Leeds is surely becoming a year-round, must-visit destination. The City is known for its wonderful festivals, brilliant shopping and now looking to rival its neighbours of York and Manchester for all the attractions of the festive season.
Northern Lights is a brand new, festive light trail set in the grounds of Temple Newsam. Brought to you by From The Fields, the team behind Northern Lights Newcastle, Christmas at Bute Park, Arts by the Sea, Bluedot and Kendal Calling, these guys may be new to Leeds but they definitely know their stuff.
Donning it “One of our best productions to date”, Ben Robinson, who is the founding director behind the company who brought the light installation to Leeds, praised all the team involved whilst making his welcome speech to guests on its launch night.
For those who are looking for something a bit new over the Christmas period or just wanting a winter treat for all the family, we definitely recommend Northern Lights.
Gone are the days of slowly stomping around an overcrowded city centre market, with the same stalls selling overpriced sweets and baubles. This festive jaunt around Temple Newsam boasts huge light installations, picture perfect spots and even a marshmallow roasting station.
Feel like you’ve been transported into a magical world where lights snake around giant trees, lakes are filled with lanterns and the roads are paved with rainbows.
As well as light installations, the ground offers food and drink vendors and a funfair for the little ones (and the big little ones).
Christmas Village
Now you can’t walk around a festive light trail on an empty stomach, and we all know that this is the season of good food and drinks. The Christmas Village is situated in the historic courtyard of the stables, outside the Temple Newsam house. So as soon as you enter Northern Lights, you’re met with grand displays and a cosy atmosphere.
For our visit, we made sure to try out Acropolis, who you may have already seen at events at The Piece Hall and various festivals in Leeds. The food was delicious and thanks to a variety of options we went for the loaded Greek fries, which catered to gluten-free.
We also tried the vegan hot dog from Diamond Dogs which was brilliant and came with onions and German curried ketchup – anyone who has had Currywurst will know how good the sauce is.
Having washed that down with an obligatory mulled cider from the bar, we were ready to go.
Northern Lights is a group effort, working with lots of talented people. As you walk around the trail your journey is soundtracked by the brilliant Jonathan Vincent, who composed all the music that accompanies the trail. Lights flicker and dance around and the orchestral music really blocks out the rest of the world and immerses you in your surroundings. The pace of the music also subconsciously means you don’t rush through the trail, and naturally come to points where you will stop at viewing spots to see the displays.
Amongst the wonderful companies who brought you the trail, Northern Lights shines a light on local charities, such as Leeds Hospitals Charity and Leeds Women’s Aid.
We were thrilled to be invited to Northern Lights Leeds by Hanglands PR, who have done an excellent job this year of bringing amazing events to Leeds and West Yorkshire.
We will be making sure to have this visit as a yearly tradition as it gave us festive spirit, so much so that I’m fighting to get the tree and decorations up already.
The trail is open until 31 December. You can find out more and book your tickets here.
Photography by Steffi eisert.
