First Light Festival 2023
Across Saturday 17 & Sunday 18 June 2023, First Light Festival welcomed audiences of 40,000+ for a spectacular feast of creativity and celebration on South Beach. Marking the 70th and 10th anniversaries of significant flooding events in Lowestoft, the festival took a fresh perspective on our relationship to the sea with a programme of music, poetry, installations and community projects that look out beyond our horizons, and up to a vast sky of stars.
A big highlight of last year’s festival was the Welcome to Lowestoft Opening Parade that told the story of Farrah, a 5-metre high fox, and Sol, Lowestoft’s Spirit of the Sea. As part of the nationwide Historic England/Arts Council England Hi!Street Fest project with Emergency Exit Arts, the parade worked with schools, local groups and organisations to bring thousands of people into the high street and down to the beach as we met the humans and animals that call our town home.
The Sunlight Stage once again hosted big musical names, including DJs Luke Una and DJ Paulette, folk royalty Eliza Carthy (presented by FolkEast), Berlin-based 7-piece Jembaa Groove, Tom McRae and a new work from HighTide Theatre celebrating the legacy of the infamous 1930s Herring Girls protests.
Our packed First Word tent featured new and more familiar faces, including Josie Long, Linton Kwesi Johnson and Luke Wright. Visual arts came to the fore, with live sculpture from acclaimed sculptor Laurence Edwards and a pop-up protest with prominent climate photographer Gideon Mendel. Our Planet Positive zone was once again a hub of science, ideas and debate, with our partners from Natural History Museum, University of East Anglia and Cefas presenting the latest research with hands-on games and activities.
New areas for 2023 included Power Positive, showcasing the most exciting new technology from the region’s renewables sector, and Everyone Active, a centre of sports and fitness on the beach.
A beautiful, serene high point of the weekend was our Dawn programme, which featured new music and dance work from Nic Pendlebury, Hannah Rudd and Kerenza Peacock, enjoyed on the shoreline alongside a free communal fish feast, shared by onlookers as the sun broke across the horizon.
Saturday's dawn breaks over Laurence Edward's Chthonic Head. Adam Barnes
Community groups line the Opening Parade route. Luke Witcomb
The local sea swimming group join the Parade. Adam Barnes
HighTide debut Herring Girls to kick off the Sunlight Stage programme. Mykola Romanovsky
The new Power Positive zone highlights the latest renewables technology
Everyone Active had us hands on with sports and fitness. Mykola Romanovsky
Bollywood Brass Band went down a storm on the Sunlight Stage. Mykola Romanovsky
The Hemingways took over the DJ in the Dunes area. Mykola Romanovsky
Noon to Moon saw regional artists take over Kensington Gardens. Mykola Romanovsky
Spectacular Man has a sunset slot on our Gardens Stage. Adam Barnes
The latest climate research from Cefas at Planet Positive. Mykola Romanovsky
Laurence Edwards sculpts in real time, infront of the Messums East ArtHub audience. Mykola Romanovsky
The festival site. Mykola Romanovsky
Jasmine Gardosi performs to a packed First Word tent. Mykola Romanovsky
Farrah and her friends make a splash on the promenade. Mykola Romanovsky
Sol and her entourage of sea spirits stroll down Jubilee Parade. Mykola Romanovsky
Gideon Mendel's Drowned World photos are displayed by community groups. Luke Witcomb
Linton Kwesi Johnson. Mykola Romanovsky
$ebbuku performs as our headline New Dawn act. Nick Tapper
Bollywood Brass Band perform a surprise for the finale of a MoonDance workshop. Mykola Romanovsky
Josie Long. Luke Witcomb
Jembaa Groove headline Saturday night. Adam Barnes
James Meek and Ken Warpole talk flooding at Ideas on the Green. Mykola Romanovsky
Street food was served up across the weekend. Mykola Romanovsky
Wild beach campsite. Luke Witcomb
DJ Paulette turns up the heat for Sunday afternoon. Adam Barned
Our festival site. Mykola Romanovsky