Illuminated River - The First Four Bridges Are Now Lit!

July 2019

The first four bridges are now lit We are delighted that Illuminated River is now successfully realised across the first four bridges. If you haven’t yet had an opportunity to see Illuminated River in situ you can learn more about the artwork for London, Cannon Street, Southwark and Millennium bridges on our new website. The first four Illuminated River bridges will be seen by 60 million people a year – we hope you enjoy London’s new artwork. What’s On Our UNESCO-endorsed engagement programme offers many different ways to enjoy Illuminated River and connect with London’s riverside. Explore the range of free events and activities to suit all ages, interests and abilities such as boat trips, moonlit mudlarking, night sketching and night kayaking! Environment Illuminated River has been created using the latest LED lighting technology, which typically saves 50-70% energy compared with conventional lighting. This lighting replaces outdated and inefficient lighting on the bridges, providing a more long term and sustainable solution for lighting the Thames bridges at night. Illuminated River will also be switching off the lights (which currently run from dusk to dawn) at 2am and cutting direct light spill onto the river by 75%. Check out more about Illuminated River and the environment here including the first ever luminance surveys of the Thames, bat and bird surveys, infographics and an interactive environmental summary. New Music for the Illuminated River bridges To celebrate the completion of the first bridges the Illuminated River Foundation has collaborated with the Guildhall School of Music and Drama to commission a diverse collection of new music inspired by the bridges – you can listen to the compositions here. #MusicForIR