Free festival across Bristol City Centre from 19-28 February 2026
Bristol Light Festival returns from 19-28 February 2026 and this year it has announced more installations will be lighting up in and around the city centre.
The award-winning free festival will once again turn Bristol into a glowing playground of discovery, blending big-scale spectacle, interactive moments and hidden details. Visitors can expect everything from mysterious creatures responding to their voices and tiny illuminated worlds tucked away indoors, to a giant sleeping cat inviting visitors to pause, connect and look at the world in a new way.
With the festival’s opening days landing in the final weekend of February half term, it’s the perfect excuse for families to head into town together, wrapping up warm and exploring Bristol as the city comes alive with light, colour and imagination.
Among the newly announced artworks is Jellymonsters, a world premiere by Bristol-based illustrator Rob Hodgson, known for creating curious, playful worlds for children through books and experimental projects that bring characters to life in unexpected ways. Set on the waterside, the installation introduces mysterious, wobbly creatures said to live beneath the surface of the River Avon. Normally hidden from view and surviving on pie crumbs, the Jellymonsters are lured out by the sounds of passers-by, listening, reacting and playing along as visitors whisper, clap, sing or make noise, triggering responses through colour, light and movement.
For those who love a quieter kind of magic, Bell Jar Fairies by previous Bristol Light Festival artists Studio Mcguire, invites visitors into the Royal West of England Academy (RWA) to discover 13 tiny glowing fairies displayed inside bell jars, each inspired by Bristol’s landscapes, wildlife and hidden corners. Visitors will be encouraged to spot the fairies all around the RWA during special late-night openings of the gallery.
Over at Cascade Steps, visitors can meet a gentle giant: The Cat That Slept For A Thousand Years by pioneering soft-robotics studio Air Giants. Stretching 10 metres from ear to tail, the huge inflatable cat subtly responds to people nearby, breathing softly, twitching and purring, creating a moment of calm and wonder, while also prompting reflection on care, responsibility and the long-term future of the planet.
In University of Bristol’s Royal Fort Gardens, The Midnight Ballet by Will Budgett transforms the landscape after dark, as seven illuminated steel and light sculptures gather to create an immersive play of light and shadow. Each precisely lit form casts the silhouette of a ballerina, with elegant, larger-than-life dancers emerging from the darkness.
Bristol Light Festival 2026 will run nightly from 5pm - 9.30pm between Thursday 19th and Saturday 28th February 2026*. Admission is free and open to all. Accessibility information, travel advice and hotel packages will be available at www.bristollightfestival.org.