I don’t know about you, but Lumiere 2021 feels like a lifetime ago. It was very lucky Lumiere was scheduled in odd-numbered years, because we know exactly how a Lumiere 2020 would have gone. But we weren’t quite out of the woods in 2021 and Lumiere that year was a little different from a normal festival, with some usual haunts out of action and a ticketed city centre across the entire festival.
There was one other notable thing about the last Lumiere, however, was that Durham County Council was making a serious (and nearly successful) push for City of Culture. As a result, a lot of changes this year are reversion to business as usual. But there’s still some twists to watch out for this year.
Enough preamble, let’s go.
What to expect in Lumiere 2023
Before we go into my list of highlights, here’s what to expect from Lumiere as a whole:
It’s back to normal with ticketing: Ticketing the Peninsula between 4.30 and 7.30 has been in place ever since the notorious Lumiere 2011 when crowding went out of control. In 2021, however, the entire night was ticketed, right up to 11.00 p.m. In hindsight, that may have been an over-reaction; at the time, however, it was a fair precaution for obvious reasons. With the worth of Plagueopalypse long behind us, now, we’re back to the old arrangement: ticket entry only until 7.30 p.m., then everybody is let in.
Don’t try getting a ticket now, they were all allocated weeks ago. However, for a lot of people, myself included, a ticket isn’t actually necessary. As the Lumiere folk point out repeatedly, over half of the festival is outside the Peninsula (although a lot of the best stuff is inside). There’s plenty of stuff to keep you busy until 7.30, and plenty of time to enjoy the central area after 7.30. I personally think that if you’re not bringing kids and otherwise aren’t pressed for time, it’s fair to not bother with the tickets and leave it to those who need them.
If you must leave before 7.30 and don’t have a ticket, don’t panic. There are still workarounds. You can turn up to the city centre in daytime (before 2.00 p.m. should be safe) and just wait for the festival to start. It’s allowed, and nobody will mind. Or you can book a meal at pretty much any restaurant on the Peninsula and get a pass that way. And there is one other trick I’ll mention in a moment. For those determined to make the most of Lumiere, there is always a way.
It’s an all-new Lumiere (almost): Lumiere 2019 was distinguished as an anniversary festival with lots of popular installations returning from previous years. 2023, however, seems to have gone to the other extreme. Apart from the permanent installations, there is very little I see in the line-up this year that I recognise from previous years. So if you’re a Lumiere regular, this time it’s going to be a bit of a lottery.
Which isn’t a bad thing, of course. Whilst some of the most popular installations are welcomed back in future years, some of the best experiences are the installations I’d never heard of that wowed me. And there’s often no knowing where you’ll find them to: some in the prime locations and some outlying ones. There’s always a few installations that are a bit “meh”, but it’s the unexpected gems that make this worth it.
It’s at Bishop Auckland as well as Durham: Possibly the most ambitious part of Lumiere 2021 was the installations in various locations over County Durham. That made sense at the time, because the City of Culture bid being made was for County Durham, and not just the city. It would have required a very committed festival to have repeated that again this year.
However, they’re doing the next best thing: a single satellite hub at Bishop Auckland, with four installations. I like this choice; I’m coming to the view that Bishop Auckland is quite under-rated. Even if we don’t count Kynren, places such as Auckland Castle and Auckland Tower I think don’t get as much of a look-in as they should do. And there is a bonus that it’s possible to see both this and Durham. In 2021, it was near-impossible to see all of Lumiere from Barnard Castle to Seaham, even with a car. But it shouldn’t be too hard to pop to and from Bishop Auckland on the bus if you want the complete festival.
No viaduct installations: One small observation I’ve made is that that for possible the first time in the history of Lumiere, there’s nothing in the viaduct area of the city (that’s west of the centre). Not sure why they’re done that. Maybe Artichoke decided there was a better festival feel concentrating everything outside the centre to the north and east of the city centre. Or it might come down to practicalities – after all, North Road is currently in a state of chaos until they get this new bus station fixed. Whatever the reason, this time there’s nothing west of Framwellgate Bridge, for better or worse. Make of that what you will.
