Canary Wharf's Winter Lights Festival Returns for Milestone 10th Edition
Canary Wharf's award-winning Winter Lights festival makes a triumphant return this month, celebrating its landmark tenth edition with an ambitious new theme and expanded installations. Running daily from 5pm to 10pm between Tuesday, January 20 and Saturday, January 31, this year's festival marks a full decade of dazzling displays that have transformed the neighbourhood into a winter wonderland of light and creativity.
Dreamscape Theme Transforms Canary Wharf
This year's festival embraces a brand-new Dreamscape theme, transporting visitors into ethereal, surreal and otherworldly realms through innovative light installations. The trail features sixteen captivating installations in total, including six exciting new commissions specifically created for this milestone edition. In addition to these temporary works, the festival will showcase nine of Canary Wharf's iconic permanent light artworks, many collected from previous editions of the celebrated event.
International Artists Create Immersive Experience
The free-to-attend event takes visitors on a remarkable journey of immersion and discovery, featuring large-scale artworks created by returning Winter Lights artists alongside new contributors from the United Kingdom and around the world. Instrumental in establishing light art on London's cultural map, Winter Lights has grown into one of the capital's most celebrated cultural events, drawing visitors from across the UK and beyond.
Special Commissions for Tenth Anniversary
To commemorate the tenth edition of the festival, Canary Wharf has commissioned artist Anna Lomax to design a limited-edition print, available for purchase in-store at the charitable organisation Circle Collective. Lomax has also been commissioned to create a triptych of installations titled For Ever and Ever and Ever, which will be exhibited throughout the retail malls during the festival period.
Diverse Installations and Interactive Pieces
The trail invites visitors to explore a fascinating array of surreal illusions, kinetic sculptures, celestial landscapes and interactive pieces that deliberately blur the boundaries between reality and imagination. Whether experiencing mind-bending optical illusions, digital blooms or captivating kinetic artwork, Winter Lights brings a striking combination of installations to Canary Wharf's distinctive urban landscape.
Notable Highlights and Featured Works
Key highlights of this year's festival include:
- A monumental hand formed from floating light voxels by artist Patrice LaCroix
- An astronomical installation that brings the solar system into the treetops by Artistic and Janis Petersons
- A vast water-screen projection that transforms mist into shimmering holograms by Limbic Cinema
Enhanced Visitor Experience and Accessibility
Visitors can experience the festival completely free of charge each evening, with the district's cafés, restaurants and bars remaining open throughout the event. The festival has been thoughtfully designed with accessibility in mind, ensuring all artworks can be enjoyed by everyone. Detailed maps are available through multiple channels:
- On the official Canary Wharf website
- Via the Canary Wharf mobile application
- From event stewards stationed throughout the festival grounds
Complementary Activities and Dining Options
For those seeking a full day out, Winter Lights can be combined with a visit to the popular ice rink in Canada Square Park and an immersive festive bar, The Winter Club, located in Wood Wharf. Alongside Canary Wharf's established bars, cafés and restaurants, special Winter Lights Bites food stands will pop up across Montgomery Square, Jubilee Park and Union Square, serving global street food including:
- Wood-fired pizzas and jerk chicken
- Authentic Moroccan dishes
- Sweet treats such as crêpes and crumble
Special Offers and Practical Information
Visitors can take advantage of special Off Peak Offers from Monday to Wednesday, including:
- Twenty percent discount on food from Winter Lights Bites traders
- Free entry to the Ice Bar when purchasing a drink at The Winter Club
- Three hours of complimentary parking when spending £10 at Waitrose
Pippa Dale, associate-director of arts and events at Canary Wharf Group, commented: "Our tenth edition of Winter Lights marks a milestone moment. Over the past decade, the experience has grown and brightened into the capital's most ambitious light art festival, with this year's DREAMSCAPE theme representing our boldest vision yet. This year's artists have created an extraordinary world of illusion, reflection and playfulness, transforming the dark nights of January into a celebration of creativity. We can't wait to welcome visitors to what will be our most immersive and transportive edition yet."
Organisers encourage visitors to consider attending on weeknights, as weekends typically become extremely busy. For comprehensive information about the upcoming Winter Lights festival, visitors should consult the official Canary Wharf website.
