Steel City looks to set shining example on first Light Night

The arts event seems to have become such an annual fixture in six short years that it would be difficult to imagine an autumn in Leeds without it.

The origins of the event do not stretch back all that far – Light Night was the brainchild of Jean Blaise, the founder of the Research Centre for Cultural Development in France, although his concept was called Nuit Blanche, white night. The idea of the first event, back in 1984, was that it would see every gallery, museum and bookshop in the city of Nantes open until midnight – or later – and turn the whole city into a “performance and carnival venue”.

In 2005 Bradford had bid and failed to win the Capital of Culture. The Department for Culture, Media & Sport at the time recognised the effort of a number of UK cities that had made the shortlist and made funding available for cultural activities.

It was decided that the money would be best spent on a region-wide festival, Illuminate. York, Leeds, Sheffield and Hull all joined Bradford in Illuminate, a year-long festival that culminated in a Yorkshire city’s first Light Night.

Predictably, some might argue, despite the fact that Bradford originated the project, the opportunity was not seized by that city’s leaders, but by those making decisions about culture in Leeds.

The city which is home to Northern Ballet, Opera North and the West Yorkshire Playhouse, saw the potential in Light Night, an event which saw cultural houses leave their doors open late into the night, and embraced it. Funding was poured into the event and it has become a staple of Leeds’ autumn cultural programme.

York also decided to do something with the energy and enthusiasm created by the first Light Night and now Illuminating York is an annual fixture.

Bradford has no such celebration.

Sheffield, however, is to be added to the list of cities that embrace Light Night and make the most of the evenings becoming darker, earlier.

Tomorrow night Sheffield will host its first Light Night since its involvement in that first event back in 2006.

Community arts organisation Art in the Park is running the event.

“The city centre will be animated, lit up and celebrated for one night only and we want to invite people to come and see Sheffield in a different light,” said Luisa Golob, Art in the Park’s chief executive.

More than 30 artists are running events and workshops across the city centre.

The grand opening will be at the Millennium Gallery at 4pm, with music and dance from Concord Youth Music.

The Magic Lantern Film Club will lead people on an exploration of some of Sheffield’s coolest hidden places in a journey of light and shadows while Rooted in Steel will merge the barriers between contemporary visual, audio and conceptual art with a creative and interactive community exhibition at CADS.

The hope is that, like Leeds and York, Sheffield will take full advantage if there is enthusiasm in the city – 2013 is a pilot year for the event. The aim is to run it next year on a larger scale across the city

Full details www.art inthepark.org.uk/lightnight