illuminating York festival to go biennial

York’s annual four day festival, illuminating York, is set to go biennial from next year.

The festival, which uses a combination of light displays and art to accent the city, will become the centrepiece of the city’s new international media arts festival, the York Mediale.

illuminating York first took place in 2009 and has been a yearly occurrence since, but organisers at Make It York have expressed a desire to make it a bigger affair, hence the decision to host it on a larger scale every two years at the arts festival. 

Group travel organisers should note that the announcement means this year’s event will not be taking place as previously planned.

York Mediale: what can groups expect? 

Planned for October 2018, the York Mediale will feature a range of performances, installations, workshops and large scale, high profile commissions.

The festival will also involve what’s described as boundary pushing art, cutting-edge technology, and audience participation.

The event will take place every two years, with illuminating York playing a major part and keeping its original name – so visitors will still be able to visit the city to see York’s most beautiful and historic buildings lit up in fascinating ways.

More about the event

York Mediale will be led by creative director, Tom Higham and will be delivered through a new community interest company, working closely with the York Guild of Media Arts and in partnership with a range of organisations across York, the UK and internationally.

Commenting on the announcement, managing director at Make It York, Steve Brown, said: “Delivering quality festivals needs time, resource and funding and our aim now is to focus on creating the very best international festival for York in 2018.  Our commitment to enhancing illuminating York will be a crucial part of that.”

For more information, visit www.illuminatingyork.org.uk.