It’s still got unnecessarily pretentious publicity: Yeah, I know, what are you supposed to do? 99% of people coming to Lumiere are after bright lights that look pretty, but you can’t exactly write 32 identical blubs for installations that say “Come and look at these bright lights that look pretty”. But I still wince when I read the descriptions that painstaking go into the deep and profound meaning of the installation. That might go down well with the crowd at the Baltic, but anything that is not immediately obvious to somebody looking at the installation gets ignored in favour of “Whoo pretty lights”.
I honestly don’t know how it should be handled, but I do think Artichoke does sometimes feel embarrassed about a crowd whose feedback rarely extends beyond “Whooo” and try too hard to give it more meaning. If that’s the case, don’t. You can unashamedly be an event that’s lots of fun without needing to be profound.
Website eurgh: One thing I do need to warn you is that the website is one of the worst designs I’ve seen. It’s been a massive faff navigating the site to find out what’s on where, mostly down to a map that has lots of pins but don’t tell you which location has which installation. Meanwhile, the list of installations gives the name of location but no easy link to a map. How are visitors to the city supposed to know where “The Ogden Centre of Fundamental Physics” is? Sorry, this is my software testing day job coming through, but a bit of effort to plonk some users in front of a screen and see how they take to it would have done a lot of good.
Haven’t tried the app yet, it might be better. There’s also the paper programme, but I don’t know how much you have to pay for that. But really don’t count on the website to get you around. (Update: I’ve just found a more readable map, hidden away here.)
Unofficial Lumiere: I wish the official festival would do more to celebrate this and encourage this – but one of the nicest touches is from various houses and businesses doing their own things without the help of anybody. Do keep an eye out for these, because sometimes you don’t need a big budget to produce something memorable – just an inspired idea.
Wednesday: Finally, a reminder of Lumiere’s worst-kept secret. If you want to see Lumiere before 7.30 without a ticket or simply don’t like crowds, Wednesday is test night – and it’s almost as good as the real thing. About 75% of Lumiere is in action with 5% of the people. The only thing you do need to be aware is that they tend to shut up shop around 8.00 to 9.00 instead of going onwards until 11.00. Do consider this: for a lot of people, I think this is the better option than the proper event.
And I think that’s it. Now let’s get on to highlights.
What I’m looking forward to seeing:
Since this is almost entirely a a new line up, this will be a shorter list than usual. Not because I’m expecting fewer good things, but because there’s less knowing where they’ll be. I’m leaving the permanent installations (benches, heron etc.) as most Durham people know these very well, but out of the few things I do recognise and a few precedents, here’s what I’m betting on:
Universal Loom
Durham University has been an enthusiastic partner for Lumiere from the outset, and as a result the recently-built Ogden Centre (look for Durham University Library if you’re not sure) has been a regular feature. Its shape has been ideal for an installation with some very clever optical illusions of moving walls opening up to the stars in previous years. The other notable thing – not an issue for many people but a big deal for anyone with a grasp of science – is that the Physics Department make damn well sure that what they project on their building is actual physics, and not pseudoscientific gobbledygook that plagues other parts of the arts world.
This one is computational cosmology themed, but if you have no idea what computational cosmology is, don’t worry. These animations look great whether or not you understand what it’s supposed to be. Not sure if they’re using the same music they used the last two times, but Isobel Waller-Bridge’s score is a proper banger. This is probably my hot favourite outside the Peninsula.
Constellations
Up with the all-time iconic images of Lumiere has to be the whale in the River Wear looking down from Elvet Bridge. A lot of Lumiere’s success has come down to making the most of new innovations in light technology, and it turned out that projecting a light image on to a wall of water spray was one of the most stunning images from a decade’s worth of festivals. So now we have something similar over at Baths Bridge. This time, it’s another science one, with the cosmos and a black hole. Hopefully this one also bears a resemblance to actual science (and if they don’t, I fully expect the entire Physics depart to show and and scream “No, you idiot, that’s not how back holes work!”), but there’s a lot to be done here. The cosmos is a beautiful thing.
