When you've lived here as long as I have, it really makes a difference to see spaces that were never really used, turned into a beautiful scenic place to encourage people to enjoy the city. Westquay have done an amazing job with the new Esplanade and the Festival of Light is back for 2019 to showcase amazing works of art on and below the Old City Walls.
It runs from the 15th-24th February and this year they have included:
Planetarium is inspired by the ancient concept of Planetariums (dome-shaped theatres) and viewers will be taken on a journey through a marvellous universe as lights depict planets, moonlight, beautiful starry skies and a sensational eclipse.
Sunrise a bespoke commissioned piece for Westquay, visualises an abstract sunrise made of 4000 points of light on strands that will radiate from the centre to the edge.
Wave consists of some 500 individual suspended orbs, brought to life through light and sound to create a walkthrough immersive experience reminiscent of the ocean.
Control No Control invites guests to use their hands and body to act on its sound and graphics, creating a unique experience for each and every individual.
Lightbattle located along the vaults of a pathway, consists of two sets of five bicycles facing each other, where the public will use pedal power to project beams of light to the opposite side in an attempt to defeat their opponents.
Lightbattle located along the vaults of a pathway, consists of two sets of five bicycles facing each other, where the public will use pedal power to project beams of light to the opposite side in an attempt to defeat their opponents.
I also went for a tasty meal at Cabana before heading down to the light show, (you can also get AWESOME discounts on the Westquay PLUS app here) that was the perfect way to enjoy food before enjoying the display.
We started the meal at Cabana with two Strawberry and Lychee Bellini's and some incredible starters. The Loaded Nachos were honestly my idea of heaven and the Chargrilled Halloumi was so tasty, we both shared some of each others to make it fair! For mains I had the recommended Ipanema Salad which had avocado, roasted butter beans and cheesy dough ball croutons and added spicy flame grilled chicken. It was a huge salad and I couldn't finish it after all those nachos but it was honestly so so good and even writing about it I'm currently craving it BAD. Hatty went for the Prawn and Salmon curry and the rice was just the perfect amount of light and yummy, as well as the fresh fish and sauce being full of flavour. ZERO complaints all round from us!! Take a look at their Southampton menu HERE if you wanted to try it out!
We then headed down into the Festival of Light and it was much bigger than we expected, you can definitely spend a whole hour there easily!
Will all of the different areas there are so many opportunities for selfies. The cube was good fun and we had a great time making 'light angels' on it, as well as running up and down like kids and watching the lights move, because we can hehe!!
Some are more sensory and some are made to be 'played' in! The bicycle game was good fun but hard to to in heeled boots... rookie mistake.
You have until the 24th of February to head down so go go go!! AND don't forget to download the Westquay app for competitions and discounts on food!!
Have fun! x
The meal was gifted for the purpose of this review, in collaboration with Cabana and Westquay
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