Cultural Olympiad celebrations open in Windsor

The 2008 Windsor Festival, will be celebrating the launch of the Cultural Olympiad for England’s South East region on Saturday, 27 September with a stunning light art walking trail commissioned from artist Laurent Louyer leading from the town centre to the riverside, lighting up familiar sights in an amazing, new and creative way.

Light Up Windsor! is one of the major projects in the South East taking place during the launch weekend for the Cultural Olympiad, Friday 26 – Sunday 28 September, which is themed ‘Open Weekend’. Cultural organisations across the country are kicking off the celebrations during the weekend with many institutions and organisations offering the public the chance to see or take part in something which is happening as a special event, or that would normally take place behind the scenes.

The trail will be switched-on nightly from around 7pm for six weeks. It will start from opposite Windsor Castle’s Curfew Tower in Thames Street and lead down through Boots Passage and The Goswells to the Royal Windsor Wheel in Alexandra Gardens, then along Barry Avenue beside the River Thames and over the Windsor and Eton pedestrian bridge. The iconic Round Tower at Windsor Castle will also be floodlit to mark the occasion by kind permission of Her Majesty The Queen – a stunning sight looking up from the gardens.

Designed by Laurent Louyer, founder of Creatmosphere, the installation is designed to animate public space revealing an evening walking route and to encourage people to enjoy the restaurants and cultural life of Windsor. It will also be accessible to wheelchair users.

Energy-saving opportunities will be used for the installation including a self-powered wind light turbine and LED low voltage lights throughout. Special lighting effects will include graffiti-led motions in Boots Passage; a dynamic electro-luminescent canopy across the trees lining The Goswells; illuminations in an oak tree in Alexandra Gardens that follow the changing seasons through the six weeks of the project and changing colours on the Windsor and Eton Bridge. The Royal Windsor Wheel will also be in place with its own lights further animating the outdoor space.

The project is funded by the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead, Windsor & Eton Town Partnership, SEEDA and Arts Council England.

The project will conclude with a community youth project involving local schools on Saturday, 8 November around the time of Diwali and Guy Fawkes Night. A river of light will be created where children can decorate their own light ‘balloons’ in work shops, which will be released on the Thames and collected further downstream by a floating barrier.

The Cultural Olympiad is a four-year programme that will highlight the country’s diversity by using both culture and sport to create works and events that will bring people and places together, encourage audiences to take part, involve and inspire young people, welcome the world to the London 2012 Games and create a lasting legacy.

Windsor is also close to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games venue at Dorney Lake, which will be hosting rowing events.

The Light Art Trail is a significant development of the work by the Windsor Festival being its first event in an outdoor environment enabling it to reach new audiences. For further information visit Windsorfestival.com.