Photographing Birmingham Light Festival 2026 was a fantastic opportunity to capture how light transforms urban spaces, to creatively document striking artworks across the city at night, and to convey the lively, atmospheric feel of this free outdoor festival that took place in February 2026 in Birmingham.

As one of the festival official photographers I was assigned to document a variety of locations and events, mostly around city centre and the Jewellery Quarter.  My cameras captured FORGED in the Bullring (live show, fire breathing bat and a flame bursting organ), Our Beating Heart at the Mailbox ( a rotating, sparkling heart-shaped installation that casts shimmering highlights and a pop up choir), Firefly Field at St. Paul’s Churchyard (a delicate constellation of lights spread across the grass), nighttime group dog walk, whiskey tasting and silent disco in Victoria Square.

What makes the Light Festival special isn’t just the installations themselves, it’s how people interact with them and how the lights transform familiar urban spaces. My aim was to capture  visitors as they move through or pause by artworks — silhouettes, reactions and candid moments that add life to static light sculptures. I also used city landmarks (Town Hall, Bullring, BT Tower) as backdrops to contextualise the lights within Birmingham’s urban fabric. While the weather wasn't great, I enjoyed finding wet surfaces that reflected the lights. I would like to think that these images not only show the festival’s visual splendour but also convey its vibrant atmosphere and how it brought warmth and wonder to Birmingham’s cold, wet winter nights.