Today (January 17), The University of Manchester starts a year of celebrations for its 200th birthday and will mark the occasion with a pathway of light. From 6.24pm (18:24 representing The University of Manchester’s founding year) this evening, iconic places and spaces on campus and beyond will be illuminated in The University of Manchester’s signature colour: purple.
All – staff, students, alumni and the local community – are invited to wrap up warm for an evening stroll, taking in the lights along the route from Engineering Building A, up Oxford Road to Whitworth Hall (with, perhaps, a few surprises along the way). Visitors looking to experience the best view of the illuminations are encouraged to make their way to the top of Bridgford Street or Coupland Street,
The pathway will lead to Manchester Museum, which is opening its doors for a free, light-filled ‘Museum Late’ between 5pm and 9pm. The evening offers something for everyone with tours of some of the Museum’s best-loved collections, family lantern-making workshops, uplifting poetry readings and delicious street food. The museum’s famous spider crab will even be getting a disco makeover for the occasion.
There will be delicious street food and hot drinks available at the event including Chicken and Vegan Chick’n Shawarma, served in a Lebanese bread with hummus, pickled veg, yoghurt dressing, fresh salad sprinkled with sumac and served with either halal chicken or vegan chicken food truck outside Manchester Museum and the Dishoom chai latte cart inside.
The evening culminates with an immersive performance from alumni David McFarlane, a musician, creative technologist and interdisciplinary artist, working with sound and light. Join him and his band for an ambient electronic performance recreating the experience of sound-to-colour synaesthesia, turning sound into coloured light in front of your very eyes (and ears). Expect guitars, mandolins, strings, winds, and a lot of colours.
Plus, the University of Manchester’s wider international community will be joining in celebrations too with global light up events taking place from Dubai to Hong Kong and Shanghai. Find out more about the celebrations and Light Up event at the University of Manchester here.