Battersea Light Festival 2023: Dates, tickets and everything to know as the dazzling spectacle returns

From supersize slinkys to a giant bathplug, here’s what to expect at the third Battersea Light Festival

Dazzling display: Eternal Sundown by Mads Vegas, which returns for another year

John Sturrock

David Ellis @dvh_ellis16 January 2023

The gloom of January looks set to brighten this week as the third incarnation of the Battersea Power Station Light Festival begins.

Lighting up the banks of the Thames from this Thursday January 19, until March 5, a Sunday, the festival will see the recently-reopened development coloured by a dazzling array of artworks. The festival is free to attend and not ticketed; those keen to see the displays can simply turn up and wander around them. The pieces will be switched on at 8am each morning and will be off by 11pm, though some may switch off slightly earlier, at 10pm.

This year is set to build on previous incarnations and will offer the most installations yet, with eight due to light up the Grade II*-listed building.

New works on display will include a giant, illuminated bath plug from Atelier Haute Cuisine — which the studio hopes will push visitors to think about wasteful consumption of water, or more literally, “reducing how much water is wasted ‘going down the drain’” — alongside the likes of a giant, illuminated slinky from Studio Vertigo. The take on the rainbow toy — first invented in the Forties by an engineer working to develop new springs for ships — is meant to encourage Londoners “to see a city in a new playful way”, according to the publicity.

Playful: End Over End by Studio Vertigo

Janus van den Eijnden

One installation that returning guests will recognise is Eternal Sundown by Mads Vegas, which mimics the colours of a sunset and runs along the Coaling Jetty with the power station behind it. The effect is created using 140 energy-saving LED tubes.

Kate Boothman-Meier, head of marketing at Battersea Power Station, said of the displays: “Seeing our annual Light Festival return for a third year, bigger and brighter than before after such a successful 2022 is fantastic, with the majority of installations making their London or UK debut.

“It will also be the first-time hosting some pieces inside the iconic Power Station’s Turbine Halls since it opened last October for people to discover and marvel at during their visit. We look forward to starting the new year bringing together some of the most innovative light artists for a bright and bold Light Festival that has something for all to enjoy.”

Alongside the lights, those exploring will be able to pick up bites to eat from food trucks, which include Cheese King, Chipsy, Fondue Power, Queen of Crepes, Roti King and Simply Hog Roast.

The Battersea offering is not the only lights festival to open this month, with the Canary Wharf Winter Lights Festival opening the day before, on January 18.

For more information, visit batterseapowerstation.co.uk