LoL4_Courtesy of Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum (Warwick District Council)..tif

About

The Lights of Leamington Festival Story

Running from 1951 – 1961, the Lights of Leamington Festival was a cherished annual event in Leamington's Jephson Gardens that rivalled Blackpool Illuminations. Drawing crowds from across the West Midlands, the festival featuring dazzling lights, fireworks and live entertainment and was instrumental in lifting post-war spirits.

Having secured National Heritage Lottery Funding to gather community stories and memorabilia from the original festival, Whittle Productions created and curated a collection from a series of open workshops and events to produce an exhibition, film, podcasts and printed material for an archived legacy. Switched On Stories - The Exhibition launched in February 2025, alongside Spotlight - a new Lights of Leamington inspired community-focused festival.

Community Workshops

We were delighted to hold a creative craft workshop for all ages making diya lamps and learning what light means to us in our communities and faiths

As part of Lights of Leamington | The Exhibition, we are holding an additional free workshop decorating more diya lamps.

More details

Open Days

With the help of our amazing volunteers, we held some open days to ask the community to come along and share their memories and mementoes from the original festival. Their stories have been at the heart of our project

The Stories

The Switched On Stories project has been a collaboration between many dedicated, creative and talented people. Whittle Productions are grateful to all the people who gave their time, got involved and shared their stories at our workshops.

Thank you.