It’s time for another early injection of festive goodness, courtesy of the Southbank Centre.
The riverside institution has just opened up its Winter Light trail, an altogether more artsy take on Christmas lights.
Winter Light trail is basically an art installation, but one that fits the Christmas feels.
It features pieces by Samia Halaby, David Batchelor, Rafaël Rozendaal, France Lise McGurn, Jakob Kvist, Nathaniel Rackowe, Squire & Partners, Liz West, Otecki and Tavares Strachan.
Among the newest creations is Lee Broom’s Beacon, a 2025 creation described as a “monumental chandelier of light” that sits out front of the Southbank Centre.
Each hour, on the hour, Beacon pulses in a “sweeping crescendo of light.” Once the exhibition is done, it’s going to be deconstructed and made into table lamps, with some of the cash going to charity.
One of the Winter Light trail elements you surely won’t miss when strolling down the south bank is Nathaniel Rackowe’s Desire Lines (2024). A “geometric” form of light sits on each tree outside the centre, as an “an echo of those people moving past and around them.”
David Batchelor’s Sixty Minute Spectrum also reconfigures an existing part of the Southbank Centre. It’s part of the multi-pyramid-shaped rooftop, and turns those shapes into an “enormous colourful clock.”
Over the space of an hour, the lights behind those roof shades cycle through the rainbow. They shine red at the start of the hour, cycling through orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and pink.
No tickets are required for the Winter Light trail. And most of the installations that are not outside are displayed in the windows of the Queen Elizabeth Hall or nearby buildings.
The Southbank Centre’s Winter Light trail opened on November 14th and will run until January 18th, 2026. For more details, check out the Southbank Centre website.
Skip the search — follow Shortlist on Google News to get our best lists, news, features and reviews at the top of your feeds!
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
