Plan your LightNight Liverpool 2018
Liverpool's annual LightNight extravaganza returns this week with dozens of cultural goodies and special commissions planned for 2018.
LightNight will take place on the evening of Friday, May 18, and involves a host of city centre venues along with a programme of events taking part in Liverpool's streets and squares.
Venues taking part for the first time include RIBA North, World Museum, Hinterlands and Sensor City.
Many of the events and activities are free, although some have limited places or command a small fee and/or will need booking in advance to avoid disappointment.
Liverpool-based social enterprise Open Culture has been producing the annual arts and cultural extravaganza since 2010.
Visit the LightNight website to map out your evening. Travel between venues on foot or catch one of the special LightNight Heritage buses.
Singing Mirror - British Music Experience
6-10pm
Audiences at this special LightNight 2018 commission by Jack Wates and Alex Mead will find themselves transformed in a series of projected kaleidoscopic patterns.
This immersive light and sound installation is responsive to the presence of visitors, creating sounds and moving patterns based on the actions of participants.
It is also a chance to get a free sneak peek inside the British Music Experience, and enjoy food and drink in the Star Café.
Sin Bin of the City, Screening and Q&A - Liverpool Cathedral
Screening 6.20-6.40pm, Q&A 6.40-7pm
A documentary looking at the 1981 Toxteth Riots and the circumstances surrounding Liverpool 8 at the time of the unrest.
Using first-hand accounts, newsreels, and animation, the story is told from the viewpoint of members of the Toxteth community. Ages 12+
Polar Bear Waltz – LJMU Art & Design Academy
Six performances between 6-10pm
Enjoy a special LightNight 2018 commission by Liverpool composer and lyricist Patrick Dineen.
On the last iceberg, the last polar bear drifts on the ocean, singing a heartfelt aria to the world he knows that has been devastated.
At first, he castigates Mankind for its greed, but then as the iceberg shrinks beneath him, he sings his beautiful and mournful aria to a world now utterly transformed.
Blackburne House
Join a fun-packed, thought-provoking evening at Blackburne House in Hope Street.
Performances in the main hall during the evening including Kitty: A Woman Who Changed a City by Carol Maginn, Utopia for Now, The Reader's 100 Women’s Voices and screenings of Make More Noise! Suffragettes in Silent Film.
The courtyard will also be alive with performances late into the evening, and there will be food and drink served in the cafe and hands on up-cycling and craft workshops including the Liverpool Biennial: A Beautiful World giant collage workshop.
Bring the Fire - St George's Hall East Portico Steps
9.15-9.45pm
After the success of it Japanese Fire during LightNight four years ago, the Bring the Fire Project returns to LightNight for 2018 with its latest show World in a City.
This collaborative performance of fire, traditional music, dance, stilt walkers and costume aims to transform the landscape of St George’s Hall steps and the traditional perception of arts and cultures of Liverpool.
Queen Avenue
5-10pm
Join in the LightNight celebrations in Queen Avenue off Castle Street, where art, music and food will combine in one royally memorable night.
Visitors will be able to see new art exhibition Metamorphosis: John Petch x OMD at the dot-art gallery, which looks at the changing of one form to another, as well as sample food and drink from a range of street food traders and listen to live music.
In 2016, John was asked by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark to design the cover for their new album. This collection includes the development and preparatory work for the individual painting, the accompanying single artwork designs and subsequent pieces inspired by the creation of these now highly recognisable artworks.
The event is ticketed between 5-7.30pm. Free tickets are available HERE.
Food Hubs
LightNight will host two official food hubs, at Baltic Food Market and the Bombed Out Church, which will showcase food and drink from local producers.
The hubs will also provide entertainment.
In addition, LightNight also has a new partnership with Liverpool brewery and distillery H1780.
All photos courtesy of Open Culture