We Shine gets ready to light up Portsmouth with free fun across the city

From Thursday, November 17 to Saturday, November 19 visitors can see local and national artists light up the city for three nights of free art and light installations. The public are encouraged to wrap up warm and witness the streets and buildings of Portsmouth transform into a night-time gallery as they are illuminated with art.

St Marys Church in Fratton will host Luke Jerram’s Museum of the Moon, with the seven-metre-wide floating moon lighting up the church and enchanting audiences with its detailed NASA imagery – no booking required. The churchyard will also host We Rise, a unique work of art celebrating learning-disabled people and artists.

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In addition, the popular Fratton lantern parade is back on Friday for a magical evening of beautiful lanterns and inspiring drumming from Batala Samba Band with a prompt 6pm start from Victory Business Centre. If you’d like to join in the parade you can make a lantern at home and bring it with you – all lanterns must use battery-powered lights only.

There are also two new zones this year – Hilsea and Paulsgrove. Witness the Paulsgrove cliffs lit up with a series of interactive dance performances – get involved and see yourself projected onto the cliffs. Alexandra Park in Hilsea will feature the magical illuminated interactive projection Rewild by Limbic Cinema, inviting people to become part of the artwork. Come along and trigger cascades of butterflies and insects alongside an evolving natural scene.

And there will once again be the opportunity to visit Victoria Park after-dark and be enchanted by a series of illuminated art pieces including Unfurl, combining nature, art and technology, a fairy garden, bug lanterns and curious creatures giving the parka magical atmosphere. To add to this there will be We Create Market’s Christmas edition which is opening for extra hours, large-scale light installations, dance performances, and much more to see as visitors stroll across the city.

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The team behind Victorious Festival have been on hand helping to support the not-for-profit event, sharing their industry knowledge and time for free with Portsmouth Creates. The Victorious Festival team said in a statement: ‘Sharing a passion for events that help support and develop local creatives we are thrilled to have been able to provide funding to We Shine to encourage more awesome cultural events in our city! In addition, the team are enjoying keeping busy and volunteering their time to work on We Shine in the winter months!’

Billie Coe from Portsmouth Creates said: ‘We’ve been busy working hard with the Victorious team to deliver what is going to be something special this Winter for our second year of We Shine! We can’t wait to showcase a really diverse range of installations across even more of the city which offers something for everyone. Wrap up warm and join us for this free event, it’s going to be magical!’

For more information go to weshineportsmouth.co.uk.