Winter Lights Dublin City

After a successful first year, Dublin City Council’s Winter Lights returns to illuminate the magic of Dublin this December. Every evening, from December 1st to January 1st, at sunset to 2am, 14 locations around the city will be transformed with custom projections and lighting displays.   

Projections will illuminate the facades of buildings including City Hall, The Civic Offices, The Custom House, The GPO, The Hugh Lane Gallery, The Mansion House, Covanta Dublin Waste to Energy Plant at Poolbeg and Trinity College. Glistening seasonal lighting will be installed at O’Connell Street, Millennium Bridge, Parliament Street, and Samuel Beckett Bridge.

Lord Mayor of Dublin Paul Mc Auliffe said ‘’I encourage everyone to come in to the Mansion House and then wander around the city during the month of December to experience the magical Winter Lights on our wonderful buildings including City Hall, The Customs House and the Hugh Lane Gallery.  Dublin is always a special place at Christmas time and this December the city will have an added sparkle with new lighting projections at Smithfield Square and Christ Church Cathedral and all across the city.”

Two new locations have also been added to the festivities this year, with Christ Church Cathedral and Smithfield Square set to receive a merry makeover. After a competitive creative process, projection mapping specialists, Lightscape have been chosen to create the projections for Christ Church Cathedral.

Describing their animation, they said, “The bridge between one year and the next is a time for both reflection on what has happened before, and consideration for the future. This projection-mapped animation will depict different scenes across four stages: the past, the crossroads of the present and two contrasting visions for the future. The viewer will be reminded of how the present is shaped by the actions created in the past and how our behaviour in the present will affect the future.”

On New Year’s Eve Christ Church Cathedral will transform from a 2D canvas into a 3D spectacle, just in time to ring in the New Year.

This year, Dublin City Council Culture Company which runs cultural initiatives and buildings across the city, with and for, the people of Dublin have been working with community groups and artists across the city to help create the lighting designs for a selection of Winter Lights Dublin City sites under the themes of community and winter in Dublin.

Ballybough Craft Group, transition year students from Synge Street Secondary School and Presentation Secondary School Warrenmount, and students from Henrietta Street School will be collaborating with artists Colm Molloy, Brian Kenny, Garreth Joyce and Steve Mac Devitt, to illuminate the Samuel Beckett Bridge, Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, and The Civic Offices at Wood Quay.

Beyond creativity and community engagement, what does it take to make Winter Lights Dublin City happen? 157,800 low power LEDs, 100 tonnes of equipment and 15,780 metres of cable. Believe it or not, this dazzling display is eco-friendly. The lights that power some of the projections consume less than 80% of the energy of their traditional predecessors. The lights on the Samuel Beckett Bridge use less electrical power than a domestic iron, or 10 household light bulbs.

All locations will be up in lights from December 1st to January 1st, giving you 32 nights to visit all 14 installations and see that magic of Dublin illuminated.

Winter Lights Dublin City is an initiative of Dublin City Council.

Visit https://dublin.ie/winterlights for more information.