Love letter to Leeds set to captivate thousands this Light Night

Returning on 28 and 29 October, for the first time during half term, this year’s spectacular festival has the theme of A City Speaks…, exploring the stories, people and places that have shaped Leeds over the past four centuries while looking towards the city's future.

Created by Leeds-founded digital storytellers ‘imitating the dog’ together with local musicians Hope & Social, the projection at The Queens Hotel will see five decades of memories unfold, showcasing the city’s streets, bars and homes as they change throughout a life.

As buildings appear and disappear, the projection maps one person’s journey onto the changing landscape of the city, with scenes and lyrics most can relate to.

Simon Wainwright from imitating the dog, said: “We worked closely with Hope & Social and the lyrics and music actually came first for this piece, with the visuals and animation taking inspiration from the finished song.

“We’re storytellers and so our main focus is in creating a narrative with heart that everyone in Leeds can hopefully resonate with.”

‘Call My Name, Call Me Home’ is supported by Markel and The Queens Hotel.

Several other pieces are also exploring stories about Leeds, with Lou Chapelle’s holographic installations at Leeds City Museum bringing to life three magnificent owls inspired by the owl on Leeds’ historic city crest. As glowing holograms, the owls appear almost close enough to touch as a meditative soundscape transforms the space into their imagined habitat.

Elsewhere, on Cookridge Street visitors can look up and discover glowing neon artworks based on drawings made by children in care, capturing activities they enjoy doing with their foster carer, in collaboration with Foster4Leeds.

And at Leeds City Library guests are invited to step into 400 years of Leeds history through the remarkable collections of Leeds Libraries, with everything from 17th-century manuscripts and rare maps to photographs, films, newspapers, football fanzines and books. Through a special virtual reality workshop these treasures are brought to life in a new way.

Light Night Leeds is one of the UK's largest light festivals, last year welcoming more than 200,000 visitors across the city over the two nights.

The festival is organised and delivered by Leeds City Council with additional funding from Arts Council England, alongside support from sponsors, trusts and foundations based in Leeds, across the UK and internationally.

This year's Light Night Leeds will form part of Leeds 400, marking 400 years since Leeds was granted its first Royal Charter by King Charles I. 

Councillor Salma Arif, Leeds City Council’s deputy leader and executive member for economy, said: “Light Night is a major event in our calendar every year and we are really looking forward to the wide variety of projections and performances that are on offer for this year’s festival.

“It’s great to have this opportunity to really celebrate Leeds and bringing people together to explore the stories and the people who make the city what it is.”

For details of the full programme visit lightnightleeds.co.uk and follow Light Night Leeds on social media for more information. 

ENDS