Southend LuminoCity: It's "absolutely spectacular!"
The installations are on show until Saturday evening
Last updated 16th Feb 2022
If you head down to Southend high street for the next four days, you might be greeted by some giant inflatable hands, or a set of light up seesaws.
It's all part of LuminoCity, a festival of light being held to celebrate Southend's new city status.
Ten large-scale light installations from around the world will be on display in the town centre until Saturday evening (19th February).
They'll be lit up daily from 5PM until 10PM.
Carole Mulroney, the Southend Councillor responsible for tourism, says it's unlike anything Southend has hosted before: "This is big installations dotted around the high street, the seafront and near the forum. They're immersive and people can interact with them.
"They're absolutely spectacular, and we just want everybody to come down, have a look, enjoy, take part in and and really celebrate the fact that Southend is a city and we are producing this wonderful light display."
WATCH: Our reporter Sian Roche went down to have a sneak peak at the new installations ahead of the launch
Southend Mayor, Margaret Borton, hopes lots of families visit the trail: "It's marvellous, a feather in the cap for Southend.
"Hopefully, because it's half term, all the youngsters come down and enjoy the show."
Natalie Solomons was part of the event's planning team. She's excited it's finally come together: "All the plans come out of your head... when you start seeing everything come together, it's out of this world.
"It's the best feeling."
Leader of the Council, Ian Gilbert says he's "pleased" Southend is hosting the event and hopes residents are too: "I hope it'll be a real sense of pride and joy for the whole city."
To see where the installations are, click here.