Knight is also a member of the Different Light Collective but is better known locally as the

Director of The Sessions House (Spilsby Theatre). He said: “The Light Night is a brilliant project for the town and

is really helping raise our profile regionally. It’s so good to be able to offer new ways of engaging with

local schools and community groups and all of the activity chimes perfectly for us at the Sessions House

with our aim to be at the cultural heart of the area”.

If you would like to get involved in the Light Night, the Different Light Collective are still looking for a few more volunteers to help look after some of the main light installations on the Saturday night and they would be delighted to hear from anyone who might be interested in helping out. Each shift is just two hours (either 5pm to 7pm, or 7pm to 9pm), meaning that anyone offering to help out would still have

time to see the whole of the event too. Please email [email protected] to find out more.

Volunteers would also be asked to come along for an hour or so on the evening of Friday, March 6

where some of the Light Night installations will be being tested. Anyone is welcome to come down on the Friday and get a flavour of what will be happening the following night, but organisers would like to stress that this will very much be a rehearsal compared to the Saturday night.