Medway Light Nights to return in 2023 with Chatham illuminations
A two-day light show is set to return with a new location in 2023.
Medway Light Nights will see creative displays and illuminations take over the streets of Chatham on Friday, February 10 and Saturday, February 11.
The free festival made its debut earlier this year in Rochester and attracted more than 60,000 visitors, but has now set its sights on a new Medway town for next year.
The event will begin with a lantern procession, led by hundreds of local school children, on the Friday evening.
The weekend festivities will also include a 12-storey interactive installation at Chatham’s Mountbatten House. The former office block will be transformed into a video screen showing animations with an accompanying soundtrack.
The commission, Pixels by Lucid Creates, will be the finale to the opening lantern procession.
There will also be an immersive light, sound and theatre experience at Nucleus Arts. The Magical Medway display will take visitors on a walk through the gardens, which will be turned into an illuminated playground for the event.
Other confirmed commissions include Moving the Immovable: Electric Chatham by Howard Griffin, Light Ship by Circo Rum Baba and Fire Laboratory by Emergency Exit Arts.
Each display will follow a Love Chatham theme and will celebrate the landscape, history and local stories. The commissions are set to reflect the area’s heritage, culture and future.
Paul Cowell, Head of Culture and Libraries for Medway Council, said: “Medway Light Nights is a true celebration of Medway’s superb, diverse and innovative creatives. We are working with Emergency Exit Arts to deliver an even bigger and brighter festival.
“Medway Light Nights also supports Medway’s cultural strategy, delivered by Creative Medway, and aims for the area to be internationally recognised for its creativity and culture by 2030. The inaugural Medway Light Nights received glowing feedback and we are looking forward to welcoming thousands of people to Medway’s city centre in February for another spectacular event.”
You can find out more about the event here.
There are set to be further details announced, including even more things to see and do, closer to the time.
