'When is Durham Lumiere 2019?' was a question people were asking as soon as the last event finished. After all, Durham Lumiere is one of the highlights not just of Durham's events calendar, but of the rest of Britain too as it draws visitors from across the UK.
Durham Lumiere 2019 is on Thursday November 14 until Sunday November 17. The event is always hugely popular, with Durham's darkened streets filled with visitors wanting to see the illuminated artworks. The key areas such as Palace Green are especially busy, with queues waiting to go inside Durham Cathedral. In all, 240,000 visitors went to see Durham Lumiere at the last event in 2017.
As well as visiting Durham for the Lumiere, you can also get involved and potentially get your own artwork idea created and lit up as one of the Durham Lumiere 2019 installations - even if you've never had any experience creating art before. To find out how you can enter, read up about the Durham Lumiere Brilliant competition.
When do Durham Lumiere 2019 tickets go on sale?
Durham Lumiere 2019 tickets haven't been announced yet; however, you don't need to buy them as Durham Lumiere tickets are usually free, and simply allow the bearer to be able to go into the key areas ahead of the main crowds of general admission visitors. They do get booked up quickly, however.
Run by events company Artichoke, Durham Lumiere is biennial - once every two years. It was originally going to be a one-off event all the way back in 2009, but it proved to be so popular that organisers decided that Durham Lumiere would become a regular fixture in the Durham events calendar. Durham Lumiere attracts world class artworks, such as Pablo Valbuena’s Methods and Adam Frelin’s White Line. From its roots in Durham, Lumiere has also now travelled to several other UK cities, including London and Lumiere Derry~Londonderry in 2013.
As a special way to mark the fact that it is the 10th anniversary of Durham Lumiere, the event will see several of the most popular light-based artworks return to the city. Of course, a number of Lumiere artworks have already become permanent fixtures in Durham city, including the illuminated Durham Lumiere heron that is now permanently perched above the Wear, lit up at night.