MORE than 25,000 visits have already been made to York’s keynote lights festival, tourism bosses have said.

Gillian Cruddas, chief executive of Visit York, said this year’s event, which ends tomorrow, had been well-received.

She said: “This year’s Illuminating York Festival is proving to be a great success, with encouraging feedback from visitors.

“Current estimates show that over 25,000 visits have been made to the different installations so far, and with an exciting programme of events still running over the weekend, including a rare chance to experience several of York’s attractions after dark this evening. We’d encourage anyone who hasn’t seen it yet to come and see what Illuminating York has to offer.”

The festival began on October 23 and has been showcasing light, sound and video artists on a global scale.

The artwork is exhibited across the city centre, both on and inside some of York’s most well-known buildings.

Attractions included the chance to view Vespertine, a feature on nocturnal wildlife, in the rear courtyard of King’s Manor and Walls Of Light, which gives visitors the chance to create their own artwork on the ruins of the Multangular Tower in Museum Gardens.

Tonight, seven city attractions will be opening their doors after dark, to add a new dimension to the festival.

They include the Castle Museum, the Yorkshire Museum, the City Art Gallery, St Mary’s Abbey, YorkBoat, Barley Hall and Treasurer’s House, where the front of the property will be bathed in pink light and the elegant and historic rooms will be lit by candlelight.


Showing a touch of Roman flare

John Conyard, dressed as a Comitatus Roman soldier, is pictured above holding a torch to light up York just as the Romans would have done 2,000 years ago, as part of the Illuminating York displays.

The experiment in the Museum Gardens saw experts from the Yorkshire Museum try out a number of different methods of creating a Roman torch.

It was just one of the activities on a special Illuminating Learning evening organised by the museum which also included moon observing in the York Observatory, a torchlit tour of the Yorkshire Museum and moth trapping by lamplight.