Birmingham Light Festival is set to return in 2026, taking place from February 12 to 15, 2026.
Next year’s festival will take place over Valentine’s Day weekend, giving visitors plenty of chances to fall in love with the city. Even more streets, squares, and public spaces will be re-imagined with light in February, with Bullring and Edgbaston Village also joining the city-wide collaboration.
The 2025 inaugural Birmingham Light Festival saw 11 artworks and a full programme of events illuminate the city and generate over 64,000 visits. Three permanent artworks installed for the festival remained in the city centre, as part of a legacy commitment from organisers to brighten the city more permanently over time.
Local artists and creatives will now have the chance to design a new permanent installation for the 2026 event. This continuation of the Legacy Programme has been made possible with thanks to the support of Birmingham City Council, using funds from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
An Open Call to businesses based within the festival footprint has also gone out giving them the opportunity to host official festival events. Previous events have included a Culinary Trail, the Paws of Light group dog walk and a nighttime kayak tour.
Central BID is among the five Birmingham business improvement districts in the city centre collaborating to deliver the second year of the event.
Central BID, Southside BID, Westside BID, The Jewellery Quarter BID and Colmore BID will work together with festival producers Outdoor Places Unusual Spaces (OPUS) and City Curator Alex Nicholson-Evans to brighten up February’s dark nights.
Alex, who is leading the festival, said: “Next year’s festival is already shaping up to be incredible. We have some wonderful new partners involved too, which means we’re able to grow the Festival to reach even more areas of Birmingham, such as Bullring and Edgbaston Village.”
United by 2022 organisation and its volunteers will also support the event again.
To find out more about applications for artists are open or how businesses can get involved, see the Birmingham Light Festival website.