White Light Has Time in Lewes Light Festival

LewesLight is a Festival of Light which celebrates the culture, history and environment in and around Lewes and the South Downs through the medium of light, art and design. It is a community-orientated event which was born out of the UNESCO International Year of Light 2015. White Light supported this year’s Festival by supplying a range of lighting fixtures.

The Festival Community Co-ordinator is Phil Rose. He comments: “This is the third year we’ve run LewesLight and it was definitely the biggest one yet, with an estimated a footfall of over 10,000. Running the event alongside Festival Director Graham Festenstein, we had the idea to create a community festival which was all about Lewes. All of the services, from the volunteers to the lighting designers, is donated and our whole ethos is to create a community of learning and a supportive environment”.

This year, LewesLight featured 26 installations, all of which were positioned across town. Due to their different locations, each one had its own specific needs of access and power. Phil explains: “This year we tried to compact the route and make it a more streamlined experience for those attending. The theme was that of trade industry and commerce and this saw the route go from the town hall, along the most affluent parts of town, across the main bridge and onto the Cliffe area”.

It was on Cliffe High Street where the WL fixtures were utilised. Phil states: “Cliffe High Street is a Tudor Street with an array of independent shops. We wanted them to all come together holistically for the Festival and realised that lighting would be a way in which to achieve this. I actually spoke to WL’s Managing Director Bryan Raven at  this year’s PLASA Show about the project and he said the company would help in whatever way they could”.

When it came to lighting the street, Phil and the LewesLight team had to overcome the practicalities of working outdoors. He explains: “We realised that getting DMX cable in and out of shops would be impossible. Therefore we knew we needed to run a wireless system”.

As a result, Phil drew on 24 x CORE ColourPoint LED Uplighters. He comments: “Due to the ColourPoints being battery powered, they were ideal for outdoor usage and the fact that they are IP65 rated means they can be used in all weather conditions. The output was also really impressive and brought a street which is usually dead on a night alive with people of all ages”.

LewesLight also allows local students to work alongside lights in a practical situation. Phil states: “It’s important for us to allow students to plan with the designers, organise access, help with the rigging and set up as this is invaluable experience that is not available on other courses. It’s almost like a mini-apprenticeship for them: they manage the sites, liaise with the designers and premises to deliver the schemes. This year they totally surpassed themselves”.

The Festival ran from 13-15^th October and will return again next year. Phil adds: “This was another brilliant LewesLight and we were delighted with how all of the community came together to celebrate the town and its history. For us, the event should encourage people to think about lighting in a different way. We are extremely grateful to WL for helping us to achieve this and look forward to working with them again next year”.

Photos courtesy of James McCauley.