Robin Hood Energy Light Night on Friday 10 February will see the return of the popular Wheel of Nottingham to the Old Market Square for the event’s tenth year.
The Wheel of Nottingham, which is as tall as Nelson’s Column and provides panoramic views for up to ten miles, will be brought to Nottingham by the James Mellors Group from Saturday 28 January to Sunday 12 March but, on Light Night, will be transformed into the Wheel of Light with a special light show consisting of complex patterns created with 75,000 bulbs.
The annual Light Night, organised by Nottingham City Council in partnership with community groups and city venues, is aiming to incorporate ten new places in 2017 to celebrate its tenth year, including free candle-lit tours and children’s activities at the William Booth Birthplace Museum in Sneinton, artworks and family activities at the Arboretum and poetry and entertainment around ‘Line of Light’ on Station Street to highlight Nottingham’s UNESCO City of Literature status.
Returning favourites will include Arts Council England-funded installations, free entry to Nottingham Castle and Brewhouse Yard, with illuminated grounds and a sports village with glow-in-the-dark activities, the Light Night Market, with food, drink and crafts, and free live music performances from choirs, drummers, and ukulele players. There will also be steampunk-themed entertainment at Sneinton Market.
Any other church, shop, business or community group that will be running an activity or any café that will be staying open late, should send brief details to arts@nottinghamcity.gov.uk by Wednesday 23 November for a free listing in the Light Night 2017 programme.
The council is also looking for volunteers to give directions, assist artists or sell the Light Night badges that help fund the event. They should be 18 or over and available for at least three hours during the evening. Anyone who would like to help should send their contact details to arts@nottinghamcity.gov.uk.
Light Night started in 2008 and has become increasingly popular, this year attracting 51,500 people to the city. It will, again, be sponsored by Robin Hood Energy, a not-for-profit company that offers low tariffs to help tackle fuel poverty and make energy more affordable for all households in England, Scotland and Wales.
Councillor Dave Trimble, Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture, said: “Thanks to our sponsor, Robin Hood Energy, Light Night will open up the city centre on a winter Friday night to people of all ages, especially families with young children. The mainly free activities and the friendly atmosphere will attract thousands of extra visitors for an exciting evening discovering different aspects of our Purple Flag city centre. There’s still time for businesses or community groups to organise an activity and, if they get in touch with us by 23 November, they will be included in the programme for free.
“Light Night continues to grow in popularity, so we will need more volunteers next year to point people in the right direction and carry out various other simple tasks to make sure the evening is a success, so I would urge anyone who can help out to contact us.”
Chair of Robin Hood Energy Councillor Alan Clark said: “We at Robin Hood Energy are absolutely delighted to be sponsoring Light Night for the second year running. This year’s event was brilliant and next year looks to be even better. We operate as a not-for-profit company with low affordable tariffs for people across the country. We believe that affordable energy should be a right not a privilege, which is why our prepayment tariff is one of the cheapest on the market, giving power to the people to make a genuine choice. We’ll be in the Market Square with fun activities so people should come and find us.”