City to glow with 'SunderLight' festival for autumn 2023 - here's how to get involved

For months Sara Blackburn has been working with local groups to shape SunderLight, a community-led light festival to be held in October. The groups have helped create artwork for the event. Now Sara is holding three workshops so more people can contribute.

Sara said: “In the workshops we’ll be creating lanterns for the event. Participants will also learn about the ancient art of origami (paper folding) to create a large collaborative piece of art.

“All ages and abilities are welcome and refreshments will be provided, or an on-site café will be available. The workshops are a wonderful opportunity to get creative in a relaxing and welcoming environment and learn new skills.”

The workshops are free and the artwork will become part of SunderLight. Spaces are limited, so booking is recommended for:

Friday, September 22, 10am-1pm at Arts Centre Washington; Monday, October 2, noon-6pm at the Old Rectory, The Broadway, Houghton; Tuesday, October 3, 11am-4pm, Sunderland Mind Wellbeing Hub (East Area), Church Street East. Visit www.eventbrite.co.uk to book.

Earlier this year Sara launched a competition to design artwork for SunderLight. The winners were Tania Le Marinel, from Washington and nine-year-old Phoebe Lindon of Millfield.

Sara added: “We had some wonderful entries, and simply couldn’t decide, so we chose two winners. Tania made a nod to Sunderland’s National Glass Centre by referencing American glass artist Dale Chihuly, putting forward some brilliant ways of working with plastic bottles.

“We’ll be working with children from Barmston Primary and Richard Avenue Primary to bring this idea to life.

“Phoebe really thought about our theme of the environment, drawing a beautiful beehive that incorporates sound and light to represent busy bees. We’ll be working with Sunderland College to recreate Phoebe’s design.”

SunderLight is one of two research and development projects commissioned by The Cultural Spring to develop a large-scale arts project that could be delivered in Sunderland next year. The other is We Are Sunderland, a music and dance event celebrating Sunderland’s heritage, produced by folk and hip hop dance company Breaking Tradition.

The event is at 17Nineteen on Sunday, September 24. The public are invited. Breaking Tradition wants dancers, particularly breakdancers, to get in touch about the event. Email [email protected].