Luminere Light Festival returns in 2018

It was wonderful, in parts.
The West End part was really beautiful and I definitely will be going again. Loved Leicester Square and Piccadilly in particular.

However, I went to the King's Cross section one evening and it was a nightmare. The displays were located in the narrow section of lanes and new buildings just to the west of the station. Even though I arrived early the crowds were too large for the space and security gradually closed off some areas, as the congestion was becoming increasingly dangerous. People trying to get back to the station area, having seen the furthest displays, were therefore forced into one alley, making that section even more congested, especially as they were fighting against the people trying to head towards those displays.

Management then seemed to switch off some of the displays (as a safety measure I suppose?), but did not make any announcement (that I heard anyway), so some of the crowd who would have viewed the displays and then left, were instead just hanging around to see if the lights would go back on, leading to even more congestion.

They then closed the tube entrance, causing the large crowds to be forced to walk along Marylebone Road when trying to disperse.
Passing buses could not cope and so were not able to pick up most of the people at the bus stops and most eventually walked on to Euston etc, en masse.

So basically, I went there, got squashed in an alley with a mass of people, didn't see most of the displays, took ages to get back to the tube station, which was closed, waited for a bus, which did not stop, and then walked on to Euston. Very frustrating evening.
Hopefully they will re-think this section of the event this time!

Thx for posting i thoroughly enjoyed the last luminere festival - dispite the queues for the underground, managed to walk everywhere by foot!😀

It seems to so obvious now in retrospect, especially given how long Santander Cycles have been around, but the tube is so avoidable.

Thanks for the warning. I too have theatre booked this evening & Saturday, both of which involve needing the get the Piccadilly Line between Leicester Square & Kings Cross, so the TFL information is worrying.

Can you walk from Piccadilly Circus along Piccadilly to Green Park and get the Victoria line to Kings Cross?

Considering some of the effort and coordination that goes into it, it’s a shame it doesn’t run for a week or so. Having said that, closing Picadilly Circus and other roads and areas can’t be cheap for 4 evenings.

I saw a preview of it at Leicester Square yesterday and, very randomly, I had already seen some of what they had at the Enchanted Parks event in Gateshead.
Small world!

This was quite underwhelming compared to 2016 for me. Got through most of what I wanted to see in one evening, 2016 took two. Oxford Circus being the biggest disappointment, no installation per say, just some black and while tonal projecion. Granted it takes a lot of time and effort to program and map the same image on to 4 slightly different surfaces.
General opinion I heard around it all was of underwhelm and disinterest. Shame.
Also a lot more manageable in terms of numbers of people. Maybe a lot of people were put off by the volume of people previously, or maybe they’re waiting til Friday/Saturday nights

I was at Oxford Circus yesterday evening and there was a single projection against one shop and loads of stewards hanging around with no crowds to control. I've not seen the event before - presumably there is usually more than that?

I love anything creative, imaginative, novel and offbeat so this is right up my street.. I love anything with light 💡 or water 💦 or both. This is great.

After seeing the Birthday party I had a walk around Mayfair, Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square. No one can say this isn’t inspired and is the perfect tonic for a bleak cold January. So with no trains to London tomorrow from where I live, means unfortunately this is the end of the festival for me, hence why I mentioned earlier in this threat that this should have run longer, like a month, so I could take it all in.

Gee, really not the day to go into town to catch this, a day you just want to just stay indoors in the warm and dry. Reviewed in today’s newspapers, which is a bit too late.

Anyway that is even more reason to host this over a longer period. I was also thinking this could be like the Chelsea Flower 🌹 Show, by which I mean where each display could be judged and given a gold, silver and bronze award 🥇 this would raise the bar, also with this there is a crossover with theatre and potential lighting and projection designers can achieve more recognition, which only can be a force for good.

I spent 2 hours between MMNs yesterday going round Lumiere installations with my mother & we didn't think the crowds were too bad, though we didn't try going inside the Leicester Square garden as I'd already been in on Thursday when it was quieter, just looked from the outside. We went to Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Chinatown, Piccadilly Circus & the Royal Academy then hopped on a tube from Green Park to Victoria & went to Westminster Cathedral & Westminster Abbey before walking along the river past the London Eye then back into the West End. We enjoyed it & apart from when we were walking into the wind down Victoria Street the weather wasn't too bad either. I agree with Phantom of London that it's a good time of year to have it on, when all the Christmas stuff is over.