News / Bristol Light Festival
Bristol Light Festival brought £10m economic boost to city
The organisers of Bristol Light Festival have revealed that the event provided a £10m boost for the local economy.
Bristol Light Festival made its return between February 2 and 11 this year with ten evenings of light installations across the city centre.
The playful, immersive and colourful artworks illuminated some of Bristol’s well-known landmarks, as well as some quirky spaces, as the festival welcomed thousands of visitors during a traditionally dark time of year.
Festival organiser, Bristol City Centre Business Improvement District (BID), outlined that this year’s festival attracted some 275,000 visitors throughout its duration, equating to a £10.4m spending. Of this, £8.7m occurred directly because of the festival taking place.
Economic benefit was seen across all business sectors with the number of visitors staying overnight in the city for the festival increasing from 2023, resulting in a 100 per cent spend increase from 2023 bringing £1,593,380 to the industry.
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The festival organisers said their aim was to bring communities in the city together. The 2024 edition saw more than 50 organisations directly support the delivery of the festival – with an emphasis on engaging Bristol and locally-based businesses.
Some 55 paid employment opportunities were created for event and creative personnel, throughout the planning and delivery of the event, further adding to the direct benefits of such an event for the people of Bristol.
Vicky Lee, head of Bristol City Centre BID, said: “Every year, a key focus for us as part of the festival is to ensure that businesses in the area are able to benefit from the significant increase in footfall on their doorsteps.
“To see such a huge spend being attributed to the festival is testament to how inviting and diverse our city centre businesses are, to attract such a high spend while an event is happening.
“We look forward to continuing to support businesses to attract more customers especially in the quieter months.”
Katherine Jewkes, creative director of Bristol Light Festival, said: “Since our first edition in 2020, the city of Bristol has welcomed the festival with open arms.
“It’s a real full-circle moment to see what the festival has been able to give back to the businesses that add vibrancy to the city centre all year round, and we can’t wait to see what the 2025 edition brings.”
This year’s festival attracted some 275,000 visitors throughout its duration
Among the many businesses that welcomed the economic boost was the Watershed, a cinema and cultural venue overlooking the Floating Harbour.
Speaking about the festival’s imapct, James Taljaard, Watershed head of trading, said: “We created two Bristol Light Festival cocktails, which sold very well.
“We saw an increase of families coming in to use the cafe and bar in the early evening; buying hot chocolate and warm spiced apple drinks, as well as the cocktails.
“Generally the festival is a great asset to Bristol and its night time economy and the art this year was fantastic!”
Off the back of this year’s successes, festival organisers are now looking for fresh talent to apply to be part of Bristol Light Festival 2025.
All photos: Andre Pattenden
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