Outdoor and Spectacle

Harrogate

About

Our Outdoor Work has transformed and reimagined some of Harrogate’s most recognisable public spaces into a treat for the senses with spectacular installations and captivating street art by national and international artists.

Our outdoor work not only adds to the town for those who live here, redefining the town’s sense of self, but also showcases Harrogate, attracting new visitors and audiences into the town and vastly increasing the wider cultural offering.

We focus on bringing speculator installations to the people of Harrogate and Yorkshire programming the perfect work in the perfect location. As with all our events we heavily subsidise the tickets for our Outdoor Works, absorbing as much of the cost as we can to make the ticket prices as low as possible. This ensures that as many people can attend the event as would like to, taking away a barrier of arts attendance.

Recent largescale Outdoor Projects

BEAM Harrogate Light Festival

In March 2024, we joined forces with James Bawn and Element 3 Design to light up the town centre for a weekend celebration of Harrogate’s best loved landmarks, with ten spectacular illuminations from the Cenotaph to the Valley Gardens. Funded by Future 50, with support from North Yorkshire Council, Visit North Yorkshire and Harrogate BID.

A Fire & Light Experience

A sensational night-time Fire and Light Experience saw Harrogate’s Valley Gardens transformed in March 2022 into a magical feast for the senses. The town centre park came alive for three nights with a series of dazzling displays and trails, which celebrated the elements of fire and water. This spectacular event was part funded by Harrogate Borough Council and Harrogate BID.

Harrogate 1571

In 2019 over 5,000 people witnessed the Harrogate 1571 installation as part of the UCI celebrations and Harrogate Welcomes The World. Working with artist James Bawn HIF created a series of lighting installations that lit up the sky across Harrogate celebrating Harrogate’s spa heritage, from the 36 wells within the Bogs Field area of the Valley Gardens to the iconic Harrogate landmark situated at Harrogate’s highest point – the Harlow Hill water tower.

Pentalum Luminarium

Among the 2018 programme highlights was the Pentalum Luminarium by Architects of Air where 5,000 people immersed themselves over four days in a world of colour in an inflatable sculpture on the iconic Harrogate Stray.

Carefully positioned on the West Park Stray, this iconic structure became the centrepiece of our outdoor programming in July, drawing audiences of all ages into the town. The visual outside of the structure belayed the inside, making this a double artistic experience with the luminarium an intriguing shape, with interiors that are brilliantly iridescent and a maze of dazzling and unexpected spaces. The structure introduced audiences of all ages and abilities to the arts in radiant colour. Through labyrinthine tunnels and cavernous domes, visitors moved (walked, rolled, crawled) or just sat and soaked in the atmosphere and space, in a medium of saturated and subtle hues, accompanied by a gentle sensory soundscape enjoying a programme that mixed a family-friendly interactive installation with stylish and impactful artistic design.

Cie Carabosse Fire Garden

In 2016 over 25,000 people experienced the iconic Valley Gardens over three nights when we transformed the garden into a fire garden in a magical feast for the senses with the Cie Carabosse Fire Garden.

The beautiful park and gardens played host to a fiery spectacle of sculptures and installations on a grand scale designed by the minds of Cie Carabosse. Visitors were invited to explore this space they knew so well, in a completely different way.

Using flaming flower-pots, wax, coal and whistling cast-iron contraptions, with music resonating throughout the night, we transformed this familiar space into an otherworldly fire-gardens. We invited audiences to follow the paths and roam through blazing landscapes, pass by hand-made metallic inventions and be warmed by red-hot charcoal as these musicians, dreamers, metal-workers, storytellers and old soul fire-brands created a fairground of fire where deepest imaginings could be set free.