28 Computer-controlled LED strips have successfully been installed along Weymouth promenade between the Pier Bandstand and the Pavilion. Testing of the Weymouth Promenade Artistic Lighting Scheme completed earlier this week and from today, Weymouth bay will be lit up by a series of lighting programmes inspired by the local community.
The lighting artwork amplifies the natural rhythms of Weymouth; programmed using an astronomical clock, the lights will turn on for 30 minutes each day in time with the rising and setting of the sun. In the evening, the lights will remain on until 11:30pm in the winter and 1am in the summer, they will cycle through 10 unique active scenes that celebrate the elements and activities of Weymouth, with gentle ambient scenes in-between.
Now complete, Dorset Council will be gifting the lights to Weymouth Town Council who will be responsible for operating and maintaining the lights.
Jane Biscombe, Weymouth Town Council Clerk said: “The lights look fantastic in the tests and we’re very much looking forward to the lights becoming a key feature of our town. They’re a great, modern addition to the seafront and are truly unique to Weymouth.”
The Weymouth Promenade Artistic Lighting Scheme is part of Dorset Coastal Connections, a portfolio of 18 connected projects managed by the Dorset Coast Forum, which aim to improve physical, digital and emotional connections to the coast in Dorset, supporting and growing the local economy. The Dorset Coast Forum have engaged extensively with the Weymouth community to feed into the design brief which Bounce Back Arts, as local artistic lead, developed. Local stakeholder knowledge and community feedback have all been taken into account to help build the lighting design with designers Tonkin Liu. Dorset Coastal Connections is a partnership portfolio supported by the Coastal Communities Fund.
The project attracted highly skilled designers and lighting specialists that worked closely with the community, councillors and officers to design and install the new lighting scheme.
Peter Christie, Dorset Council Project Engineer, Assets & Property said: “The collaboration to deliver this partnership project has been fantastic. Following a comprehensive consultation period and development of twelve different lighting scenes designed by Tonkin Liu, Dorset Council and Town Council officers have been working with A.C. Special Projects and Intratest over the past eight weeks. Despite the recent weather challenges we’ve completed the project one week ahead of schedule – and on budget.”
Claudia Moore, Chief Operations Officer at Weymouth BID said: “We Are Weymouth are incredibly proud to have been part of the collaboration that has made this project happen. The designers’ work has been informed by the natural rhythms, heritage and culture of Weymouth and this beautiful and adaptable lighting scheme works well with the technical constraints that they faced.”
Nicky Whittenham, Founding Director for Bounce Back Arts said: “This is a significant project for Weymouth and an important milestone in an ongoing journey to enrich the cultural legacy of the town. As an exciting chapter in the ongoing story of the promenade’s lighting, Tonkin Liu’s scheme will serve to delight and entertain audiences, whilst celebrating the rich heritage of our prom in a simple and contemporary way. Bounce Back Arts is proud to have been involved in this successful collaboration with project partners and thrilled to have helped bring this important and unique public artwork to life. Night-time strolls along the sea front will once more be rich with magic and atmosphere!”
Mike Tonkin, Director for Tonkin Liu said: As a child visiting Weymouth, the seafront was all about the activities and the weather. Tonkin Liu are delighted to be involved in the rejuvenation of Weymouth’s Promenade through the new lighting that celebrates and amplifies the people’s activities and the ever changing weather in the evening’s lighting with a series of scenes that tell stories about the people and place.”
Chris Little, Project Manager for A.C Special Projects Limited said: “A.C. Special Projects is proud to be involved in helping to deliver the Weymouth Promenade Artistic Lighting Scheme. The aspirational scheme utilises lighting in an innovative and creative way which enhances the seafront experience for locals and visitors. At the same time, the discreet installation is respectful of the seafront’s heritage.”
Officers from Weymouth Town Council and Dorset Council are working together to arrange a celebratory event, to be held in December once the general election has taken place. More information will be shared in due course.
The final cost of the project is £265,000, with £200,000 of this provided through a Coastal Communities Fund original grant. Other contributors are Dorset Council (£50,000) and Dorset Coast Forum, Weymouth BID and Weymouth Town Council (£5,000 each).
The Weymouth lights are tacky .. they’re awful and no better than those laser lights… another waste of Weymouth taxpayers money trying to force a traditional seafront into something it isn’t, wasn’t and never will be.
I like the laser lights and how they change with different weather. They are great to watch when you sit at the beach and look out onto the sea.
Not so sure about the new lights though, they are a bit too scattered along the beach and get ‘diluted’ by all the other lights. I tried to learn more about them at the event on Thursday. Could not find anyone there though, a bit disappointing. Might have been too late (18.45h) but others went a bit earlier and didnt manage to locate the ‘celebratory event’ either. Was it cancelled?
Hi Barbara,
The event moved to the Piano Bar at Weymouth Pavilion due to the poor weather. We issued an update on social media the day before the event linking through through to this page: https://news.dorsetforyou.gov.uk/2019/12/18/update-weymouth-promenade-artistic-lighting-scheme-celebratory-event/
Weymouth Town Council will be creating a news page on their website in the new year collating all the information on the lights.
Many thanks,
Ashleigh
Cheap! Nasty! & Horrendous!
It’s disappointing as there’s so many other options they could have chosen that would still give you the old fairy lights which people want but with a modern touch! Waste of Money. #Bringbackthefaiylights
What’s wrong with LED strings of fairy lights to replace the filament lamps we used to have? We only wanted what we had before (the laser disaster) in an environmental sympathetic manner. What held up the original fairy lights or were they taken down to make way for the laser disaster. Has anyone held up their hand for this obvious lazer light design failure. Did anyone either past or present (no matter how remote) have any financial interest in the projects?
God knows how the outside domestic fairy lights will survive this festive period!
I have just returned home from viewing the lights from the Pavillion car park and must admit agreeing with the views from Dave H. It was very hard to distinguish them from the existing light pollution caused by the lasers, street lamps and moving cars. There appears to be too many vertical elements which is perhaps why there has been such strong support for the horizontal aspect of wanting to frame the bay with a string of lights. Overall very disappointing.
How much more money will this council waste in its effort to increase light pollution on a wonderful traditional sea-front?
I don’t understand why you asked the people of Weymouth what they would like along the front and then totally ignore them and do something nobody wanted.Why say you want to get it right if you were going to do something that you wanted.I don’t understand why it has taken so long to put up some strip lights.
UNIMPRESSED ! I think the money could have been spent more wisely.