Light Night Leeds 2026: Half-Term Lights Across the City

Light Night is back in Leeds, and this year it lands over the October half-term. The festival runs on Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29 October, from 6pm until 9.30pm both evenings. It's the first time it has been held during the holidays, and with the clocks having gone back, it gets dark early enough for the lights to start at 6pm and carry on through the evening. It's free and there's no booking to worry about, so you can just turn up.

This year's edition is part of Leeds 400, which marks four centuries since the city received its first Royal Charter from King Charles I in 1626. The theme looks at the stories, people and places that have shaped Leeds over that time, and also at what the city might become. Leeds City Council organises the event, with extra funding from Arts Council England and support from local and national sponsors and trusts. The festival has been lighting up the streets and buildings of the city since 2005, and last year more than 200,000 people came along over the two nights, according to the organisers.

The city centre is where most of the action happens. There are more than 40 works by artists from Leeds, the rest of the UK and overseas, spread across zones that include Millennium Square, Briggate, SOYO, the South Bank, Wellington Place and the University area. The largest projection is 'In Dual Light', which is beamed onto Leeds Civic Hall. If you head towards the University of Leeds campus, there's a good cluster of pieces to wander between. Komorebi uses fabric lamps and cyanotype silhouettes to echo light filtering through trees, Luminous Birds animates origami birds with light and sound, and Paradise Carpet is an interactive light and sound piece inspired by Pakistani Ajrakh carpets from the university's textile collection. Over at Gair Wood, What We Leave Behind uses holographic leaves above the university's 'future forest', with a choral soundtrack recorded with Opera North's young singers. Several live performances are scheduled too. Astralis, a dance performance by the Boyz group of RJC Dance, takes place at The Plaza at 7pm, 8pm and 9pm, while Ready to Shine, from Opera North Young Voices and Youth Chorus, is at the Brotherton Library at 6.30pm, 7pm, 7.30pm and 8pm.

The festival also reaches into a couple of venues in the heart of the city. Carriageworks Theatre, at The Electric Press on 3 Millennium Square, hosts immersive works, and Leeds City Museum, also on Millennium Square, is part of the programme as well. At the museum, Light Night 2026: Bird Song (Owls) runs from 6pm to 9.30pm on both evenings, so it's easy to combine it with a wander around the nearby installations. Whether you go for the projections, the performances or the quieter pieces tucked away on campus, the festival is laid out in a way that lets you pick and choose at your own pace.

If you want the full details, the official listings on the Millennium Square website and the Free Pass Yorkshire page are the places to check. Both nights are the same length, so it's really just a question of which evening suits you best.