Sunderland Illuminations 2019: Festival of Light prepares to move to new location and everything else we know so far

And with the festive period come the fun and exciting events we have grown to know and love. They become part of the pre-Christmas ritual and we look forward to them more as summer draws to a close and autumn begins.

One of the biggest events in Sunderland’s calendar is the city’s Illuminations and Festival of Light, so ahead of their launch later this season we have put together everything we know so far as the latter prepares to start its 2019 stint in a new home.

Sunderland’s Festival of Light, previously staged in Roker Park, is moving to a different location for 2019.

The Festival of Light element will take place in Mowbray Park for the first time, and become a bigger part of the city centre’s Christmas programme.

The announcement came earlier this year, with the hopes that the Festival’s popularity would benefit the city centre economy after a successful run in 2018

The Festival of Light will launch on Thursday, November 21 and run until Sunday, December 23.

Sunderland’s Christmas Lights switch-on will also take place on November 21.

When the city council confirmed in January that the Festival of Light would be staged in a new location, the authority also said that the Illuminations would remain on the seafront – with more lights than ever before from mid-October leading right up until the New Year.

However there is no confirmed date for the Sunderland Illuminations yet.

Plans have been approved for Wearmouth Bridge to be lit this year between October and January as part of the celebrations, suggesting that the Illuminations could be unveiled this month.

In the past, Sunderland’s Illuminations and Festival of Light have launched shortly before the October half-term break and been on for around a month in tandem with each other.

Further details about the events are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.