Everything to see at Durham's last ever Lumiere Festival

Lumiere is the largest light festival across the county, which sees buildings, bridges and streets, such as the historic Durham Cathedral, transformed through a range of imaginative artwork.

Famed for its large projected light show on World Heritage site Durham Cathedral, the show brings thousands to the city.

Here are all the installations on offer this year:

Entanglement Is Existential (II)
A 'warning' about the impact of climate change with pieces of literature from acclaimed authors such as Margaret Atwood.

Location: Various sites around Durham

Conduit
An illuminated archway which organisers say is symbolic and physical. "Futuristic yet ancient, the archway feels like a relic without a date," the event says.

Location: Crook Hall

Glimmer
Made in conjunction with 400 members of communities in County Durham, the lanterns contain messages from them to you.

Location: Crook Hall and Shildon

Flutter
An immersive kaleidoscope of wings: a glowing swarm of butterflies swoops through Crook Hall, encouraging visitors to explore patterns, species and the nearby National Trust Green Corridor.

Location: Crook Hall, Durham

Sign
A captivating illusion made with light that evokes “tongues of fire” and showers of sparks rising metres into the air — inviting reflection on fire’s dual nature as destructive yet regenerative.

Location: Durham University Riverside

Lampounette
An oversized homage to the iconic desk lamp, this giant installation reimagines a familiar domestic object at scale — casting a warm, coloured light to transform a dark riverside space into something more intimate and poetic.

Location: Between Pennyferry Bridge and Freeman’s Place, Durham

Lumiere Photography Exhibition
A showcase of photographs taken at past Lumiere festivals, capturing both the installations and candid crowd moments. Local art students have curated the works to explore the festival’s legacy and how the community has engaged with it over time.

Location: Dead Dog Gallery, Durham

Lightbenches
Public benches reimagined: illuminated by hundreds of LEDs and designed to transform the concept of outdoor seating, they invite passers-by to pause, rest, and strike up conversations.

Location: Freeman’s Reach Riverbank, Durham

Heron
A softly luminous LED sculpture capturing a heron in mid-flight—its wings unfolding in a moment suspended between motion and stillness. It celebrates the beauty of nature within the cityscape and evokes a sense of quiet wonder.

Location: Walkergate Riverside, Durham

A light still shines
Inspired by the green window grates found in homes in more deprived areas of County Durham, this work reflects on austerity and abandonment. It speaks to inequality within the region, suggesting that despite neglect, “a light still shines” behind barriers—emphasising that people remain unseen but present.

Location: Fowlers Yard, Durham

Run Beyond
A large-scale light sculpture by Angelo Bonello composed of animated silhouettes lit via LEDs to simulate perpetual motion. It stages a man making an impossibly long jump metaphorically – asking viewers to imagine their own “jump” toward freedom, new horizons, and self-liberation.

Location: Milburngate Riverside, Durham

As Water Falls
An interactive digital waterfall that responds to touch, with evolving patterns and sound that mirror flowing water. It symbolises release and reconnection, transforming audience interaction into movement and music.

Location: Walkergate

HELVETICTOC
A projection that tells the time using conversational phrases rather than numerals, prompting viewers to slow down and rethink how they perceive time.

Location: Millennium Place

Point of (No) Return
An interactive work where movement melts or refreezes glowing ice, evolving into storms with motion. It questions whether humanity has crossed a climate tipping point.

Location: Millennium Place

The Next Page
A neon-light message created in collaboration with women at HMP Low Newton, offering poetic reflections in public space. It became a permanent installation in Durham after Lumiere 2019.

Location: Clayport Library

FluoreCycle
A playful canopy made from over 70 discarded bicycle wheels re-threaded with UV-reactive string, creating glowing patterns overhead. It celebrates cycling as joyful, sustainable, and colourful.

Location: Prince Bishops

Rhizome
A branching, organic LED sculpture that evokes fungal or root networks and highlights hidden connectivity.

Location: Market Place

Elysium Garden
A luminous, dreamlike garden installation combining sculptural forms and soft light to evoke a peaceful oasis. It invites visitors to walk through a transformed natural space.

Location: Market Place

Everyone, Ever
A poetic confrontation in stone and light set within Durham Cathedral, exploring layered histories and transformation. It offers a reflective space to hold beauty and grief, past and future.

Location: Durham Cathedral Nave

Solace
A contemplative installation using light and shadow to evoke calm and introspection in a public setting.

Location: St Nicholas’ Church

The Garden of Shadows
A sculptural installation of light and form that evokes quiet inner landscapes and subtle contrast.

Location: The College and South Bailey, Durham

The River
A light installation that animates and celebrates the flow and presence of water within the city’s landscape.

Location: Prebends Bridge

Glittering Grove
A canopy of shimmering lights woven through tree-shaped forms, creating a luminous forest in the city.

Location: Riverwalk to Framwellgate

Vault of Echoes
Vault of Echoes brings together two visual languages – the concrete brutalism of some of Durham’s landmarks and the intricate geometry of Islamic art.

Aaqib’s work explores how these traditions can coexist, creating a space where people can pause and reflect, both literally and metaphorically.

Location: The Riverwalk

LOVE IS
LOVE IS makes a playful observation based on a true story.

Thirty-four years ago on his first day working at Durham County Council, artist Kevin Edworthy met the woman who would become his wife.

It reminds us that everything starts somewhere and the universe can have a strange and unexpected sense of humour.

Location: The Riverwalk

Take Flight!
Take Flight! symbolises the notion that it’s safe to fly the nest, of the freedom and peace that gives many of us.

This large-scale three-dimensional structure can be seen from different angles across Durham, urging us to discuss ambitions, passions and dreams.

Location: Hotel Indigo

Alight
Born in the North East, the railway lit a spark that raced across the world.

Alight reminds us that although the railway began here, its echoes have travelled everywhere.

This site-specific projection-mapped artwork at Locomotion in Shildon celebrates that global legacy.

Location: Locomotion the National Railway Museum

Iron Horse Junction

From circus trains to mail trains and everything in-between, take a trip along the railway tracks of time.

This whimsical installation is a railway signal box window onto the last 200 years.

Viewers are invited to walk through the sounds, sights, memories and dreams of those who lived alongside, worked and travelled the rail lines.

Location: Locomotion the National Railway Museum

The event, produced and curated by Artichoke and commissioned by Durham County Council, will take place in Durham from Thursday, November 13 to Saturday, November 15.

Durham County residents, which is anyone living at a County Durham postcode, will be able to book tickets on the Lumiere website from September 30. To register an account visit: www.lumiere-festival.com/login.