Awe-inspiring fire-breathing dragon for Light Night Leeds festival

The awe-inspiring dragon will be projected across The Queen’s Hotel on City Square in one of the showpiece events at next month’s two-night cultural spectacular.

The creation, which is called Forgotten, is the brainchild of Belgian artists Create Studio.

It tells the story vengeful dragon imprisoned for centuries in a medieval dungeon before escaping in modern-day Leeds.

Using the latest 3D video mapping, CGI and live pyrotechnics, Forgotten wowed crowds at Ghent Light Festival in Belgium when it debuted earlier this year.

Forgotten will be one of more than 60 captivating installations which will transform well-known locations around the city centre including Victoria Leeds, Kirkgate Market, Leeds Town Hall and Leeds Civic Hall.

Light Night Leeds will take place from 6pm to 11pm on October 4 and 5.

Thibault Dochy, creative director at Create Studio, said: “We were eager to make something that people would remember and talk about a year from now and say ‘remember that dragon last year?”

“Classical video mappings are very impressive but they don’t really tell a story and audiences want to see things they recognise or can talk about. With this in mind we took a different approach.

“We sat down and, since we’re still just grown up children, all that came to mind was ‘dragons’ and live pyro so we just went along with that and made a fire spitting dragon.”

This year, Light Night’s headline supporter is Leeds 2023.

Other installations at this year’s event include Chaos, a projection on Leeds Civic Hall exploring the relationship between science and nature.

It will also feature Bouquet D’Abat Jour, a series of giant illuminated lampshades on Victoria Gardens brought to Leeds by French artists TILT.

Leeds City Council leader Coun Judith Blake, said: “Over the past 14 years, Light Night Leeds has continued to evolve, growing into an event of such impressive ambition and creativity that it has become one of the benchmarks for culture and innovation in Leeds and beyond.

“As Light Night once again brings thousands of people together, we hope that the event is not only a celebration of culture and artistic endeavour, but also of the unity, diversity and collective civic pride which are part of the foundation of Leeds.”

For more details, visit: lightnightleeds.co.uk or follow @LightNightLeeds on Twitter