Lumiere Sparked Interest But Not For Long

‘Lumiere’ was a word that was mentioned on repeat since the beginning of term, both by finalists, who spoke of it with a sense of warm nostalgia, and by freshers and second years alike who were anticipating it with a growing sense of excitement.

When Thursday finally came round and the mystery was lifted, it became evident that this was not going to be a spectacle to enjoy for hours on end, but rather just something to look at and at times be awed by for a few minutes, only to be overcome by the feeling of annoyance at the crowds and the cold shortly after.

Although the queues were organised better than two years ago, the city centre was still at a stand-still, with waiting times of up to a few hours.

When asked to rate the whole event, one Durham student said frankly,

‘Pretty underwhelming to be honest. Don’t understand how it gets like 200,000 visitors and that. Average to okay.’

On the whole, Lumiere did not take itself too seriously, opting for the aesthetically cool vibe over artistic pretentions. One such example was the telephone booth filled with fish in Market Square.

Interesting to spot but the grappling throng of people around the fish was definitely uncalled for

Let’s not forget the elephant projection on Elvet Bridge either. It thrilled and delighted us for a bit, but now it’s Wednesday, the way through is still blocked off, and students living north of Elvet Riverside are wishing it never happened.

The Cathedral, however, did not fail to disappoint. With a record number of 175,000 visitors over the four day festival,  ‘Crown of Light’ shone brightly throughout the night, and displayed images of the Lindisfarne Gospels scrolls with very impressive projections.

The fireflies in the cathedral (not real fireflies) were also a sight for the eyes – shame the building was closed on Saturday though, the most popular night of the four.

Although it wasn’t the magical experience that was promised to us by those who had seen this biennial event before- the consensus being that Lumiere 2011 was definitely better- it is safe to say that it caused a stir leading up to it and gave us all something to talk about over the weekend.

Expect a number of Lumiere related Cover photos to pop up on your newsfeed in the following days