A visitor to Light Night 2014

One of our volunteer blog reporters Mandi Lynsdale visited the city on Light Night 2014 to share with us what this arts and cultural event was all about…….

The whole of Leeds appeared to be awake, on the evening of 3rd October 2014, on the 10th anniversary of Light Night.
Meandering up from a bus stop past the Leeds Grand Theatre and through The Light, the first inkling to be had that anything special was going on in Leeds that night was the presence in The Light of the large suspended mobile on which the public could change images. Just around the corner of The Light and down into Millennium Square, one couldn’t move for families and individuals crowding the streets and pavements on a Friday night well after their weekly commitments were finished and the whole weekend stretched out in front of them.
A prominent trailer lined with magic-looking equipment was early on in the line-up of events in front of the Town Hall. This metallic concoction was revealed to be the base of the March of the Robots, featuring knowledgeable inventors who answered many an unanswered question about robots.
A nearby event was the equally interactive and inspirational BodyRemixer which encouraged the public to be voluntarily projected onto the Leeds Art Gallery in such a way that they were split into thirds and meshed with segments of others to produce a comical effect. In addition Leeds’ citizens to be involved in this through sending images via Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
A notable throng was next observed, rooting itself on the steps of Leeds Art Gallery and Leeds Library, as passers-by observed members of the public perched on the plinth and wondered “what’s going on here”. Further, like a yoyo the crowd around the steps of these historic buildings gathered and dispersed every hour. Though it was perhaps impossible at the time to decipher which act was which, it seems clear to someone reading the programme that this act appears more than likely to have been the Juggling Inferno who did indeed, in common with every other organisation involved in the night, put on a dazzling display.
After the stands food and drink stands where those who felt a little peaky could recuperate before diving back into culture, what was arrived at next was the Town Hall. Apart from the fact that its steps were the perfect place for children to perform as part of the Hunslet Club Dance Troupe, the Town Hall proved to be the perfect place to meet long-lost friends. Indeed so busy was it that the likely hood was you were going to meet a least one person you knew.
In common with every inch of the buzzing city centre on Friday, there certainly was plenty to explore in the Town Hall; including the 28th Leeds International Film Festival, the tour of the Town Hall’s towers, and also look around the Town Hall’s courts and basement. Regrettably audience members faced the risk of having to choose between which of these they saw, partly because the second required a booking for entry. In opting for the tour of the Town Hall’s courts and basement of cells (last used in 1993), I was also able to witness the transformation that these otherwise quite creepy quarters underwent with the help of Leeds Light Night with Luxembourg put on by Pyramid of Arts in the form of a wormhole.
Coming out of this prison cell tour from the side entrance of the Town Hall meant that going to the Leeds Gallery and Leeds Museum was the natural next step. But first another trip to the surprisingly-late opened café at the Leeds Gallery was called for, as some members of the crowds gathered there to reflect on what they’d seen so far. The inside of the Leeds Library and Leeds Art Gallery was again, a lively as its surroundings. Every nook and cranny was covered in evidence of the spectacular evening that was afoot; evidence which included arts exhibitions, readings, discussions and the Light seeking Light installation by Inkwell.

Looking around the gallery indeed it was difficult not to become entranced and enlightened by each of these contributions, each of which made up the event.
In conclusion it seems apparent that this blog article didn’t even have room to touch on other city-wide events, for instance the re-arrival of the Emett Machines in Leeds until mid-November 2014, that were part of Light Night merely signifies the fact that the arts scene in a prominent city like Leeds simply cannot be fully appreciated in entirety in one night. What I will also add is that Light Night is undoubtedly a brilliant example of a comprehensive arts event. Yes. A creative feast of a treat was put on for, and enjoyed by, each one of those who attended the large whirl-wind of an event on 3rd October. An event defined modestly as ‘Light Night’.