A large-scale, interactive public art display by world-renowned artist Jen Lewin will be one of the main features at the Lights On Stratford festival this winter.
The Pool is a giant field of concentric circles that swirl with light when activated by touch, meaning visitors to the display can activate any of its 100 large circular pads by walking, dancing, jumping, or playing on them. Developed by Lewin in 2008, the exhibit – inspired by Australian tidal pools – has since traveled to more than 20 countries across the globe including Hong Kong, Los Angeles and Mexico City.
Stratford will be added to that list in December, tourism officials announced this week.
“We are absolutely thrilled,” said Zac Gribble, Destination Stratford’s executive director. “We’ve observed over the last two festivals the importance of merging the beauty of light together with interactivity, and Jen Lewin’s work does this brilliantly.”
The Lights on Stratford festival, an effort by local tourism officials to begin marketing the city as a year-round tourism destination, debuted two years ago.
Last year’s festival, which wrapped up in January, featured the North American debut of Australia’s Sky Castle, an interactive light and sound exhibit set up for several weeks outside of city hall. That display, along with others on Tom Patterson Island, Shakespearean Gardens, and elsewhere in Stratford, were collectively visited by more than 80,000 people, according to Destination Stratford.
This year’s Lights on Stratford festival launches Dec. 16.
“As a cultural destination, Stratford continues to punch above its weight, including in the depths of winter,” Gribble said. “We can’t wait to welcome the community and visitors to an even bigger experience next winter.”