Complete guide to what's on offer at Lumiere 2015

1. Cloud
Milburngate House

6,000 lightbulbs in the shape of a cloud. You decide whether they’re on or off. Very popular with the crowds, despite the association with bad weather.

1.26 Durham
Over the River Wear, between Milburngate Bridge and Pennyferry Bridge

A huge floating net over the Wear, the colours of which are controlled by visitors using a web app.

3. Big Knitting
Clayport Library

Jumbo knitting needles and illuminated “wool” hang down over the Claypath slip road and taxi rank.

4. Lightbench
Framwelgate Waterside

Illuminated benches by the riverside. Take the weight off your feet and meet someone new. Small, simple, but loveable.

5. Precious
Durham Sixth Form Centre, Freeman’s Place

Films about things people treasure, projected onto storage containers. Moving tales of items of personal value. Interviews done by sixth formers.

6. Change Your Stripes
Below Fat Buddha restaurant, Freeman’s Place

A lovely interactive projection. Dance with your own shadow and watch as the projection changes as you move. Great fun.

7. Dot
Walkergate

An enormous bank of light bulbs that pulse, flash and beam across the city. The lights respond to a specially commissioned soundtrack. Take a while to stand and watch.

8. Helvetictoc
Clayport Library

This quirky clock was so popular at Lumiere 2013 that Durham County Council bought it and made it a permanent fixture. Now it’s back for 2015.

9. Supercube
Prince Bishops shopping centre

Don’t miss this one. Peer inside a huge cube of 448 Kilner jars and you might just find your face on one. Watch as visitors slowly work out what’s going on. Popular with all ages.

10. Les Lumineoles
Market Place

Dream-like creatures float gracefully through the air, while nearby streets are adorned with exotic flower lanterns.

11. Neon Bikes
The Bailey

Neon flex bikes on the railings of Hatfield College celebrate the nation’s love of cycling and catch the eye on the walk up to the Cathedral.

12. Litre of Light
Durham Cathedral Cloister

A life-size recreation of the Cathedral’s Rose Window in plastic bottles. Proceeds raised during the construction will be split between the Cathedral and My Shelter Foundation charity. Philomena Lervin, of Washington, said: “It’s quite magnificent. To think they’ve made it entirely out of plastic bottles it’s really quite clever.”

13. The World Machine
Façade of Durham Cathedral

A stunning projection telling the history of cosmology and, by extension, the Universe. Peter Sedgwick, of Durham, said: “The World Machine against the Cathedral is just stunning.”

14. Complex Meshes 2015
Durham Cathedral Nave

A dazzling light show projected onto the Cathedral’s ribbed vault arches. Different coloured meshes twist, move and develop in response to the movement of audiences below. Mark King, of Sunderland, said: “It’s just wowzers. It’s like a magnificent wonderland.”

15. The Stars Beneath Our Feet
The Count’s House, Peninsula

A work focusing on photosynthetic micro-organisms that absorb light and convert it into oxygen. When projected at scale they resemble stars in the night sky.

16. Garden of Light
The College, South Bailey and Prebends Bridge

Dream-like structures using recycled materials to light up surrounding trees and buildings, creating a tropical garden.

17. Mysticete
River Wear, seen from Elvet Bridge

Fantastical projection into a fine mist of water spray conjures up an apparition of a colossal whale that emerges from the river, splashing down with awesome effect. Mysticete is a timely reminder of mankind’s duty to protect the animals we share our planet with.

18. Wave
Fowlers Yard

A glinting wave, made with sea glass found on County Durham’s beaches, frozen in mid-air poised to tumble down the cobbled street, complete with foghorn and seagull soundtrack

19. Rainbow River
Riverbanks below Prebends Bridge

Seems disappointing until seen from the right angle on the riverbank, the effect is like a rainbow slick on the surface of the water, lit up by pulses of glittering colour.

20. Fogscape #03238
Cathedral riverbanks

This is a must see ghostly fog cascading through the riverbanks beneath the illuminated cathedral, inspired by the legend of St Cuthbert’s mist, said to have mysteriously protected the city from Luftwaffe bombers. Lumiere guide recommends South Street viewing point, but really is best appreciated from the riverside path, where the fog drifts eerily through the trees and silently out over the water. Creepy or comforting, take your pick.

21. Fool’s Paradise
Walls of Durham Castle

Another must see: village-scape projected onto walls of Durham Castle with Harry Potter-esque soundtrack. Giant shadow puppets of children, birds and monsters interact in an ever-changing technicolour village. Crowds gathered on Framwelgate Bridge to watch, but for most atmospheric effect, catch it from the riverbanks near the arches of the Medieval bridge.

22. Wheels Of Industry
North Road

Possibly the most fun exhibit of the night, a static cycle on which the harder you pedal, the brighter you illuminate the stained glass windows of a Reliant Robin. Seemed to be particularly popular with children and students.

23. Home Sweet Home Durham
Hawthorn Terrace

Strangely absorbing tale of the lives of real Durham people projected onto a terraced house. A homeless teenager, a live-long resident, a student and a young family appear as ghostly projections to explain their domestic arrangements against a changing constantly changing backdrop of their homes.

24. Asalto Durham
The Viaduct

Another must-see installation. Real Durham residents are projected as giant figures scaling the Victorian railway bridge. There is something heroic about it, as firefighters haul a child to safety, and something creepy, as a wave of others silently slither their way to the top and over the parapet, while real-world passengers on the trains above sit oblivious to the drama below.

25. Ruby
The Gates Loading Bay

Animated self-portrait explores issues of life and birth, ageing and death, in a video loop projected onto shopping centre wall.

26. Electric Fireside
The Gates Loading Bay

Certainly in the running for the weirdest installation of the night. Shopping centre loading bay is transformed into a living room, complete with armchairs and standing lamps, where light-festooned actors shared fireside stories and danced the night away to a selection of pop songs. Seemed to be a big hit with the kids.

27. The Red House
Old Elvet

Red-brick Old Shire Hall transformed into an electric riot of colour, with its solid and respectable façade converted into a psychedelic swirl of rainbows.

28. Dreamers
Old Elvet

A back-lit projection in Durham Crown Court gardens, which allows visitors stand behind the screen to have their shadows to become part of the attraction.