River of Light smashes previous festival records
An illuminating report has revealed that last year’s River of Light festival was the most successful ever.
The 12-night light festival attracted double the number of visitors from previous years and was worth £18.9m to the local economy – a significant increase on previous editions of the event.
The festival’s popularity was felt right across the city centre with footfall up, and restaurants, bars and shops reporting a boost in sales.
At Liverpool ONE, in comparison to the impact of the 2023 edition of River of Light, there was a huge spike in footfall during 5-9pm, with reports of an 11 percent increase in footfall with almost 1 million visitors to the retail and leisure complex during River of Light, while restaurants saw a 22 per cent increase in sales.
Over at Royal Albert Dock Liverpool, many of the outlets there benefitted from River of Light. Rosa’s Thai experienced its biggest sales since it opened in 2019, Francie’s Focaccia & Coffee – which went viral on social media for its hot chocolate – had an impressive 40 per cent increase in sales, and Gusto welcomed a different, younger clientele to what they are used to, with non-stop business each event night, from 4-11pm.
Liverpool BID Company which represents city centre businesses reported a significant increase in footfall around the Church Street, Lord Street and Whitechapel areas throughout the duration of the event period in comparison to 2023, with just over 186,000 extra people recorded. Numbers peaked on Saturday 2 November when there was a 122 per cent increase in the number of visitors.
Hotel occupancy also increased in comparison to 2023, an indication that people from outside Liverpool City Region are travelling to enjoy the light trail. There was a 96.6 per cent occupancy rate on 1 November – up 17 per cent on the previous year.
Research from North West Research – part of the Liverpool City Region Destination Partnership – also showed that of the audience surveyed, 55 per cent responded to say that they don’t attend any other cultural events or activity during the course of a year, reinforcing how crucial the festival is in engaging the widest possible audience in free, world-class art.
Around 30 per cent of those surveyed had never been to River of Light before, and 83 per cent said they are likely to return to Liverpool again.
It also proved a huge hit online with 1.1 million views across the official Visit Liverpool event pages – the site’s highest web traffic for the site in that period, with interest from across the UK, Spain, Germany and the United States.
River of light will be back for the eight time from Friday 24 October to Sunday 2 November, this year’s theme will be Optics – Science and Light.
Any artists who would like to propose a new or existing artwork for the festival should contact cultureliverpool@liverpool.gov.uk so they can be sent a more detailed commissioning brief.
Councillor Harry Doyle, Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing and Culture said:
“These results are stunning. We all saw how busy the festival was this year but that huge economic impact figure has smashed our previous festivals.
“I think we were lucky enough to have a perfect set of circumstances – the weather was unseasonably warm and dry, the artworks were incredible and interactive, it was a strong marketing campaign and of course the dates fell perfectly for family audiences to attend. I am not expecting every year to have impact figures like this, but a huge congratulations to everyone involved in 2024 for such a bumper edition!”
Claire McColgan CBE, Director of Culture Liverpool said
“River of Light continues to grow and just get better and better. The fact that so many of our audience are young and often don’t engage in other cultural events and activity is so special – the festival has become a place where everyone can spend time with families and friends alongside incredible free art. It is a perfect Liverpool event and again shows that nowhere in the UK embraces outdoor art like this city.
“I am really excited about this year’s festival – a collision of art and science in the most spectacular and accessible way. As a city which boasts some of the most innovative science and creative industries, it is wonderful to be able to shine a spotlight on some of that work which many people might not be aware of. Already we have some jaw-dropping artworks and unexpected collaborations lined up, but we are keen to hear from artists or scientists who might have ideas for an installation that can capture the scale and theme of the project in 2025.”
Iain Hoskins, Managing Director – Ma Pub Group, responsible for Nova Scotia, said:
“We love River of Light and it’s an absolute fixture of Liverpool’s cultural events calendar that we all look forward to each year.
“As a waterfront business, it’s incredible to have something to drive such huge footfall in the traditionally harsh trading conditions between the end of the summer and the start of Christmas.
“Each year it gets better and better and the feedback we get as a hospitality business from locals and tourists visiting River of Light, it’s something that the city should be very proud of. It brings together an incredible cross-generational appeal that you rarely see in public festivals.
“As a business we see a massive uptick in our sales during the festival period. Additionally, we also find it brings people through our doors for the first time, that then becoming reacquiring customers. So, the benefit of this extra footfall is not just during the festival, but throughout the year.”
Katherine Caldwell from The Nest – an art and design shop based at Royal Albert Dock Liverpool, said:
“Events like River of Light show how Liverpool can produce spectacular, immersive, and joyful cultural events for visitors that are hugely popular.
“It encourages people of all ages to play and expand their imagination within a programme of exciting installations that are totally unique to the city.”