The time has come, Light Night Leeds is about to transform the city into a dazzling array of illuminated artworks.
In case you’ve been living under a rock, Light Night Leeds is the UK’s largest annual arts and light festival that will return this Wednesday 22 and Thursday 23 October 2025 from 6 – 10pm.
Celebrating its 21st year in the city, this year’s festival will welcome a mesmerising array of new creations as well as some popular artworks from previous years making a comeback.
With a colossal programme of artworks to view, we’ve highlighted ten of the best pieces covering all locations which you won’t want to miss out on.
Portals: The Machine of Worlds
Where: Leeds Civic Hall, Millennium Square
When: Wednesday and Thursday, 6.45 – 10pm
Portals: The Machine of Worlds is a visual and sensory journey through imaginary worlds. Led by a mysterious hot air balloon and incorporating fantastical imagery from books in the British Library’s collection by writers including HG Wells and Jules Verne, we are invited to enter universes of science, illusion and discovery.
Each portal reveals a new reality, from the discovery of stars or the invention of telescopes to spaceships, unknown planets and extraordinary creatures.
One Second Lovestory
Where: Queens Hotel, City Square
When: Wednesday and Thursday, 6.45 – 10pm
People rush past each other on the train station platform in the morning, moving closer then apart. Everyone has their eyes glued to their path to reach their destination on time.
The everyday routine of two people is suddenly interrupted when their eyes meet and time stops. Dirk Rauscher has adapted and extended his animated graphic novel especially for The Queens Hotel, adjacent to Leeds train station.
Spirograph Reimagined
Where: Brodrick Hall, Leeds City Museum
When: Wednesday and Thursday, 6 – 10pm
Celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Spirograph toy which was originally invented by Leeds engineer Denys Fisher. Many of us have fond childhood memories of creating satisfyingly perfect hand-drawn roulette curves.
In the magnificent circular hall of the City Museum, a visual animation unfolds with analogue patterns evolving into dynamic digital shapes which rotate, pulse, appear and disappear, eventually disintegrating before our eyes.
Beacon
Where: St John The Evangelist’s Church, 23 New Briggate
When: Wednesday and Thursday, 6 – 10pm
Susie MacMurray often makes work that deals with binaries: internal/external, darkness/light, body/self, certainty/doubt. Her process tries to find balance within conflicting elements. Beacon is a site specific artwork for Leeds’ oldest church, St John’s, with glowing, bodily coils entwined around its central pillars.
You May Find Yourself in a Beautiful House
Where: Headrow House
When: Wednesday and Thursday, 4pm – 12am
The entrance to Headrow House houses a digital exhibition of their iconic rooftop neon signs from the last decade. It features song lyrics from the likes of Talking Heads, Whitney Houston, The Streets and more.
Additionally, on Wednesday only, you are invited to relax in Solas, an audio-visual listening space inspired by the Irish word for light, brightness and illumination. With live visuals and ambient DJs, Solas is an enchanting place to leave your worries behind and immerse yourself in a sanctuary of music and light.
Molecular Clouds
Where: Hyatt Hotel, Sovereign Square
When: Wednesday and Thursday, 6.45 – 10pm
This interactive projection explores themes of climate change through mesmerising imagery. It reveals greenhouse gases which are invisible to the naked eye and invites us to actively engage with the molecules as they float up into the atmosphere. The artwork evokes the natural world through exquisitely drawn images of the trees, accompanied by the sounds of nightingales.
Connection
Where: The Churchyard of Leeds Minster
When: Wednesday and Thursday, 6 – 10pm
Connection explores the deep, unseen bond between a tree and the earth from which it draws life. Delicate threads trace invisible flows of energy and water, weaving a luminous link between roots and branches. Crafted onsite amongst mature trees in the grounds of Leeds Minster, Ensing has created a space for quiet contemplation and harmony.
The Relic of Mirchwood Forest
Where: Churchyard of St John The Evangelist’s Church
When: Wednesday and Thursday, 6 – 10pm
Here reside the last living ferns of Mirchwood, an ancient mythical forest driven to extinction purely by being forgotten. As its stories stopped being told, its trees vanished one by one. Now all that remains is protected in an enchanted terrarium, a living shrine to the primordial wisdom of plant life.
Living Lamp Posts
Where: Roaming between Albion Place and King Edward Street
When: Wednesday and Thursday 6.30–7pm, 7.45–8.15pm, 9–9.30pm
Standing at over ten feet tall, these noble and elegant Victorian lamp posts shine a quirky light on Leeds. Need a light? They can help with that. Trouble seeing in the dark? Let them be your guide.
To find out more, take a look at the Light Night website for all the installations across the city.
Read more: The Leeds Light Night event with circus workshops, UV face painting and a silent disco
Featured image – Light Night Leeds / Leeds City Council
