Bullring & Grand Central shine bright as Festival of Light returns to Birmingham
Hammerson’s free outdoor immersive experience, Festival of Light, recently returned to Bullring and Grand Central for a second year. This year’s event was its most breath-taking yet, with five installations by artists from around the World, transforming some of Birmingham’s most famous outdoor spaces.
The art installations included: ‘Neon Angel Wings’ by Carla O’Brien, the renowned visual artist based in Melbourne, which provided visitors with a unique photo opportunity; and ‘With Love’, a double-decker sized illuminated heart that translated visitors’ pulses into a love song for all to hear. Bullring’s St Martin’s Square played host to ‘Talk to the Skies’, an interactive installation that converted visitors’ voice messages into light and sound pulses that rocketed across the ground and up into the skies. The event ran from 24 January to Sunday 2 February.
Festival of Light will transfer to Hammerson’s flagship destination Westquay, Southampton, on Valentine’s Day.
Raymund McManus, Group Events Strategy Manager,said: “More and more customers are looking for a real experience when they visit our destinations, and that is what Festival of Light is all about. This year’s event is bigger and better, with exciting world class art installations that you just can’t get anywhere else. Events like this really work for us, not only driving footfall, but also attracting people from further away, including visitors that might not have come to Bullring & Grand Central before. We have a fantastic schedule of events planned for 2020, across our portfolio, so this is just the start.”
Festival of Light played a prominent role in Bullring’s Chinese New Year celebrations on Saturday 25thJanuary. A lion and dragon procession journeyed through the destination, with traditional fan and umbrella dances entertaining the destination’s visitors. In Grand Central, a dedicated Wish Tree has been placed for shoppers and travellers to add their new year wishes to.
ENDS
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Notes to Editors
Hammerson
Hammerson create vibrant, continually evolving spaces, in and around thriving European cities, with a focus on flagship retail destinations and Premium Outlets. As of 30thJune 2019, our portfolio of high-quality venues had a value of £9.5 billion and includes 21 flagship destinations, 12 convenient retail parks and investments in 20 premium outlet villages, through our partnership with Value Retail and the VIA Outlets joint venture. Key retail venues include, Bullring & Grand Central, Birmingham, Bicester Village, Oxfordshire, Freeport Lisboa Fashion Outlet, Lisbon, Dundrum Town Centre, Dublin; and Les Terrasses du Port, Marseille. We manage over 2,000 brand relationships and during trading hours, over 80,000 people visit our shopping centres hourly across our flagship destinations in the UK, France & Ireland.