Canary Wharf London

Tues 20 – Sat 31 Jan - 5-10pm
Throughout Canary Wharf
FREE
Download the Winter Lights Map
Festival Lights with someone taking a photo

Winter Lights returns this January for its 10th edition.

16 spectacular light installations by acclaimed artists
from around the world.

This year, we are celebrating our tenth edition of Winter Lights, and to mark the occasion, the festival will embody the theme DREAMSCAPE – taking our visitors on a journey through surreal, ethereal and uniquely human experiences. Through the festival, we hope to create a sense of whimsy and escapism, but also a sense of inspiration and connection you can carry with you into the rest of the year. 

We cannot wait to welcome you back!

The 2026 Artist Lineup

Out of Body Experience

Alaa Minawi【Netherlands, Palestine, Lebanon 】
Riverside

Out of Body Experience

Alaa Minawi【Netherlands, Palestine, Lebanon 】

Riverside
Alaa Minawi’s installation features a group of people dancing. Celebrating the act of dance as an essential part of being human, the forms become disjointed, abstracted, their human forms slipping away around the edges as they enter an Out of Body Experience, a dreamlike state where a cathartic release is achieved.

Lacto-Reacto-Light

Jack Wimperis【UK】
Riverside

Lacto-Reacto-Light

Jack Wimperis【UK】

Riverside
LactoReactoLight is a large-scale interactive light sculpture by Jack Wimperis. The work consists of an array of recycled plastic milk bottles housed in metal mesh cages. A central sensor detects audience movement, which is processed to animate the array in real time - transforming motion into glowing outlines, colourful patterns, and flame-like effects, as the audience collectively create a parallel landscape.

FloWeЯ PoWeЯ

Aerosculpture/ Jean-Pierre David and Christian Thellier【France】
Westferry Circus

FloWeЯ PoWeЯ

Aerosculpture/ Jean-Pierre David and Christian Thellier【France】

Westferry Circus
FloWeЯ PoWeЯ exploits the optical illusion ‘persistence of vision’, a phenomenon where the human eye continues to briefly see an image after it has disappeared from view. Here, light becomes matter, forming concentric flashes and infinite spirals, similar to multicoloured flowers. The invisible device only reveals the luminous traces of the LEDs, which eventually melt into the transparency of the night. Presenting an almost hallucinatory experience, FloWeЯ PoWeЯ defends the values of love and peace through the surreal offering of digital flowers to its spectators.

In Bloom

Kumquat Lab【UK】
Wren Landing

In Bloom

Kumquat Lab【UK】

Wren Landing
Inspired by flower pollination, In Bloom is a plant-shaped sculpture composed of ten luminous spheres that act as interactive flowers. Touching a flower triggers a musical note, echoing the dance of pollinators moving from bloom to bloom. The work turns this natural ritual into a collective and intuitive act of music-making, celebrating connection and the vital role of pollination. The sculpture encourages a collaborative approach to music-making, offering visitors an opportunity to explore rhythm and melody together. Through its playful interactivity, In Bloom highlights the vital role of pollinators in our ecosystems. The experience invites a reflection on interconnectedness, highlighting the importance of nurturing biodiversity.

Trispheric Garden

REELIZE.STUDIO【Australia】
Cabot Square

Trispheric Garden

REELIZE.STUDIO【Australia】

Cabot Square
Trispheric Garden is an immersive installation of six illuminated pyramid obelisks encircling the Cabot Square fountain. Each obelisk houses mirror-like orbs that refract and reflect light, casting ethereal patterns across the water’s surface. Together, they transform the fountain into a ‘dreaming pond’, where reflections ripple like portals between reality and imagination. Inspired by the architecture of dreams, the installation explores the tension between geometry and fluidity—solid forms that hold ephemeral light. As perspectives shift, and the boundaries between the real and the imagined dissolve, Trispheric Garden invites stillness and introspection, offering a transcendent encounter with light, form, and the fluid nature of perception. This installation was originally commissioned for Vivid Sydney 2025 with the support of Destination NSW.

For Ever and Ever and Ever

Anna Lomax【UK】
Cabot Place, Canada Place, Jubilee Place Malls

For Ever and Ever and Ever

Anna Lomax【UK】

Cabot Place, Canada Place, Jubilee Place Malls
For ever and ever and ever is a triptych of light installations specifically commissioned for the 2026 festival. The works explore how repetition, reflection and colour can shift our sense of space and mood. Across the three sites, mirrors, neon and brushed metal are transformed into portals that fold light into themselves, creating infinite depth, glow and distortion. Each location has its own rhythm. At Cabot Place, Forever Loop is designed as a long vertical column combining traditional glass neon and angled mirrors all sat at the centre of the circular site. As people move around it, reflections stretch, bend and multiply, creating a looping illusion that constantly shifts with the viewer. At Canada Place Forever Test brings a more playful and experimental feel. A series of smaller infinity lights made from recycled glass pieces from Anna’s traditional neon collection create focused lines of colour that reflect, distort and refract through curved mirrors. Forever More at Jubilee Place is calm and reflective: a row of brushed aluminium monoliths containing infinity mirrors that glow with soft, shifting gradients. Some animate slowly, others stay still, creating a gentle balance of movement and quiet. Together, the three works create a continuous journey through light, moving from quiet to playful to fully immersive. Blending industrial materials with softness and colour, the installations invite visitors to pause, look again and find a moment of joy and escape within the pace of the city.

