Fight for funding after lights go out on festival

JOINT BID TO RETAIN CASH AS THE PLUG IS PULLED ON LUMIERE

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A business hub and councillors are joining forces in a call to secure cash which will no longer be spent on Durham Lumiere.

Following the shock news of the cancellation of the much-loved festival beyond this autumn, Durham BID and Durham Parish Council have issued a joint statement in the hope of securing its funding for future creative investment.

They have written to North East Mayor Kim McGuinness asking for a meeting and have suggested that reinvesting the money in the city would be a fitting legacy for the biennial light festival.

Lumiere made its debut in the city in 2009 and the announcement that the November 13-15 run would be its last has created huge disappointment. The biennial festival, commissioned by Durham County Council, is classed as the UK's leading light show.

Its transformation of city buildings and streets after dark, with a changing array of light installations, has inspired other events.

Helen Marriage, artistic director of Artichoke which produces Lumiere, said the decision to end the free event had "not been taken lightly", but that investment to keep it running had become increasingly difficult to find.