Via Luminosa light display to tell Easter story in York

Various city-centre buildings and landmarks will be illuminated or fitted with art installations, as part of a 13-day festival, called Via Luminosa.

The event is organised by Visions, a group of Christian artists.

They say they have been inspired by similar projects in France, and by what they see as a public appetite for major Christian stories.

Each piece will be a few minutes long and will tell a part of the Easter story.

Some of these installations will be on walls or upon freestanding structures placed inside gardens and the projectors will be sited inside nearby buildings.

Other projections will be on windows themselves, which will have been turned into screens.

Sue Wallace, Visions music and arts co-ordinator, said: “We have always loved the large art installations that take place in many towns in France at night .

“We’ve also noticed how people love to experience the story behind the Christians festivals, in Nativity Plays, the Mystery Plays, and more recently with events like the Manchester Passion.

“We wanted to combine these two elements and tell the story of Easter, but in an artistic and fun way, in images made of light, and to share our art with others rather than hiding it indoors. We hope you enjoy discovering it, and seeing parts of town literally in a new light.” Via Luminosa is described as an art trail telling the Easter story in light.

There will be 15 exhibits around the city, including at St Helen’s Church, Minster Gates, the Roman Column and Museum Gardens. Each exhibit will tell a different part of the Easter story, from Christ entering the city, to the betrayal, to the Last Supper, to the crucifixion to the resurrection.

The event runs from Monday to Saturday, April 18, from 7.30pm to 10pm each day.