Sol

Artistic Latvia/ Janis Petersons【Latvia】
Crossrail Place Roofgarden

Sol

Artistic Latvia/ Janis Petersons【Latvia】

Crossrail Place Roofgarden
What if the stars leaned closer?
What if the planets themselves could rest in your backyard, shimmering softly beneath your gaze? Artistic’s Sol imagines just that. Space and the solar system fascinate us, and yet, most of us will never experience it up close. Here, within Crossrail Place Roof Garden, nestled among the flower beds and suspended just above the treetops, the solar system is bought into our world. Earth drifts among Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune reminding us of our significance. Each planet offers us a gift: love, courage, wisdom, and light. Feel their harmony in your heart and soul as they guide you to love, creativity and compassion.

Aether

Architecture Social Club【UK】
Montgomery Square

Aether

Architecture Social Club【UK】

Montgomery Square
Aether is a light field installation developed in collaboration with musician Max Cooper. It’s a charged space of potential energy—a woven grid of glowing lights that interpret sound into effervescent patterns and rhythmic movements. Aiming to conceive a narrative of music in a spatial form, Aether creates a visual embodiment of sound during a performance. Like a dancer improvising, Aether translates music into hypnotic waves and phosphorescent fragments, stirring something deeper within the audience. The installation was designed to not only deliver a sensory experience but also function as a tourable musical instrument in and of itself.

Blueprint

Studio Vertigo【UK】
Water Street

Blueprint

Studio Vertigo【UK】

Water Street
Blueprint is a light and sound sculpture inspired by the DNA double helix, its two intertwined strands spiralling around a shared axis to echo the dual structure that holds the blueprint of life. Genetic data from research into the TLR7 gene by Professor Christian Hedrich’s team is mapped onto the sculpture’s lighting, driving shifts in colour, rhythm and intensity. Composer Ed Carter sonifies the same dataset, making normally invisible biological structures both seen and heard. Uniting art, science and motion in a single gesture, here, the double helix is reimagined as something both familiar and otherworldly, as if we are briefly seeing the hidden patterns of the body in an imagined landscape — like a half-remembered dream. Canary Wharf is the perfect home for Blueprint, here there are more than 40 organisations working and investing in life sciences and healthcare innovation. Joining a thriving ecosystem of start-ups and established companies, this installation connects the work in advanced therapies and genomic medicine happening in our cutting-edge lab spaces with the outdoor public spaces here on the Wharf. Uniting scientific discovery with human experience.

Hulahoop

Scale【France】
Union Square

Hulahoop

Scale【France】

Union Square
Hulahoop combines kineticism, light, and sound to produce a beautifully poetic installation. Through their sleek designs, Scale’s aim is to make us forget about the presence of technology, simply allowing the audience to bask in the light and movement as if naturally occurring. As the eye follows the lines traced by the installation, peripheral vision melts away, hypnotising the viewer into an almost dreamlike state.

Sanctuary

Ithaca Studio【UK】
Union Square

Sanctuary

Ithaca Studio【UK】

Union Square
Sanctuary is a tall, almost cathedral-like, open structure, designed to immerse the audience in atmospheric light and sound. Enter the Sanctuary and be surrounded by colourful, reflective, illuminations and cocooned in a soothing soundscape, as the lighting transforms from the soft glow of candlelight to the jewel-like, bright tones of stained glass. Sanctuary is designed to envelop the audience in a transformative, inspirational space, an escape from the everyday surroundings – a colourful and light-filled sanctuary from the hectic pace of life.

Un-Reel Access

KAPPA/ Patrick and Kaori Jones【UK/ Japan】
North Lane

Un-Reel Access

KAPPA/ Patrick and Kaori Jones【UK/ Japan】

North Lane
Un-Reel Access is a locked door standing before a wall. Radiant light shines from the door’s perimeter, beckoning curiosity about what lies beyond. Mysteriously, as if malleable, one corner of the door has been un-reeled, revealing a glow from within. As often in life, the light of our hopes and dreams remains locked behind closed doors. Through the power of light, Un-Reel Access asks us to abandon being bound by common sense. It is a portal that invites the curious mind to reframe and change its vision of the world. Faced with an unreachable future, Un-Reel Access points to an alternative route in which seemingly firm obstacles melt in the hands and visions of communities and individuals.

