Every year at about this time of year I get a weekend to myself when my husband goes home for a family birthday. Every year it tends to coincide with the Canary Wharf Winter Lights Festival and so I get bundled up and go and have a lovely little walk around Canary Wharf with my camera (and about a billion other people) for company.
For those less familiar with the Winter Lights Festival, it’s basically a trail of light installations around Canary Wharf. Some are permanent installations and others are temporary for the duration of the festival (around two weeks from the end of January running into February). As it tends to attract a lot of visitors, the set-up is similar to that of any commercial light trail – lots of signposting, lots of attendants with maps etc, the main difference being that this is completely free.
I got there a little later than I intended this year and having looked at a map I decided to skip the first six installations on the trail. At least from the photos they looked less interesting than the others – less of a wow factor than last year’s installations in the same place – and geographically they were further away from the main bulk at the end. If one were a cynic, one might say that there was more of an effort this year to concentrate people around Wood Wharf and the various food and drinks places there… this was probably to the detriment of the experience.
I started the trail with SOL, an exhibition in Crossrail Place Roof Gardens where illuminated version of the planets nestled among the plants and hung from the roof.
Next on the trail was Aether (below). When I got there the mesh cage overhead was gently lit up but it quickly gave way to a laser light show and pulsing lights worthy of any festival set. I’m surprised it didn’t come with a proper epilepsy warning to be honest. But all the kids were loving it.
At Colour Rush (below) I encountered quite possibly the worst Insta-mum I’ve seen in action. She was stage managing her own photoshoot of her son – “look up, not that far, down a bit, now, turn left a bit, not that much, take a step towards me, now do a fake laugh”, all while her young son was clearly over it. Now, I’m all for giving people a moment or two to take a photo without others in shot, but this was a lot.
If you want to queue for it, you can line up so that your hand can be the basis of the movements of At The Hand (above). I have no idea how it works as you just put your hand in a certain place (presumably under some sort of camera?) and move it and the hand made of lights copies the movement exactly. Fun. Potentially rude.
The final piece on the trail is located in the middle of Eden Dock and is a moving projection onto water. Super hypnotic and would have been very calming, were it not for all the other people there.
Overall, I had a nice walk out, but I didn’t think it was as good as last year’s event, the installations were generally less visually impressive and I think perhaps the volume of people got to me by the end.
