{"id":414582,"date":"2025-09-11T01:33:19","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T01:33:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/414582\/"},"modified":"2025-09-11T01:33:19","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T01:33:19","slug":"river-of-light-2025-update-as-dates-times-and-theme-confirmed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/414582\/","title":{"rendered":"River of Light 2025 update as dates, times and theme confirmed"},"content":{"rendered":"

The event will run over 10 nights across the city centre and waterfront<\/p>\n

00:01, 11 Sep 2025Updated 00:19, 11 Sep 2025<\/p>\n

\"RiverRiver of Light Liverpool 2024. Photo by Colin Lane<\/p>\n

River of Light is set to return to Liverpool for the eighth year with a new theme and new installations for 2025. Every year the city\u2019s waterfront and key areas around the centre come to life with an array of dazzling light installations.<\/a><\/p>\n

Last year’s theme was ‘Light is Play’, with the best light artists in the world using the theme as inspiration, resulting in 12 installations for 2024. This time around, the event, which will run over 10 nights, from Friday, October 24 to Sunday, November 2, will be focused on the theme of ‘Optics – Science and Light’.<\/p>\n

This year, ten large-scale artworks will be showcased, with each of the installations inspired by an area of science, technology or nature. Each of the artworks aims to capture the imagination of visitors in new ways as they explore the three km trail along the waterfront, including the Royal Albert Dock<\/a>, as well as around the Pier Head, Exchange Flags and Liverpool ONE.<\/a><\/p>\n

One highlight of this year\u2019s programme is the Face Value installation by scientist Emma Brass, artist Venya Krutikov and the Invisible Wind Factory. The new commission uses AI and robotics to create an interactive light art game experience that foregrounds the capabilities of these technologies in a playful way.<\/p>\n

\"BunchBunch of Tulips at River of Light 2024(Image: Colin Lane\/Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n

Emma Brass said: “It\u2019s a real pleasure to have the chance to bring the robotics research I\u2019ve been developing over the past three years at the University of Liverpool<\/a> to a public event of this scale.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis idea has been evolving for over 12 months. The piece has really grown through the combination of my robotics work with Venya Krutikov\u2019s creative technology skills, alongside input from the Invisible Wind Factory team.<\/p>\n

“Together we\u2019ve created an interactive installation that brings art and science into conversation in an engaging way.”<\/p>\n

\"CheckmateCheckmate – Exchange Flags(Image: Colin Lane\/Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n

Due to the success of quiet hours at previous River of Light festivals, which make the event even more accessible to visitors with additional needs, there will be two sessions taking place on Sunday, October 26 and Wednesday, October 29, from 4pm to 5pm.<\/p>\n

This will allow those with additional sensory needs to enjoy the artworks in a calmer environment.<\/p>\n

The latest installment follows on from the huge success of 2024, when River of Light welcomed record-breaking visitor numbers and brought in a massive \u00a318.9 million to the local economy.<\/p>\n

\"BubblesqueBubblesque – Mann Island Basin(Image: Colin Lane\/Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n

Colin Sinclair, CEO of Sciontec and Knowledge Quarter Liverpool, said: \u201cI am thrilled that science is the theme for River of Light this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cCulture and innovation are two of the most important exports Liverpool and the wider region have to offer, and so being able to – literally – shine a spotlight on them is a great way of helping the wider public appreciate just how important our science community here in the city is on a global scale.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The event will run over 10 nights across the city centre and waterfront 00:01, 11 Sep 2025Updated 00:19,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":414583,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[748,393,4884,179,2349,34032,142360,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-414582","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-liverpool","12":"tag-liverpool-city-centre","13":"tag-liverpool-waterfront","14":"tag-river-of-light","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115183092595281402","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=414582"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414582\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/414583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}