Lampounette
I’m not going to list every old installation coming back, but the giant desk lamps earn a mention here because this became one of the more memorable images of last year’s Lumiere. Basically does what it says on the tin: lighting up an open space with upscaled versions of the ubiquitous piece of office furniture, except that office lights are white and this makes liberal use of a changing colour pallette. It’s on the opposite side of the River Wear this time at Freemans Quay (also know as outside the swimming baths).
Liquid Geometry
Now we go to the prize spot of Palace Green. Crown of Light was an iconic image of the walls of Durham Cathedral in the first three Lumieres, and since then there are been many other projections which (with one exception) have not disappointed. And last year’s Day of the Dead themed installation, In Our Hearts Blind Hope, was I think the best one ever. Whoever’s got the spot this year has a hard act to follow.
But Liquid Geometry was one of the greatest unexpected hits of the last Lumiere. As I’ve mentioned many times, you can pull off some breathtaking 3D images that are simply optical illusions, and this one transformed trees along the banks of the River Wear into all sorts of shape – something that no photo can do justice to. My understanding is that, unlike previous Palace Green installations that used the front of the Cathedral, this will use all four sides of Palace Green. The challenge? Previously, 3D illusions have worked at a distance – will the same trick work against the closer walls of the Cathedral, Castle, Palace green Library and the Debating Chamber? Look forward to finding out.
Pulse Topology
Apart from Palace Green, the other prime spot is inside Durham Cathedral. In 2021, this was a notable (albeit sensible) omission from the programme, but now it’s back. This is a series of light on the ceiling which I am told interacts with the heartbeats of the participants. This quite an abstract concept and there’s not much to do here except turn up and see, but the standard inside Durham Cathedral has generally been very good.
Lumiere is actually making quite heavy use of Durham Cathedral this time – I count an unprecedented five in the Cathedral grounds (six if you count Palace Green). But the one in the nave is always considered the centrepiece. Good luck to anyone entrusted with the high expectations. Such as …
Diamond Garden
Mick Stephenson is probably the longest-running contributor to Lumiere – and with good reason. Lumiere run a scheme called Brilliant for local artists to apply for commissions. Mick Stephenson was one of them, but whilst most recipients have their moment of glory, Mick Stephenson has earned a huge local popularly and come back year after year. He’s heavily used a theme of recycled bottles over the years (something you often don’t notice unless you’re standing up close), but he has found so many different ways do do this and come up with landmark images of Lumiere time after time.
For once, it looks like it’s something without his signature bottle theme, but it’s staying on the environmental theme with renewable energy. Yet to find out how it relates to diamonds, but with such a good record there’s high expectations here.
Planetoïds
Most of the installations that go into my pick are based on returning artists, or locations with a good track record, or similar installations in previous years. It is rare for me to pick something simply because I like the sound of it, but Planetoïds has made it on to the list. I always felt that Lumeire doesn’t make enough of the streets joining up different location and given a better impression of one continuous festival. Also they look pretty cool in the photos. And apparently these refract light, which is always promising for something beyond what the photos show. It’s on South Bailey (that’s the road southwards from the Cathedral used to exit the city centre).
The Drop
And finally, a highlight from Bishop Auckland. Out of the four installations on offer there, Auckland Tower looks the coolest. Auckland Tower is a recent addition to Bishop Auckland, and this, I understand had divided opinion. I know some people think it looks too modern for the area. I like it myself, and I don’t think the modern look is a big deal on the high street; the grounds of Auckland Castle might have been a different matter, but it’s not there. But I digress. Whatever your views on the modern structure, it looks ideal for the light show planned for it, and expect this to be the centrepiece of Lumiere at Bishop Auckland.
And I think that’s enough to get you going. Testing/previews Wednesday, then it’s festival proper Thursday to Sunday. Have fun.
Chris Neville-Smith's blog on theatre 
