Visit the West End Lights

LINCOLN’S West End will be taken over by a winter light festival this December, brightening up the streets for one night only.

Residents will get together to illuminate their homes, windows and front gardens with creative displays to bring sparkle to the area on Friday, December 6.

“It’s a community, organic, bottom-up festival that’s not imposed from above, so we try to keep it as hands-off as possible, we just tell them when it is and give them some ideas,” explained Jez Ashberry, West End Lights Facilitator.

“People do all sorts of different ideas and themes, some of them are artistic, some make films, some are images, some are animations, all sorts of things.”

The West End Lights began in 2010 in response to a really cold winter which saw the Lincoln Christmas Market cancelled due to the bad weather.

“I remember there was heavy snow, and then the snow froze and it hung around for weeks and weeks. The street where I live, Cambridge Avenue, has a bit of a slope on it and the ice was packed on the road, you just couldn’t drive up that street for several days.

“Basically, people were kind of stuck in their homes for a bit in 2010 in the winter and some neighbours around the Hewson Road/Moor Street area decided to do something to stave off the boredom and decorate their front windows with lights.”

The first year of the impromptu light show saw nine residents get together to light up the West End streets in a bid to make the most of the wintry situation. The festival has grown each year since then, pausing during the pandemic for two years.

“I have 70 photos from 70 different windows last year and I’m sure I didn’t get round everybody!” said Jez.

“You don’t need to be really clever or creative, you can just put some coloured lights in your window or a candle. It’s also quite easy to project if you put tracing paper on your window and then you can use a projector to project images on there – it doesn’t need to be anything terribly complicated.”

Previous displays have included a projection of The Wizard of Oz on Richmond Road, an angel flying on York Avenue, and a Lincolnshire Boggart hiding his treasures in Moor Street.

Businesses in the area also join in on the festivities, with Anna’s Place and The Sycamore both open for the community to enjoy refreshments.