Blackburn Festival of Light

Alice Hiley

Visit now

Blackburn Festival of Light

17 December 2022

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

blackburn festival of light
Blackburn Festival of Light by Lancashire Telegraph.
Book now

*details provisional

Blackburn Festival of Light is a lantern parade created by and for the whole community. In just five years the festival has gone from a small-scale arts event to a staple in the town’s cultural calendar.

In 2021, Blackburn teamed up with festivals across the North to commission emerging light artists to make a new exhibit, as part of the SHINE programme. Further details about the 2022 instalment will be announced at a later date.

The event has a strong carnival feel. When the parade starts you can take part in the carol singing, or stand back and enjoy an onslaught of entertainment, from fire breathers, jugglers and baton twirlers to drummers on stilts, dancers and gymnasts. Have your face painted and grab your glowsticks – people go all out with their costumes! 

Each year there is an impressive range of lanterns, from soaring owls to growling polar bears. There are animated projections illuminating the city’s buildings, so you can wander round the town and experience a large-scale gallery. There’s plenty of classic festival food to keep you going; warm up with a bag of churros or scoff a hearty burger from one of the stalls. It’s all finished off with a grand fireworks display in the centre of town.

Participation is key – Blackburn Festival of Light is full of workshops for young and old, hosted at The Bureau Centre for the Arts. You can make your own lantern to carry in the parade, or create cut-out cityscapes from paper to wrap around a candle. You can even learn to walk on stilts like the festival’s professional performers. The festival gets diverse communities to come together, from refugee organisations and local primary schools to young carer groups and nearby businesses. Whether you’re a local or from further afield, you’re bound to feel welcome.

Where to go near Blackburn Festival of Light

Stables Tavern
City Centre
Restaurant
Stables Tavern

The Stables Tavern is an olde style pub in the St John’s neighbourhood of Manchester, where the Rovers Return once stood.

Manchester
Restaurant
Ban Di Bul

Ban Di Bul is a longstanding Korean restaurant in the very centre of Manchester.

Bridge Cottage
Port Sunlight
Gallery
Bridge Cottage

Bridge Cottage is one of Port Sunlight’s most charming and architecturally distinctive Arts & Crafts homes. Often hold art Exhibitions and Tours.

A projected image of the Stockroom.
Stockport
Library
Stockroom

Stockroom is Stockport’s new centre for culture and creativity, with a library, a children’s play area and a whole host of exciting events.

Inside main hall Birch Community Centre, showing high hammer-beam ceiling.
Manchester
Theatre
Birch Community Centre

Housed in a striking neo-Gothic former parish hall, Birch Community Centre is a hidden gem on Brighton Grove, just opposite Platt Fields Park. Its vaulted wooden ceiling and arched windows…

A series of microphones hang from the ceiling with a muted warm light in the background.
Rochdale
Event venue
RISE Inavate Centre

RISE Inavate Centre will be used for a thought-provoking sound installation by Shilpa Gupta at Manchester International Festival 2025.

Interior Decorations - Viet Deli
Manchester
Café or Coffee Shop
Viet Deli

Viet Deli is a small venue, not the kind of place for a sit down meal. Serving only bánh mì, traditionally street food in Vietnam.

Levenshulme
Restaurant
My Nawaab

Eye-catching banqueting hall in Levenshulme, with a wide-ranging buffet showcasing freshly-prepared Indian and Pakistani cuisine.

SB_BreweryTour - Taproom One
Manchester
Brewery
Seven Bro7hers Brewery & Taproom

Discover the heart of Salford’s craft beer revolution at the Seven Bro7hers Brewery & Taproom—a spirited, family-run brewery where the brewing kettles gleam and the atmosphere buzzes with energy.

What's on: Festivals

Four young female dancers in folk costumes, one looking at the camera
ActivityCathedral Quarter
Góbéfest

Góbéfest, Manchester’s original international urban folk music and dance festival, is back with a killer line up and the best of Central Europe.

Free entry
The Herds, The Walk Productions
FestivalsManchester
MIF25: THE HERDS

Manchester International Festival 2025 kicks off with an awe-inspiring outdoor spectacle as THE HERDS take to the streets of Manchester, Rochdale, and Wigan.

Free entry
CinemaManchester
YANK at Cultplex

Thirteen movies to get to know the United States of America. Cultplex presents a season of film exploring America through its own lens.

From £7.50

Culture Guides

Theatre in Manchester and the North
Theatre in the North

Experimental performance, thought-provoking new writing and our picks of Manchester International Festival - here’s what’s taking centre stage this summer.

A painting called Daphne, 2021, by Carolien Walker. The painting features Caroline’s own daughter as a toddler.
Exhibitions in the North

Captivating, urgent and intimate - we bring you our top exhibition picks, with even more art festivals, artist-led shows and new venues.

Cloudwater Production One
Tours and Activities in the North

Go forth with wild abandon to dance the pavements, dabble with the paint and down the pints in this month's tours and activities guide.

Classical Music in the North

Read our latest highlights from the live classical music offer in Manchester and the North, taking in a number of the region's most cherished orchestral forces and venues.

A young boy with a white sash around his left arm cries.
Cinema in the North

Outdoor cinema announcements, a major retrospective at HOME, and the best of indie cinema.

Music in the North

Gigs are coming in hot this spring – from long-awaited returns to one-off happenings you’ll blink and miss if you're not careful.