Wolverhampton landmarks to be lit up in spectacular new festival

These images show how Wolverhampton will be illuminated as part of an ambitious new festival this weekend.

St Peter's Church, the university and the art gallery will change appearance for two nights only when huge dazzling projections adorn the historic buildings.

Activities will mostly be held in St Peter's Gardens, Queen's Square and at the front of the Civic Centre.

From the gardens the city's historic art gallery, the side of Barclays Bank and St Peter's Church will be illuminated with mosaics and traditional images depicting the city's Anglo-Saxon heritage.

Acoustic music performances will take place in the gardens, as well as a sound and video projection and a special recording of old English poem The Phoenix.

In the Civic Centre piazza, dance group Wolf Pac will perform and a pattern of candle illuminations will surround the war memorial.

In Queen Square, a music and dance stage runs from 7pm on both nights.

Bollywood dancers, drummers, several other dance groups and band D'Votion will take to the stage, as well as a special performance of The Time Warp from The Rocky Horror Show, which is on at the Grand Theatre from next Monday.

Then at 9pm on both evenings fireworks displays and light projections will fill the city's skies, with projections continuing until 10pm.

The University of Wolverhampton's MA Building and the Arena Theatre will also be lit up, while Epic Youth Cafe in Lichfield Street will have its own projected portraits in the cafe window.

Holly Francis, schools and performance coordinator for In To The Light – Enchanted City, encouraged as many people as possible to come along to the free event.

The 19-year-old said it would go ahead whatever the weather and that it would be a hugely positive weekend for the city.

She said: "It's going to be great for Wolverhampton.

"Light displays will be changing the faces of building, there'll be great performances showcasing the talent of young people in Wolverhampton, plus music performances and places are staying open later.

"There'll also be lots of acoustic and dance performances and everyone has made a big effort to put it together. It just shows the city in a different light.

"I like the fact it's free and that we're doing something aimed at families."

The technology behind the light display was previously used during the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, producing a colourful display on Buckingham Palace.

It also proved popular during the Olympic Games when it was used to light the Houses of Parliament, as commissioned by the Major of London Boris Johnson.

Images of Olympic legends were projected onto Parliament, including Usain Bolt and Sir Chris Hoy.

The display was created by the artist Ross Ashton of Projection Studio who will now bring his talents to Wolverhampton.

Mr Ashton said: "I am delighted to have been invited to work in Wolverhampton city centre for the first time, illuminating city centre buildings with large scale projected images as a visual poem to the city as part of the Enchanted City event."

The Wolverhampton event has been launched with a team of international specialists to bring together different parts of the community.

More than a dozen school and college groups from the city will also take part and it is hoped tourists will be attracted.

The festival has its own Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages or email wolverhampton@enchantedcity.co.uk for details.