You might think it’s a bit early to be talking about Christmas, but the organisers of Durham’s Lumiere Festival, which will run mid November later this year have already started the discussions – and one of their plans involves a Christmas tree made entirely from plastic carrier bags.
The Festival, which attracts around 40,000 people each day it runs, is one of the North East’s most popular winter events, and includes a huge range of spectacular light-based installations and projections that light up the buildings, streets and bridges of Durham’s city centre.
It also attracts artists, lighting designers and community groups from around the world, all of who relish the chance to transform one of the UK’s most picturesque cities into a huge, living and breathing light show.
But it’s not all high tech lighting and pyrotechnics. In fact, one of the most unusual centrepieces of this years festival will be based on the simple plastic shopping bags we all use every day. That’s because organisers have arranged for an oversized Christmas tree to be constructed entirely from plastic bags and placed in the Prince Bishops shopping centre for Festival goers to see.
Called the Consumerist Christmas Tree, this particular installation has been designed to sum up the whole meaning of the festival, and according to organisers, it uses light to transform something we all see as being a little mundane into “something of extraordinary beauty”.
Not bad for a bunch of old carrier bags! You can see the tree in all its glory between 14th and 17th November in Durham City Centre. The Festival itself is free, but you will need tickets which will be available from the Festival website.
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