Full Circle

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Back in 2009 (a year when retirement wasn't even on the horizon) I visited the first ever Durham Lumiere Festival. It left quite an impression, not least of the Son et Lumiere depicting the history of Christianity in the North East. Indeed, I don't think I shall ever forget the images of the Lindisfarne Gospels projected onto the facade of the Cathedral against a haunting musical score. 

The Festival grew into a biennial success and I always intended to visit again. With its rise in popularity, however, it became a ticketed event and although tickets were free, there was inevitably a degree of organisation in obtaining them. Other things got in the way and suddenly 16 years had passed. I realised that if I was ever going to experience the event again, I really had to get online, click a couple of buttons and secure entry passes.

I did so a couple of months ago ensuring I could breathe a sigh of relief when a few weeks later it was announced that, because of local authority funding issues, this would be the last ever festival.

Despite a deluge of rain all day, Mister E and I moved ourselves into gear and arrived in Durham last Thursday as darkness was falling. It rained throughout our visit and although the light installations were impressive it was the River Wear in spate that most caught our attention, especially as flooding had put six of the exhibits out of operation! The organisers must have had some element of clairvoyance though because one piece on the riverside entitled Fire resembled a large burning bonfire with realistic sparks and shooting flames. It was hard not to be drawn in and feel its imaginary warmth.

Light benches along the river have been in permanent residency since the 2015 festival and last week the red aura beckoned but the dripping trees made us keep our distance. As ever the highlights were on Palace Green where a field of flowers bloomed in front of the Cathedral and inside a powerful sound and illumination experience echoed around the pillars, emphasising the grandeur of the vast nave.


The Garden of Shadows had been created on College Green where, despite my becoming wetter by the moment, I was mesmerised by a hologram of a moving tree. The artist's aim was apparently to capture the essence of life through the contrast of darkness and light in nature. I just loved the effects.

We moved on to eat. We were considerably damper than when we had arrived but I had come full circle and visited both the first and last Durham Lumiere.




Comments

Treaders said…
Absollutely stunning, but isn't it a shame it will be the last time!!!! Unless ... I wonder if some very rich anonymous person might step in!! You can but hope!
20 November 2025 at 08:12
Caree Risover said…
The announcement has sparked controversy, not least because of the numbers of people who have been attracted into the city because of it and yes, there is already speculation about something to replace it.
20 November 2025 at 13:30
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