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Liverpool celebrated the arts and culture bonaza that is Light Night, as the city basked in glorious sunshine and an equally dazzling array of events took place; ranging from large scale projections to workshops, comedy shows, arts and crafts, dancing, food markets and the late night galleries. Light Night really had something for everyone to enjoy.
With a mammoth 100 cultural events taking place across the city centre, thousands of art lovers seized the opportunity to try something new, see something different and unite together with friends and family to experience all that Liverpool’s ever evolving culture has to offer.
Light Night, which is produced by Open Culture Liverpool celebrated it’s ninth year in spectacular fashion, with the theme of ‘Transformation’ being envisaged fully in all the events on offer.
The event proved successful in providing platforms for artists and creative organisations to showcase what they do in a relaxed and engaging atmosphere.
Purple Revolver was on hand to capture some of the magic of this incredible evening of arts and culture – but unfortunately we couldn’t split ourselves into 50 pieces to see everything. Here’s some of our highlights.
Vote 100: The readers – Blackburne House
In a beautiful manor house setting, this politically charged event sought to raise awareness of the struggles women have faced throughout history to make their voices heard.
The venue was fizzing with activity and small pop up stalls – offering everything from pink gin cocktails to the classic cream tea. Men and women of all ages relaxed together in the sun whilst the Socialist choir performed 100 poems, verses and quotes written by 100 women through the ages for the audience to enjoy.
Food Hub – Bombed out Church
The newly refurbished Bombed out Church was looking radiant as it played host to a delightful food and drinks market. The serene setting with an intimate choir singing mellow pop songs, provided the perfect backdrop for local, independent food companies to sell their delicious produce.
Members of the public sipped wine on picnic blankets and deck chairs, surrounded by the smell of gourmet hotdogs and BBQ’s.
A range of stalls selling everything from Indian street food to traditional pies represented the diversity of culture in Liverpool. Outdoor fairy lights and well-kept flower beds were a attractive finishing touch to an already perfect location.
Dave, from the Wirral said: “Liverpool is the place to be for culture. It just seems to get better and better. I’ve been to similar events in other cities, but you don’t quite get the same magical atmosphere.”
Unlock the Bollywood Box with Movema – Anglican Cathedral
One of our favourite events of the night was a family friendly workshop hosted by world dance company Movema. Professional dancers presented an exciting Bollywood choreography to a large crowd at the breath-taking Anglican Cathedral, before inviting the audience to take part in their very own Bollywood movie production.
Dozens of children raced onto the make shift dancefloor to select a colourful scarf and readily followed the moves shown to them by experienced instructor, Maria Malone. One of the participating dancers said: “It was wonderful. A lot of fun. The energy was incredible.
“It’s very inclusive and everyone can get involved with some great dance training.”
Drum Clash 2.0 – Metropolitan Cathedral
After a whirlwind evening of amazing versatility, Purple Revolver checked in to one final event. By far the most exhilarating performance of the night, Drum Clash 2.0 really pulled out all the stops.
Despite being a modest sized group, the show really packed a punch, filling the entire surrounding area with powerful rhythms and dramatic light.
The audience was treated to the experience of hearing the heartbeat and power of the drum through changing shapes and shadows of light. The atmosphere was electric. With many guests wanting to stay behind at the end of the performance to find out how they could get involved in future performances.
We spoke to the composer Francisco Carrasco who enlightened us about the show’s origins and purpose. He said: “We combined a project we’ve been doing with Drum Clash and the context of Light Night and transformation.”
“The idea of the project was to bring together the women’s drum group, La Bamba, some of the artists from Clash and also additional elements, the LED’s.
“We’re are always trying to tell a story and that’s the idea of the whole show.”
Despite witnessing some fantastic events, we couldn’t make it to everything and we can’t wait for the excitement of next year.
Purple Revolver’s honourable mentions in dispatches…
Walking Upright
A 20 minute fast paced street performance at the Albert Dock, taking viewers on a transformative journey of our evolution. Featuring live music from digeridoos as well as digital sounds. The quirky theatre piece used their trademark comic and entertaining physical style to represent the ever evolving nature of the human race whilst providing award winning entertainment.
VR RCADE
A workshop hosted by VR RCADE, a virtual reality games arcade based in Liverpool city centre. The team of self-confessed gamer geeks gave the public an opportunity to explore virtual reality technology, a rapidly growing concept in the digital world, through immersive games.
Anamorphix
A 30 minute performance of 3D live light installation and performance by audio-visual artist Carlos Bernal. Described as ‘an immersive environment that will play with your perspective and reveal a new dimension through the process of anamorphosis’, this event seemed a very exciting concept.
A combination of LED bars and projection-mapped visuals over two giant screens, were sure to captivate the audience and show them something never seen before. It was held at Hinterlands, a brand new event space situated in Cains Brewery Village, Baltic Triangle. Purple Revolver will be sure to check it out soon.