What you need to know about Lumiere Durham

Durham is set to be lit up this week when the Lumiere festival gets underway in the town.

This is the fifth such occasion to happen in the town - full of artwork, installations and events - and it runs from Thursday, November 16 until Sunday, November 19.

It is the largest festival of its kind in the UK.

Durham will be lit up with 29 artworks and installations by artists from around the world on each night.

Festival visitors have been encouraged to explore the event on foot. It attracted 200,000 visitors in 2015.

A spokesman for the organisers said: "It is going to be crowded so travel light and leave umbrellas at home."

Anyone thinking of heading along has been advised to wear warm clothes and waterproofs and has been warned that access with buggies is likely to be difficult.

This year’s programme has a strong international element once again, with artists from around the world including from the United States and Canada, Spain, Holland, Sweden and Finland.

Access to the central area of the festival will be ticketed from 4.30-7.30pm and will be free after this. Half of the attractions at the festival are outside of this area though.

This has been put together by events company Artichoke and commissioned by both Durham County Council with support from Arts Council England and Durham University.

The organisers have also encouraged anyone heading along to use public transport or park and ride options.