Colour Rush

Liz West【UK】
East Lane

Colour Rush

Liz West【UK】

East Lane
Colour Rush is a new light artwork and spatial drawing derived from a series of ink drawings that radiate kaleidoscopic patterns and vibrant colours. A beacon of intricate colour relationships, the artwork aims to draw the visitor nearer for closer inspection and interaction. This new piece uses multiple ink drawings as its starting point and colour way. Two different large 'Concertina' drawings were created before being cut up, mixed together, repositioned and folded into eight individual stripes. It is these luminous stripes that are the basis of this new octagonal light box.  Positioned on a raised and mirrored plinth, this 8-sided light box is reflected and multiplied to create a dynamic and 'larger-than-life' work. Like looking into a kaleidoscope, this playful work encourages visitors to look from all angles; mirroring and melding themselves, the world around them, and the artwork altogether. The meeting of colours acts as a physical and metaphorical meeting point for people, wherever the work is located.

Manifestation

Marcus Lyall【UK】
West Lane

Manifestation

Marcus Lyall【UK】

West Lane
This audio-visual composition plays out across a 12m arc, wrapping the audience in an enchanting narrative. Inspired by Victorian Britain’s fascination with spiritualism, magic and the idea of summoning spirits, the laser generated animation morphs between abstract shapes and ghostly figures. Loosely based on ‘Thought Forms’ a 1905 book by spiritualist Anne Besant, who believed abstract visual forms could be linked to sounds or spiritual states, this piece delves back into the early dawn of ‘Visual Music’ shows, and their roots in seances and magic.

At the Hand

LACROIX【Canada】
Harbour Quay Gardens

At the Hand

LACROIX【Canada】

Harbour Quay Gardens
At The Hand is an interactive volumetric light sculpture that turns human gesture into digital presence. A suspended constellation of light voxels forms a monumental hand that comes alive when the system recognises a visitor’s own hand through real-time computer vision. Taking control of the digital hand becomes a symbolic act — a quiet moment of introspection to reconsider how we share power, attention, and agency with technology.

Amplitudes

Limbic Cinema【UK】
Eden Dock

Amplitudes

Limbic Cinema【UK】

Eden Dock
Amplitudes is a large-scale water-screen projection exploring the diverse nature of waveforms that shape both the natural world and human experience. Animated waveforms are projected onto airborne water particles, creating a shimmering, holographic effect that shifts with the wind. Paired with music precisely synced to the visuals, the work generates a synaesthetic fusion of sound and image. The piece invites viewers into a contemplative space to reflect on the interplay between science and nature, offering a quiet, immersive moment to lose oneself within the rhythms that surround us.

Winter Lights Restaurants, Bars and Off Peak Offers

Discover a fantastic range of restaurants, bars and cafés, perfect for warming up, refuelling or relaxing after the lights. Beat the crowds on weekday evenings and take advantage of special offers and promotions.

Bars

Discover Bars

Restaurants

Discover Restaurants

Places to Stay

Discover Places to Stay
exterior of waitrose store
3 Hours Free Parking

3 Hours Free Parking

With a £10+ spend at Waitrose applies Monday - Wednesday at all Canary Wharf Carparks
exterior of a chicken food van
20% off Food

Winter Lights Bites

Get 20% off Main Meals & Sweet Treats at participating Winter Lights Bites Food traders as marked on the map. Monday - Wednesday.
20% off Food

Amazing Grace

Enjoy Asian-inspired street food, burgers, bao buns and a unique atmosphere. With 20 % off Tuesday & Wednesday.
The Cube Bar
20% off Drinks

The Cube

Offering classic and signature cocktails, wines, and beers with 20% off Monday - Wednesday
lobster and lemon squeezing
Buy One Get One Free

Big Easy

Buy one whole Lobster and receive a complimentary lobster and craft beer, Monday–Wednesday during the festival.
Steak
50% off Steak

Boisdale of Canary Wharf

Enjoy 50% off steak in the Hine Bar & Terrace from Tuesday to Thursday 5pm onwards.

Download the Canary Wharf App

Download the Canary Wharf App, and unlock a world of convenience, exclusive offers, and endless possibilities right at your fingertips.

