YORK city centre could be lit up at night for the winter, if the Illuminating York Festival were to be rolled out into a much longer event.

“Let me put a radical idea to you,” announced Liz Page, chair of the festival’s steering committee, at Wednesday night’s launch.

“Why should Illuminating York just be a four-day festival in the October half-term? We would like to move towards staging a festival throughout the winter season, from October all the way through to the Jorvik Viking Festival in February. That’s our vision.

“York is already very popular in the winter months, with an excellent Christmas programme, the Residents’ Festival, and then the Viking event, but there’s no doubt there’s more we can do, working between us to keep York alive throughout the long winter months.”

Acknowledging that nothing should stay the same for ever, Mrs Page said the committee wanted to take the festival forward into its tenth anniversary year in 2015.

“We operate within very different financial constraints these days, so we need to rethink how the festival can be sustained in the future. But it’s about a lot more than finance; it’s about how we build on its huge success and popularity and keep it fresh, creative and vibrant, a ‘must-see’ event.”

The proposal is to encourage “as many York buildings as we can” to be illuminated for as long as possible in the season of dark nights.

“We want to plan a series of special highlights – in every sense – on regular occasions throughout the winter. This really would be the start of a true winter festival in York,” said Mrs Page.

“It would be wonderful if we could take the first steps in developing this event for next year, as we celebrate the tenth anniversary of York’s lighting festival.”

Mrs Page called on businesses and organisations in York to view the future plans as a partnership opportunity. “We can’t do it without you,” she said. “Just imagine what an even longer and bigger event could achieve.

“The visitor economy would be greatly improved, with many more visitors coming – and hopefully staying in the city – during the winter months. Equally, a longer festival would improve the evening environment for our residents and local families, giving them more reasons to come into the city centre at night. A bigger and longer event would help enhance the city’s reputation as a creative hub, which is good for business.”

Mrs Page suggested businesses could light their building’s exteriors for a set time, such as 5pm to 7pm, and connections could be developed with other northern cities and even globally where Lumiere festivals were held. “We also have an ambition to appoint an artistic curator for the festival,” she said.

The festival organisers will be contacting businesses by email to ask for ideas and ways they could contribute to “really put Illuminating York on the map.”

“We want to mobilise the city and beyond to create a truly northern event,” Mrs Page said.

Illuminating York 2014 will run until Saturday, nightly from 6.30pm to 10pm.