Event Details

Now in its 6th year, Light Up Lancaster is a magical, after-dark trail with interactive exhibits and activities from many partners around the Lancaster area.

Lancaster University is sponsoring Light Up Lancaster for the first time, and fielding a team of committed and enthusiastic staff to present a wide range of exhibits within the Family Zone at the Library. Our staff and students will create an interactive family zone in the Central Library, drawing on the world-changing research of the University’s academics with hands-on light-based activities which shine a light on the secret lives of our homes. This marks an exciting new collaboration between the University and the festival!

Join us at Lancaster Central Library on Friday 2nd of November from 5.30pm to 10pm and Saturday 3rd of November 5.30pm to 7.30pm for exciting interactive workshops!

Random Revolution

Using a 3D LED cube to demonstrate a new quantum device that produces truly random numbers, this fascinating installation highlights that a solution is on the horizon to the puzzle of why, amongst other things,flaws in the process used by computers to choose passwords, in fact, weakens security. Professor Rob Young | Quantum Technology Centre

Portraits of the Planets

The arrival of the New Horizons satellite at Pluto in2015 marked the completion of the initial deep space survey of the solar system. This dazzling, curated series of projections show our home planet Earth from space, together with landmark portraits of our neighbouring planets taken during the golden age of satellite exploration. Dr Joe Kinrade | Physics

Aurora in Cube

A miniaturised version of the Northern Lights (also known as the aurora borealis), this 3D display uses over 500 LEDs to mimic the glowing colours and mesmerising movements of the aurora in a table-top exhibit. Dr Nathan Case | Physics

Spectrum: Isaac Newton’s Home Experiment

A chance to recreate one of the classic experiments in the history of science -the amazing discovery by Isaac Newton in 1666, that white light is a combination of the colours of the spectrum. Newton performed this demonstration in his own home: his rooms in Trinity College, Cambridge. Now you can in Lancaster Library! Dr Stephen Pumfrey | History

Inside My Body

A combination of art, light and anatomy demonstrates different structures within the body, how they move and help us go about our daily lives. Glow in the dark paint and pictures reveal the complex organisation of the human body like you have never seen it before! Come along and see how your own muscles and body structures work. Dr Adam Taylor | Lancaster Medical School

Womb With a View

A world-leader in understanding the human infant,research at Lancaster University is working to determine how light in the womb is important for the way that the human visual system develops, using patterns of red lights. Come and learn more about how foetuses respond to light in the womb. Professor Vincent Reid | Psychology (Babylab)