A floating globe and ancient mammoths take over Canary Wharf as Winter Lights festival returns

Permafrost – Sleeping Giants by Fisheye at Canary Wharf's Winter Lights. Credit: Matt Alexander/PA Wire

A floating globe and illuminated giant mammoths have taken over Canary Wharf as the dazzling Winter Lights festival returns for the first time since 2020.

The immersive festive, designed to banish the January blues, features 22 installations from UK and international artists.

Key works include Floating Earth, a magical globe by esteemed artist Luke Jerram which will float in the water of Middle Dock.

In Wood Wharf, Anima by ELISAVA is an immersive tunnel of fibre-optic lights which represents our data-driven world.

Tom Lambert presents Out of the Dark, a multi-sensory, audio-visual installation which provides space for self-reflection whilst artist Fisheye displays Permafrost – Sleeping Giants, a riverside resurrection of three, ancient, life-sized, mammoths animated through light.

Permafrost – Sleeping Giants by Fisheye Credit: Matt Alexander/PA Wire
Anima by ELISAVA. Credit: Matt Alexander/PA Wire
Toriod by This is Loop Credit: Matt Alexander/PA Wire
Emergence by This is Loop at Canary Wharf’s Winter Lights festival. Credit: Matt Alexander/PA Wire
in[visible] by Daniel Popescu. Credit: Matt Alexander/PA Wire

Winter Lights is free to attend and visitors can simply download the map via the Canary Wharf App or website to guide them through the trail or pick one up from a Canary Wharf steward.

Installations are open from 5pm–10pm and it is recommended to visit outside peak times (6-8pm) on weekends and evenings, where possible.

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