
We’re simple folk, stick us in front of a sparkling light and we’d be happy for hours. After the Aurora Borealis lit up the Bullring last month, a giant heart-shaped mirror ball will land in Snow Hill Square this March – complete with its own silent disco.
The dazzling light installation, Our Beating Heart, will pop up between March 21 to 23. Created by Studio Vertigo, the heart-shaped mirror ball is a revolving sculpture featuring 11,000 mirrored tiles. Natural light will reflect off it during the day, but as the sun sets, the space will be transformed with dancing lights and eye-catching colours.
To experience this immersive artwork at its best, you’re invited down from 6.30pm to 10.30pm each evening. The installation is accompanied by a heart-themed disco soundtrack, and on Saturday, March 23 there will be a very special one-off silent disco. It’s completely free (with no booking required) to enjoy too as it aims to deliver the all-important message of “sharing the love in challenging times”.
Our Beating Heart is part of the Light is Coming project – funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund that’s been launched by City Curator, Alex Nicholson-Evans. A sort of precursor to an annual Birmingham Light Festival, visitors to Our Beating Heart will be asked to share their thoughts and help inform a wider festival.
What would a Birmingham Light Festival look like?
There are already plenty of incredible light festivals in the UK. Bristol Light Festival, Liverpool’s River of Light and Lumiere in Durham. They see various spectacular/unique/dazzling light installations taking over iconic locations in their respective cities across a couple of weeks every year. Encouraging locals and visitors alike to explore all over the city.
The Birmingham Light Festival would work similarly. An annual multi-day event in the city centre transforming Birmingham into a gallery of illuminated artworks at night. Beyond lighting up our winter blues, there’s an economic boost too. In 2023, 250,000 people turned out to explore the Bristol Light Festival, adding £3.3 million increase in spend on the city.
“I’m really excited to see how audiences respond to this artwork… there has never been a more important moment for the people of this city to come together and share some love and positivity,” said Alex Nicholson-Evans. “Birmingham is facing incredibly difficult times, but this is still a truly fantastic city to live in, to work in, to visit, and to do business in.”
To read more about Alex’s thoughts on the Birmingham Festival Light head here.