|
Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2017 8:49:13 GMT
|
|
209 posts
|
Post by Flim Flam on Sept 12, 2017 9:26:18 GMT
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!
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2017 10:07:24 GMT
I didn't experience any issues at King Cross, although I was there around 4/5pm so its a shame to hear how bad it got later into the evening. The queues at Grosvenor Square were huge though. I was put off by them so didnt bother queuing, after making the walk over to that area for that one attraction it was a bit of waste of time. Leicester Square was a bit mad too, I think they needed to limit people into the Square itself and maybe direct traffic, so it was separate entrance/exits (or did they do that?) I'm sure with a year out they will have been able to address issues in planning and crowd management. The crowd management on Regent Street was notably impressive I thought.
|
|
31 posts
|
Post by misspiggy1979 on Sept 24, 2017 14:44:07 GMT
Thx for posting i thoroughly enjoyed the last luminere festival - dispite the queues for the underground, managed to walk everywhere by foot!😀
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2017 15:08:17 GMT
Thx for posting i thoroughly enjoyed the last luminere festival - dispite the queues for the underground, managed to walk everywhere by foot!😀 I used to go everywhere on the underground, but only in the last year discovered how walkable everywhere really is. And for the long stuff like Kings Cross > Hyde Park etc I Boris Bike it. £2 for 24hr bike access vs £2/underground visit has the potential to save alot of money!
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2017 17:13:12 GMT
It seems to so obvious now in retrospect, especially given how long Santander Cycles have been around, but the tube is so avoidable.
|
|
2,740 posts
|
Post by n1david on Jan 18, 2018 8:01:21 GMT
Worth bumping this thread as Lumiere starts tonight and runs until Sunday. Some roads will be closed, buses will be diverted and some tube stations may close from time to time if very busy. TfL’s travel advice is here and strongly worth reading if you’re going to be in Central London over the next few days: tfl.gov.uk/status-updates/major-works-and-events/lumiere-london-2018As for me, we’ll i had exactly the same experience as Flim Flam did at KX last time, so I’ll be trying to avoid the event, but I do seem to have theatre bookings tonight and Saturday, so will have to work around them...
|
|
4,020 posts
|
Post by Dawnstar on Jan 18, 2018 13:50:41 GMT
TfL’s travel advice is here and strongly worth reading if you’re going to be in Central London over the next few days: tfl.gov.uk/status-updates/major-works-and-events/lumiere-london-2018As for me, we’ll i had exactly the same experience as Flim Flam did at KX last time, so I’ll be trying to avoid the event, but I do seem to have theatre bookings tonight and Saturday, so will have to work around them... 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.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 18, 2018 14:12:12 GMT
How long do you have to make the journey and how generally mobile are you? Is it worth walking to Holborn to hop on the Piccadilly line there, or walking down to Charing Cross/Embankment, getting the Northern line to Euston, then walking from there? I'm a big fan of walking the extra half mile or whatever if it makes getting on the tube a little easier, for instance if the alternative is battling Piccadilly Circus station on a Saturday night.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 18, 2018 14:31:03 GMT
Can you walk from Piccadilly Circus along Piccadilly to Green Park and get the Victoria line to Kings Cross?
|
|
4,968 posts
|
Post by Phantom of London on Jan 18, 2018 15:19:33 GMT
My only issue is that it’s on too short.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 18, 2018 16:19:25 GMT
My only issue is that it’s on too short. 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.
|
|
4,020 posts
|
Post by Dawnstar on Jan 18, 2018 17:23:52 GMT
How long do you have to make the journey and how generally mobile are you? Is it worth walking to Holborn to hop on the Piccadilly line there, or walking down to Charing Cross/Embankment, getting the Northern line to Euston, then walking from there? I'm a big fan of walking the extra half mile or whatever if it makes getting on the tube a little easier, for instance if the alternative is battling Piccadilly Circus station on a Saturday night. I do walk when possible. I'll be walking down from Kings Cross to the West End this evening. However after the show I'll only have c.25 mins to get back to Kings Cross to get the train I'm aiming for so I can't walk it in that time. I have considered Holborn but that's on TFL's busy list too so I don't want to dash up there only to find it's just as bad as Leicester Square.
|
|
4,361 posts
|
Post by shady23 on Jan 18, 2018 17:26:39 GMT
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!
|
|
4,020 posts
|
Post by Dawnstar on Jan 18, 2018 21:46:22 GMT
I needn't have worried about the tube. It was no busier than normal this evening. I had a look at the installation in Leicester Square about 7.15pm & that wasn't really busy either. There were plenty of people there, of course, but you didn't have to wait to go into the garden & it wasn't jam packed in there.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 19, 2018 8:59:39 GMT
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
|
|
543 posts
|
Post by freckles on Jan 19, 2018 11:00:58 GMT
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 There’s supposed to be a globe suspended above Oxford Circus, with projections on, but it was too windy to put it up last night.
|
|
|
Post by profquatermass on Jan 19, 2018 12:06:38 GMT
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?
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 19, 2018 14:26:19 GMT
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? Yes. Theres stuff all over London. Had you walked down to Piccadilly Circus you'd have seen a few - more impressive bits of projection mapping.
|
|
4,968 posts
|
Post by Phantom of London on Jan 20, 2018 0:33:10 GMT
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.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2018 12:57:50 GMT
I've got a couple of hours between shows today (seeing MMN at the Arts at 7.45pm). Anything worth seeing around the area?
Edit: oh sorry, just saw Dawnstar's tweet. Might have a walk then.
|
|
4,968 posts
|
Post by Phantom of London on Jan 21, 2018 18:48:00 GMT
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.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2018 20:03:14 GMT
I really wanted to see this yesterday but it was impossible. It's central London, it was expected to be crowded especially on a Saturday, and I thought I was ready for it but OH. MY. GOD! I've been visiting London for years and I had never seen THAT many people.
|
|
4,020 posts
|
Post by Dawnstar on Jan 21, 2018 21:17:34 GMT
I really wanted to see this yesterday but it was impossible. It's central London, it was expected to be crowded especially on a Saturday, and I thought I was ready for it but OH. MY. GOD! I've been visiting London for years and I had never seen THAT many people. 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.
|
|
27 posts
|
Post by mindy0monster on Jan 21, 2018 21:26:21 GMT
Disappointed not to see this. I could only manage today, but as we've been snowing most of the day I had to give up on plans to come in to London. Agree that it's the right time of year, they need the long dark evenings, but wish they could manage to make it last a week or more.
|
|