Batala Mersey at LightNight 2019
LightNight in Liverpool has been postponed, Getintothis’ Lewis Ridley on the latest event to be struck off due to the pandemic.
It can be revealed today that LightNight 2020 has been postponed due to coronavirus.
A statement published by organisers Open Culture said today: “We are very disappointed (understatement)
“Our festival theme was Home this year, which feels all the more pertinent now that we are being asked to stay put.”
Over 20,000 people came to visit LightNight 2019 and caught performances at the city’s Waterfront and numerous exhibitions across Liverpool’s streets, galleries and museums.
With over 100 organisations collaborating, spread across 40 venues for this free one-night event, which is now widely regarded as one of the city’s arts and cultural highlights of the year.
The festival was set for its eleventh event to take place on Friday, 15 May.
Coronavirus: Getintothis coverage of the pandemic and its impact on the UK
Organisers continued: “Over the coming weeks and months, we will be dedicating the collective energy of our small team at Open Culture to determine how best to adapt to the situation as it unfolds and will make further announcements later in the year.”
“We are very grateful to you and the hundreds of amazing artists and organisations we have been working with to develop the programme over the past 11 months and we’re very thankful for the support from LightNight funders Arts Council England and Liverpool City Council, our principal sponsor Liverpool John Moores University, sponsor Liverpool Bid Company, and partners Merseyrail, University of Liverpool and Culture Liverpool.”
The pandemic has seen many industries impacted, as further cancellations in music and the arts coming this week with the postponement of Supersonic Festival in Birmingham.
Liverpool City Council also announced the immediate closure of all 19 of the city’s public libraries.
It follows the news last week that Glastonbury would be postponed, whilst it has also been revealed today that the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, due to take place in July, are likely to be pushed back to a later date as coronavirus wreaks havoc globally.
- Check out our review and gallery of LightNight 2019 here.
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