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January is a famously dreary month of the year. The Christmas magic has worn off, everyone is swearing off anything fun and the days are dark and cold. In short, exactly when we could all do with an extra injection of light. And for the past decade, Canary Wharf has been providing just that.
At the start of each year, the Winter Lights festival sets out to help you beat the January blues and transforms the financial district into a kaleidoscopic outdoor gallery of light art. Now, we can reveal that it’ll be returning on January 20, 2026.
The lights are completely free to see and will switch on every evening from 5pm to 10pm until January 31. For 2026, the festival’s theme is ‘Dreamscape’, which promises an ‘an exploratory journey of the surreal and ethereal’. Expect interactive displays, colourful projections and magnificent installations from world-renowned light artists, as well as pop-up food stalls to keep you fuelled along the way.
Pippa Dale, an associate director at the Canary Wharf Group said: ‘Winter Lights started as a glowing idea to brighten the dark January nights and bring joy through art to Londoners. Over the past decade, this idea has grown and brightened into one of the capital's most ambitious light art festivals, with this year's Dreamscape theme representing our boldest vision yet.’
Last year, the installations included a piece that reflected sunlight during the day and became a dazzling choreographed light show by night; an illuminated bird in flight and a stack of 32 bath tubs pulsating with light and sound. The full lineup of artists and artworks for 2026 will be announced in December.
The exact date that Oxford Street’s festive lights will turn on for Christmas 2025.
London New Year’s Eve Fireworks Show 2025: How to get tickets.
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