Light Night Leeds shifts into half term — and stays free
Light Night Leeds returns citywide on Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29 October, running from 6pm until 9.30pm each evening. The festival is free to attend, with more than 40 artworks planned at locations across Leeds for families and visitors of all ages.
The move into the October school holiday is a first for the event. It also places the opening hour after sunset, giving large-scale projections and illuminated installations a darker canvas from the start of the programme.
Two darker October evenings reshape the festival
Light Night has transformed familiar Leeds streets and buildings through art since 2005. This year, the clocks will have gone back during the previous weekend, allowing projections and immersive works to begin at 6pm alongside the rest of the festival programme.
Holding the event during half term is intended to make both evenings easier for families to attend while children are away from school. Leeds City Council deputy leader Salma Arif said the combination of darker evenings and the school holiday should help more families experience the event.
The scale is substantial for a free city event. Leeds City Council describes Light Night Leeds as one of the UK’s largest light festivals, with more than 200,000 visitors recorded across its two nights last year.
Leeds 400 gives the city a voice
The 2026 theme, “A City Speaks…”, connects the festival with the Leeds 400 celebrations. The anniversary marks 400 years since King Charles I granted Leeds its first Royal Charter on 13 July 1626.
Artists will use light, projection, performance and immersive experiences to explore the people, places and stories that have shaped Leeds across those four centuries. The programme will also look towards the city’s future rather than treating the anniversary solely as a historical retrospective.
That theme gives the city itself a central role. Streets and buildings that visitors may know from everyday life will become settings for contemporary work about Leeds, created by artists based locally, elsewhere in the UK and internationally.
More than 40 artworks will fill locations across Leeds
The confirmed programme includes over 40 artworks, ranging from large-scale projections to immersive experiences. The individual installations, exact locations and performance details have not yet been released, so visitors cannot plan a complete route at this stage.
Light Night Leeds is organised and delivered by Leeds City Council. It receives additional funding from Arts Council England, with further support from sponsors, trusts and foundations in Leeds, across the UK and internationally.
What visitors can confirm before making plans
Both festival evenings are scheduled for 6pm to 9.30pm, and entry is free. The event is citywide rather than confined to a single venue, with activities taking place at various locations across Leeds.
No booking instructions, transport guidance or accessibility details were supplied in the announcement. Those practical points may become clearer when the individual installations and their locations are published.
The full Light Night Leeds programme is due to be announced at the end of September. Until then, the confirmed planning essentials are the two half-term dates, the three-and-a-half-hour nightly opening window and free entry across the citywide festival.
Source: Leeds City Council
Context & actions About this article
Source check Source trail
The dates, opening hours, free entry and programme details were drawn from the official Leeds City Council announcement.
- Confirmed the festival dates as 28 and 29 October 2026.
- Confirmed operating hours of 6pm to 9.30pm on both evenings.
- Confirmed free entry and a citywide programme of more than 40 artworks.
- Confirmed that the full programme is scheduled for release at the end of September.
- Source
- Leeds City Council
- Scope
- Leeds
- Updated
- 2026-08-17 12:39
Source check
Report a trust issue
Send a clear signal to community moderation if the source, facts or context need review.
Comments