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Celebrating 10 years of Winter Lights at Canary Wharf

Winter Lights began in 2015 featuring just six small-scale installations, and thanks to our audience, artists and Canary Wharf’s commitment to art and culture, that pocket of ambition has been allowed to grow into one of the most established light art festivals in the UK.
Over the previous 9 editions, we have exhibited 160 installations from visionary artists across the world, bringing our communities closer to culture, and lighting up those January blues. Joining our artist line-up are nine pieces from our permanent collection, five of which were purchased following their debut in a Winter Lights festival, so you can enjoy the legacy of previous editions all year round. To mark our tenth edition, we have commissioned artist Anna Lomax to design a limited-edition poster embodying our theme of DREAMSCAPE. . A limited run of 500 A3 prints will be available to purchase during the festival dates in-store at Circle Collective, a London based charity supporting unemployed young people in finding sustainable employment and financial independence. Each purchase comes with a free event brochure.

Plan your visit

By rail, road, bus or boat, getting to and around Canary Wharf is easy.

Parking & Transport

Directions, Parking, Rail Links.

Access & Facilities

Access all of Canary Wharf in the palm of your hand

Winter Lights FAQs

Winter Lights is free to attend, no ticket or pre-booking required, just turn up and enjoy.

The installations will be switched on between 5-10pm daily.

Winter Lights can get very busy on weekends so we would strongly recommend visiting on a weekday if you can. Visitors can take advantage of off-peak offers from Monday to Wednesday, including 20% off food from Winter Lights Bites traders, plus 3 hours free parking when you spend £10 at Waitrose.

Getting to Canary Wharf is easy with a vast number of transport options and car parks. Visit our transport page for full details.

The installations are exhibited throughout Canary Wharf, so when you arrive, lookout for the signage and event stewards to help guide you.

Download the map to help guide you or pick one up from our event stewards when you arrive. The map lists the locations of our artworks as well as all the important things you might need whilst you are here such as our toilets and baby changing facilities.

The map suggests a route which will take two to three hours to complete (depending on crowd numbers and how many photos you want to take).

The trail is fully accessible. For accessibility information about each installation please speak to the event steward on site.

Click here to download our accessible map, or alternatively, pick up an A3 printout from our Info Point outside the Jubilee Line Station during the festival hours.

 

No, Winter Lights is a self-guided exhibition. Navigate between installations using our map and onsite signage. Our event stewards and security are stationed along the route ready to help if necessary. However, BSL (British Sign Language) guide and historian, John Wilson, will be running two tours of the installations for those who have a hearing impairment. The tours will run on: 

Wednesday 21 January, 6-7pm 

Monday 26 January, 6-7pm 

If you wish to join the tour, please meet John at our Information Point, marked by an i on our map (located outside the Jubilee Line Station entrance, next to Eden Dock). Please come to the meet point 5-10 minutes before the tour begins. 

Please note, the tours are designed for D/deaf people who are BSL users. There is no English voiceover. As the tour is only 1 hour, John will be guiding the group around installations 7-16 only. 

Canary Wharf is home to hundreds of cafés, bars and restaurants. You’ll find options for grab-and-go, quick bites, sit down dinners, hot drinks, or refreshing cocktails. To view the full list, check out our Eat & Drink directory. We would advise booking a table as restaurants can get very busy during the festival dates. Alongside the bars, cafés and restaurants, Winter Lights Bites food stalls will pop up across Montgomery Square, Jubilee Park and Union Square, serving global street food from wood-fired pizzas and jerk chicken to Moroccan dishes, plus sweet treats including crêpes and crumble.

– Warm and water-proof clothing

– Comfy shoes for walking

– A reusable cup/ water bottle

Due to the number of people expected to attend, we kindly ask you to travel light and if possible, leave behind:

– Pushchairs

– Large bags

– Umbrellas

– Dogs and other pets (excluding assistance animals)

– Bicycles, skateboards and scooters

Our event is outdoors so please wrap up warm as we aim to go ahead with the event whatever the weather. In extreme weather conditions we may have to close certain installations or amend our opening hours. For the most up to date information please check our Instagram @canarywharflondon, as well as keeping an eye on our website. If you are already at the event, please ask our stewards, or head to our Info Point outside of the Jubilee line station entrance for further information.

At Canary Wharf, we are committed to turning sustainability ambition into impactful action. Examples include purchasing 100% electricity from renewable sources since 2012, our partnership with the Eden Project creating a place for nature and people.

Our Winter Lights installations need power; however, we try to reduce our environmental impact by using mains power rather than generators where possible and encouraging our artists and suppliers to combine resources and minimise transportation. The artworks on display are re-used at other festivals in whole or in parts, nothing goes to waste.

– What can I do to help?

Please use our recycling bins found both indoors and outdoors. These bins are clearly marked and allow for the responsible disposal of any items. Please consider bringing your own reusable cup or water bottle with you. Many of our retailers offer discounts to anyone who orders a hot drink using their own cup. We also have water refill stations in

all of our shopping malls. We do offer printed Winter Lights maps but also encourage you to use our downloadable map on your phone or device.

Winter Lights 2026

•
20 - 31 January 2026
•
Everyday 5pm - 10pm
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