Carlisle’s ‘City of Lights’ Returns

Preparations are underway for the return of Carlisle’s ‘City of Lights’ event this October.

The event will feature lighting of the city’s key historic landmarks and a spectacular Son-et-Lumiere experience at Carlisle Cathedral and Carlisle Castle.

Tickets are now on sale from the Carlisle Tourist Information Centre and on DiscoverCarlisle.co.uk. The event will be held over three evenings -Thursday 14, Friday 15 and Saturday 16 October.

Ticket holders will be able to enjoy the Son-et-Lumiere in two shows. The first held outside at Carlisle Cathedral, followed by the second at Carlisle Castle with sound and light projected on to the buildings transforming their facades.

The artwork ‘Life’ is designed to enable people to contemplate their own personal journeys and reflect upon life on today’s planet that occurs in a single 24-hour period. The audience is taken from Sunrise to Sunset, journeying through the beauty of planet earth, witnessing the sun, the oceans and the clouds.

The second artwork – at Carlisle Castle is a beautiful artwork created from the textures and forms, and colours of human creativity. Developed from collections at the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford the work is a celebration of the beauty of human life.

The artwork enables contemplation on our human existence in the creation of our planet and our human impact upon it, reflecting ecology, extinction and the beauty of the world around us. The sounds and textures of humanity, extinction and time is portrayed.

Sounds heard are musical pieces composed by David Harper who has used within his works recorded anthropological soundtracks from collections of the Pitt Rivers Museum. The artwork and visual imagery are created by artist Peter Walker who has interpreted collections from the Natural History Museum Oxford and the William Morris Museum, depicting nature and artistically highlighting core issues in the subject of life on earth.

City of Lights is organised by the Discover Carlisle team (Carlisle City Council) and Luxmuralis in association with Cumbria County Council, Carlisle Cathedral, Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery and English Heritage.

Photo: Credit Luxmuralis, Peter Walker