Wembley Park hosted their first ever immersive winter lights trail this year, which is being described as both a light trail and a Christmas trail with giant Christmas decorations. Tonight was the first night of the event with the "light switch on" taking place with a live band, carol singing, and people dressed as elves; the event will be in place until 3 January, adding a spark of colour to the shorter and darker days.
There are plenty of photograph and selfie opportunities amongst the light installations, and a few of the installations are immersive. Visitors also have a choice of station where the light installations are placed between with a 15-minute walk between the two stations: Wembley Park and Wembley Stadium. There are plenty of places to grab a bite to eat or drink or to do a little bit of shopping. Fortunately, all of the light installations were working on opening night, so I managed to photograph them.
Shadow Wall: Jason Bruges
Shadows are created from people who walk by the walls of the underpass (Royal Route), leaving an imprint into the side of the wall made of light. Visitors created unique shapes by moving and posing. The light installation mimics those who walk by, imprinting their shape onto the wall.
The Hopeful Tree: Elyne Legarnisson
This is London's tallest LED Christmas tree towering over the crowds at Wembley Park. It is lit with 100,000 low-energy bulbs and is the centrepiece of the event. Visitors can admire it from a distance or walk through it. The tree changes colour and pattern continuously.
Royal Wave: Jason Bruges
This digital Mexican wave on the underpass of Royal Route was created using portraits of people who live in the community. The artwork shifts with movement of the viewer. Its placement and subject is perfect for the venue as the Mexican wave is performed by crowds in stadiums, such as the one here at Wembley.
Murmuration of Hopes: Elyne Legarnisson
LED banners and illuminated trees line the walkway through Wembley Park. The light banners twinkle, mimicking birds in flight. There are two sections of this installation on both main walkways.
Saturation Surge: Maser
This is not a light installation and is a permanent installation here at Wembley, but it has been included in the list as I suppose it is a work of art and can brighten up the gloomy wintery days. The artwork is created with colourful geometric shapes by street artist Maser from Ireland.
Love Spot
This installation is simply for the purpose of photographs. The lit-up heart has mistletoe hanging from it, encouraging couples to visit it for a photograph or a kiss.
Illumaphonium: Halos: Michael Davis
This immersive installation allows the viewer to become a part of the work by creating soundscapes and light display from the lights using their hands.
Star Box
Star Box premiered last year for the Christmas season and encourages visitors to step inside and to get their photographs with the giant gold gift box.
Sonic Runway: Rob Jensen and Warren Trezevant
One of the highlights of Winterfest Wembley is this 130m tunnel of lights, which is making the European debut here at Wembley Park after Nevada's Burning Man Festival. The rings of lights are constantly moving and creating different patterns and colours set to music in a multi-sensory installation that is certainly a crowd-pleaser.
Crossover: miriamandtom
This artwork is a pattern of geometric colour transforming Bobby Moore Bridge near Wembley Park station. The top of the bridge and walls in the underpass are bright with shapes of complementary colour.
Also lit up was the star of Wembley itself, the stadium with its massive arches that can be seen from miles away. The arches were covered in a rainbow of colour for the evening.
To see the mixture of interactive artwork and Christmas decorations and get photographs, visit Wembley Park before January 3rd. The area now has quite a lot of shops and restaurants to visit, though I found the shopping area not sign-posted well when I visited a few weeks ago to visit the cinema and get a bite to eat, though it was easy to just find the two main walkways with the light installations; I didn't venture into any of the shops. This area of London seems to be transforming a lot.
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