River of Light Liverpool 2024: Full details including installations, locations, map, dates, timings and theme

Liverpool’s spectacular River of Light festival will return to the waterfront next month, with twelve new impressive installations.

Focussing on the theme of ‘Play’, the free 3km trail will feature fun and interactive experiences, with giant gnomes, illuminated bikes, colourful dancing bubbles and a huge chessboard created by some of the best light artists in the world.

Following on from 2023’s huge success, Liverpool Council’s Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing and Culture, Cllr Harry Doyle, believes 2024 will be a ‘stand-out year for River of Light’ with ‘elevated’ creativity, variety and interactive features.

When is River of Light 2024?

The waterfront trail will take place Friday October 25 to Tuesday November 5, providing free fun for the whole family throughout the Halloween and Bonfire Night season. The installations will be illuminated between 5.00pm and 9.00pm, with a number of special quiet hour sessions to ensure the event is even more accessible to visitors with additional needs.

During the quiet hour sessions, all artworks will run with either no soundscape or at a very low volume and, where possible, lighting will be altered making it a gentler, more accessible environment for people with sensory differences. More information regarding the quiet hour sessions will be announced next month. 

River of Light 2024 map

The above map shows the locations of all the installations for the River of Light 2024. Each installation has been given a number between one to 12, and the full 3km route creates a loop around the waterfront. All installations are free to visit and pre-booking/tickets are not required.

River of Light 2024 installations

• Rangoli Mirrored Cosmos – Mann Island Atrium: Created by British-Sri Lankan artist MURUGIAH, this 3D sculpture stands at nearly two-metres high and is a celebration of Diwali’s Festival of Light featuring bright patterns, traditionally painted in the entrance of homes to welcome the Hindu goddess, Lakshmi. It signifies luck, positivity and happiness. To mark Diwali, the Festival of Light, on Friday, November 1, Culture Liverpool is working with Liverpool-based Indian arts and culture organisation, Milap to programme activites which will take place near to the Rangoli Mirrored Cosmos installation.

• Illusion Hole – Royal Albert Dock: Inspired by the dynamic movement of light, UxU Studio from Taiwan, has created the illusion of water flowing into a mysterious black hole. The thought-provoking installation challenges our understanding of reality, exploring the boundaries between truth and illusion. 

• Positive Spin – Royal Albert Dock: A 5.5m high machine from the collective minds of illustrator Liz Harry and artistic experience creators Invisible Wind Factory – visitors are invited to step up and receive a random fortune. Inspired by a love of summers spent at beach front arcades it’s part immersive experience and part spectacle.

• Lightbattle III – Royal Albert Dock: This exciting, immersive piece celebrates the joy of cycling as participants can hop-on and pedal as fast as they can in a race to intensify the colours around them. It is the brainchild of Dutch creatives VENIVIDMULTIPLEX.

• Firefly Field – Liverpool Parish Church: This mesmerising installation simulates the movements of fireflies. Created by Netherlands-based Studio Toer, this unpredictable piece has a soundtrack inspired by the natural habitat.

• Bunch of Tulips – Liverpool ONE: Hungarian artists, Koros Design Studio literally inflates this iconic flower into epic proportions with an oversized bouquet of tulips. 

• Bubblesque – Mann Island Basin: Australian artists Atelier Sisu return to River of Light with giant bubbles floating on water and overflowing onto the land. When the land bubbles are touched, they dance with colour accompanied by a joyful and ambient soundscape.  

• No Place Like Gnome – Derby Square: No Place Like Gnome invites visitors on a whimsical journey, where each gnome transforms into a charming companion for a photographic exploration of iconic landmarks and hidden treasures. Artists Amigo & Amigo are embracing the essence of global travel with this piece.  

• Checkmate – Exchange Flags: Based on the popular board game chess, this 16m-by-16m square chessboard by Amigo & Amigo has been designed to make visitors feel as though they have shrunk amongst the enormous inflatable chess pieces.

• Piano Walk – Pier Head South: Piano Walk invites participants into a captivating musical experience. The installation features 40 interactive keys and piano hammers that strike the strings. The artists were inspired by the intricate details inside a piano, the craftsmanship, the materials and the colours and aimed to reflect these elements elegantly in the installation. 

• Impulse – Pier Head North: 15 interactive see-saws will transform the Pier Head through light and sound, providing a playground to delight all ages thanks to French-Canadian artists Lateral Office & CS Design – a production of Quartier des Spectacles Partnership and distributed by QDSinternational.

• LAPS – The Strand: Coined as an ‘hourglass from another time’ Laps is the brainchild of Quebec artist Oliver Landreville, who has created a giant egg timer which will take over part of The Strand near Salthouse Dock.