First Light Lowestoft

I joined the team at First Light as maternity cover in 2022 and will be carrying on to co project manage the 2024 festival.

First Light Festival CIC’s mission is to shine a first light on new and creative talent, building opportunities that support the creative talents of the community, with a vision that by 2030 Lowestoft and its hinterland will be bursting with innovation and creative energy

First Light was awarded National Portfolio Organisations status by Arts Council England in 2022.

As our first festival as part of Arts Council England’s National Portfolio and with record audiences of 40,000+, First Light Festival 2023 was a milestone for our organisation. New timings followed the cycles of the sun, introducing Saturday Sundown Events at dusk, and extending Sunday’s programme long into the afternoon, with our signature dawn celebration inviting hundreds to see in the new light of day together.

The festival weekend opened with a spectacular Welcome to Lowestoft parade, the culmination of months of creative work in the community. Led by two giant puppets, the parade saw school children, community groups and audiences promenade through the town and down to the beach site in their thousands.

Our Noon to Moon festival theme marked the anniversaries of the floods in 1953 and 2013 by looking at our oceans in a galactic context. This imaginative programme of poetry, installations and community projects invited us to see out beyond the watery horizon, and up to a vast sky of stars.

An eclectic mix of first class music filled the beach and gardens with performers from down the street and across the world, while our New Dawn and PlayBreak open callouts saw record numbers of emerging Lowestoft and East Anglian musicians showcased across the weekend.

Our new Power Positive zone worked with key partners from the renewable energy industry while our refreshed Everyone Active zone provided fitness and sports challenges to audiences of all ages.

Overall, 190+ free events and activities had audiences enthralled, from line dancing to live sculpture modelling; from yoga and meditation to author talks and hands-on scientific research activities.

It’s hard to fully capture the spirit of a festival as expansive and unique as First Light.

Find out more here www.firstlightlowestoft.com