Art / Bristol Light Festival
Bristol Light Festival to expand for 2023
Bristol Light Festival will expand from six to 10 days in 2023, it has been announced. The festival will run from February 3-12, with an expanded programme that promises to include internationally renowned artists.
The organisers Bristol City Centre BID are aiming to build on the success of the event and cement it in the calendar for the next five years, helping to brighten up a dark, and for many, a quieter time of the year.
They commissioned an independent evaluation of the 2022 event, which has reported a number of sizeable economic and social benefits for Bristol.
170,000 visitors were drawn to the city to experience Bristol Light Festival, bringing an additional £3.4m spend to local businesses. 200 local jobs were created, as well as multiple volunteering and mentoring sessions for young people in the city.
Demonstrating the unique quality of the event, 88 per cent of attendees cited it as providing an opportunity they would not normally be able to access. And half of visitors walked or travelled by public transport to when exploring the city centre installations.
All of these statistics bode well for the expansion of the venture in future years, both in terms of its installations, visitor numbers and a meaningful boost for local hospitality businesses during a traditionally slower period.
“With the current economic landscape and our ongoing efforts to support businesses, our focus is to continue creating reasons to visit the city centre throughout the year,” explains Vicky Lee, head of Bristol City Centre BID.
“By committing to the event now, we are able to promote tourism and attract people from outside of the city to attend and we can start planning early to bring some of the world’s most renowned artists to the city. We look forward to revealing more information about the 2023 event towards the end of the year.”
To keep up to date with Bristol Light Festival news, and archive installations from previous years, visit www.bristollightfestival.org.
All photos: Andre Pattenden
Read more: In photos: Bristol Light Festival 2022
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