Lightwaves light and illuminations will be coming to Salford Quays from the 3rd December to the 12th December 2021, just in time for Christmas.

The event will be presented across Media City and Salford Quays for 10 days.

The festival will see the arrival of the Floating Earth, by Luke Jerram. Measuring 10 metres in diameter and created from 1200dpi detailed NASA imagery of the Earth’s surface, the awe-inspiring artwork provides the opportunity to see our planet floating in three dimensions.

LightWaves Festival ‘The Earth’ (Credit: Eden Latimer)

In addition to the Floating Earth, Hive Minds, the arch of light created by Backstage Academy students working alongside multimedia artist Alpha Shemza. The interactive arch is sustainably sourced with the materials after the 10-day festival being recycled with the aim of the piece being to reflect on what humans can achieve when they come together as a hive in the face of the climate crisis.


Walkers can meet, dance and share a joke with Ray and Flash from the Moths at Work exhibition. Pif-Paf theatre company created the Moths at Work exhibition telling the story of the two moths being sent down from the Moon in the Sky to collect moments of fun, pride and silliness to get back home.

Image credit: Lightwaves press release

The beautiful but haunting display of the water-based exhibition, Sirens by Davy and Kristin McGuire features life-like mermaids and sea creatures as they encounter the effects of plastic pollution and climate change.

The illuminations will be the sixth time held at Salford Quays, attracting over 400,000 visitors every year.


The event will be available from 17:00 – 22:00 for 10 days.

There are no tickets required to attend Lightwaves, visitors can simply turn up and walk the festival at their leisure. This year Quays Culture will launch a free mobile app to help visitors navigate their way around the route.

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