First LightPool Festival to illuminate Blackpool
Artists including Bob and Roberta Smith and Steve Messam will participate in a brand new art festival celebrating Blackpool's unique relationship with light, and marking the final weekend of this year's Blackpool Illuminations.
Blackpool Illuminations will be brought to life in a brand new way this year as the first ever LightPool Festival brings internationally renowned artists to the city between 28 October and 2 November.
The free, six-night festival will celebrate Blackpool's long history with light through an art trail featuring works by more than 20 artists including Bob and Roberta Smith, Steve Messam and Compagnie Bilbobasso.
International names join national and local artists in a walking route inspired by Blackpool's history, and linking together its iconic buildings.
Bob and Roberta Smith's piece, Art Is Your Human Right, is a new commission in which illuminated words will be hung at locations around the town centre including the Council Office, The Grundy art gallery and Clifton Street. The artist will also lead and convene a public discussion on the power of art to drive social change on Friday 28 October.
French collective Compagnie Bilbobasso will perform Polar, an explosive fable of fire and tango, while Steve Messam presents Red Rose, a series of temporary, site-specific installations acting as a rising tide of the colour red – taking Lancashire county’s historic symbol and creating something new and surprising for each location.
Elsewhere on the programme are performances and installations premiered at Burning Man 2016 (including an appearance from The FireWorks Collective, the troupe which represents the UK fire performance community at the famed Nevada desert festival each year); the UK premiere of Emma Allen's Santiago, an animated self-portrait combining body-painting and light to explore human evolution from past to future, and – we're particularly excited about this one – an illuminated costume-making workshop for dogs and their owners, which will culminate in a mass illuminated dog walk around the LightPool art trail.
Finally, each night in St John's Square there will be a programme of live performances, light and fire displays from some of the world's leading performance artists.
LightPool Festival is a further complement to this year's Blackpool Illuminations alongside The Grundy's current exhibition, NEON: The Charged Line, the UK's biggest ever survey of neon art. It builds on last year's LightPool shows – 3D projections onto Blackpool Tower. The projections will continue this year with three new shows designed specifically for the festival, including a piece introduced by astronaut Tim Peake and based on the work of the European Space Agency. All three films can be watched for free several times a night.
"The LightPool Festival is a fantastic way to celebrate our Great British Coast and I would encourage everyone to visit,” said Andrew Percy of Coastal Communities, funder of the LightPool project along with Arts Council England and partners Left Coast and Blackpool Council.
“Arts festivals turn the everyday into something extraordinary – they create magical spaces where people can come together, share experiences and explore something new," said Alex Rinsler, creative lead for LightPool. "We’re thrilled to be bringing such a range of wonderful artists to Blackpool to reimagine the town with residents and visitors alike.”
LightPool Festival 2016
Friday 28 October-Wednesday 2 November 2016
visitblackpool.com/illuminations