Collaborating with some of the UK's leading digital creatives, the two-day festival of light and sound on February 28 and March 1 transformed familiar public spaces into vibrant hubs of interactive light art and performances.
Events taking place during the festival included: ‘Spring Forward’ by Same Sky; ‘An Obscure Camera’ by Flexer and Sandiland; ‘The Electric Grand Bug Hotel’ by Make Amplify; ‘Polaris’ by Seb Lee Productions; ‘Sparks!’ by LED Drummers; Digital Funfair by Gavin Morris with ‘Light-Hearted’, ‘The LED Curtain’ and ‘The Hexagons’; ‘Everyday Tacticity’ by Charlotte Spencer Projects; ‘Gaps In The Light’ by Lila Dance; and ‘Past Present Future’ by Project Female.
The festival was jointly funded by Crawley Borough Council and National Project Lottery Funding from Arts Council England. It was supported by Crawley Town Centre Business Improvement District.
1. Light up Crawley Festival
Award-winning arts and technology collective MakeAmplify collaborated with family design company Hello Dodo to create ‘The Electric Grand Bug Hotel’, and interactive projection mapping installation. Outline drawings of the Grand Bug Hotel were projected across nine surfaces and the public were then invited to colour in the drawings on the provided iPads and see their creations light up on the walls. Photo: JON RIGBY
2. Light up Crawley Festival
Arts charity Same Sky created 'Spring Forward', an installation of willow and tissue sculptures, lights and sound inspired by the end of Winter and coming of Spring, which was on display in the Memorial Gardens. Photo: JON RIGBY
3. Light up Crawley Festival
Bloco Olofi, a Samba Reggae Carnival band from Brighton, took part in the parade in the Memorial Gardens Photo: JON RIGBY
4. Light up Crawley Festival
‘Light-Hearted’, a giant LED heart which lights up when two (or more) people hold hands, highlighting the value of co-operation and connection. Photo: JON RIGBY