Friday 15 January 2016

Four-day Lumiere light festival opens in London

Some of London's most famous locations will be transformed by light installations for the Lumiere festival.
The free event, which is the biggest festival of its kind ever held in the capital, runs from 18:30 GMT to 22:30 GMT until 17 January
Elephant light installation at Regent Street
Elephantastic! by Topla, design copyright Catherine Garrett, in Regent Street


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Thirty locations will be illuminated around Piccadilly, Mayfair, King's Cross, Trafalgar Square and Westminster.
On Regent Street, a life-size animated elephant will appear from a dust cloud.
Janet Echelman's 1.8 London above Oxford CircusImage copyrightHannah McKay/PA
Image captionJanet Echelman's 1.8 London hovers above Oxford Circus
Visitors to Oxford Circus will see the multicoloured cloud of artist Janet Echelman's 1.8 London floating above them.
Patrice Warrener's The Light of the Spirit on the front of Westminster AbbeyImage copyrightBen Pruchnie/ Getty Images
Image captionPatrice Warrener's The Light of the Spirit on the front of Westminster Abbey
Patrice Warrener's The Light of the Spirit projects coloured light onto statues at Westminster Abbey.
And ethereal figures seem to fall through the air in St James's Square, where Cedric Le Borgne is showing Les Voyageurs (The Travellers).
Cedric Le Borgne's installation at St James SquareImage copyrightBen Pruchnie/ Getty Images
Image captionCedric Le Borgne's Les Voyageurs in St James's Square
The illuminations over the crowds in Piccadilly
Image captionThe illuminations float over the crowds in Piccadilly
Transport for London (TfL) have warned that roads will be closed and Tube stations will be busier than usual in the areas where the festival is being held.
A number of buses will be diverted or terminate early.
It has been created by producers Artichoke, who held a similar event in Durham.
As well as a "huge" production crew, the company has recruited volunteers from Team London, which supported the London Olympics, to help guide people around the installations.
"The arts should be free and available to everyone," Artichoke's director Helen Marriage told BBC London.
Aquarium at LumiereImage copyrightHannah McKay/PA
Image captionAquarium by Benedetto Bufalino and Benoit Deseille, in Grosvenor Square
The lights on some of London's more traditional buildings
Image captionThe lights brighten up some of London's more traditional buildingsBBC News