Light Up Lancaster Festival, now in its third year, invites artists and organisations to submit expressions of interest in working with us on the 2015 event (6 & 7 November). Our ambition is to create a wonderful, unique and authentic light art festival for Lancaster, taking place in the city centre and including the well-established fireworks event; a festival which is owned by the local community and which illuminates and celebrates Lancaster's cultural heritage and landscapes. Some funding for the Festival is already confirmed and the outcome of further, additional funding bids will be confirmed in early July. The commissioning of some work will be dependent on the confirmation of this funding.

Call for Expressions of Interest

We are interested in hearing about a range of project ideas - from micro-commissions and work from emerging artists (from around £500) to larger projects, including existing pieces of work and new creations by professional artists (up to around £8,000).

Projects could be, for example,  installations, projections or performance-based, could take place indoors or outdoors, could be for one of the nights of the festival, or both (or longer, if there is a community engagement element). Projects should be realised in Lancaster city centre and a variety of locations are available. All projects should have light / an exploration of light as their central, guiding theme.

Our touchstones for the 2015 event are:

·         Participation and playfulness

·         Exploring scale - the epic and the intimate

·         Collaboration between artists and Lancaster's rich local arts scene, the local business community and other communities

 As well as exploring the use of light, project ideas should ideally engage with at least one of the above touchstones.  

Our Process

All expressions of interest will be assessed by the Light Up Lancaster Creative Producer, assisted by members of the Light Up Lancaster Steering Group. We will be assessing artistic quality, ambition, financial and logistical viability, and connections to our touchstones above. Following this stage, some artists/organisations will be asked to develop their proposals further as part of the commissioning process.

As follows:

·         16 July (10am) - Closing date for expressions of interest

·         Early  July - Light Up Lancaster funding confirmed

·         21 July - Shortlisted artists/organisations contacted, some invited to further develop their ideas

·         Mid August - offers made

Further Information

The Festival:

The Festival is in 2 parts:

·         The Friday night (6 Nov) is a magical self-guided trail through the city centre, starting at 5.30pm and concluding at 9.30pm. Audiences follow a map of activities and events - mostly outdoors in the city's open spaces and set against the backdrop of the many heritage buildings, but some inside venues, shops, pubs etc. Audiences select their own route. Ideally all performance events should be no longer than 10 minutes (repeated several times throughout the evening) or be durational. Expected audience:  7,000 - 10,000.

·         The Saturday night (7 Nov) centres around the annual fireworks display, fired from Lancaster's castle at 8pm, lighting up the historic landscape and skyline of the city. The fireworks display is one of the finest displays in the north. For 2015, the expectation is that some of the artistic programme from the Friday night will continue into Saturday. Expected audience:  12,000 +

·         Both nights are family friendly. Engagement opportunities will be available to audiences and local communities in the lead up to the Festival and throughout the weekend.

·         Short video clips from the Festival over the last 2 years can be seen at http://www.lancaster.gov.uk/sports-and-leisure/festivals-events/light-up-lancaster/

Locations:

If you are familiar with Lancaster, you may have a location in mind for your project. Or you may wish us to suggest one. Please state this in your EOI. The Festival is located in Lancaster city centre and all events should be easily reached on foot. Lancaster has some fantastic heritage buildings and open spaces in the city centre, and a large pedestrian area with attractive, wide streets, as well as intriguing alley ways and corners.

Weather:

Bear in mind that wind and rain is likely to be a factor in November - and, whatever the weather, audiences will still come. All projects should be weatherproof, or should have a wet weather contingency plan to allow them to go ahead in all but extreme weather.

Support:

All projects should be technically self-sufficient and budgets calculated to include all technical requirements. Projects will be supported by the Festival Creative Producer and a Festival Production Manager who will act as a co-ordinator and advisor to participating artists and organisations. All projects will be marketed centrally by the Light Up Lancaster Festival.

Management and Delivery:

Light Up Lancaster is delivered by Lancaster Arts Partnership (lead organisation for this project is The Dukes) in partnership with Lancaster City Council, and is managed by a Steering Group which includes representatives of the local business community and arts organisations. A freelance Creative Producer, Julie Brown, leads on the artistic programme.