Alumni can return to campus to enjoy research-inspired artworks and performances for Light Night Leeds.
The event returns to the University during half-term on 28 and 29 October from 6pm, making it a perfect choice for alumni and their families.
This year’s artworks and performances draw inspiration from high in the sky to deep underground, from Greek mythology to Gothic fiction. With 18 installations and performances to explore, here are five things alumni should look out for on your return to campus:
1. Lighting up the libraries – visit where you used to study
The Brotherton Library always brings back special memories for alumni. Step back inside and enjoy the sounds of Opera North Young Voices and Youth Chorus as they present an inspiring performance filled with energy and hope. The groups, directed by Alison McNeill, will perform two contrasting choral pieces with performances at 6.30pm, 7pm, 7.30pm, 8pm.
Or perhaps the Laidlaw Library was your favourite. Head there for We Are Stardust, a light projection revealing the magical world of galaxies and stars. The artwork by Daksha Patel is accompanied by an original soundtrack, and explores the origins of planets, stars and life itself.
2. Learn about a climate solution beneath campus
In the Leeds magazine 2026 alumni read how researchers are investigating the use of geothermal energy to heat areas of campus.
Dig deeper with The Heat Beneath Our Feet’ a dynamic floor projection outside the Edward Boyle Library. The piece by Lynn Wray and Rebecca Smith (Urban Projections) reveals how natural interactions between rock, water, heat and a new shallow geothermal network could warm and cool homes and public buildings across the Leeds district.
3. Explore student installations made possible by alumni and supporters
Alumni and supporters who give to Leeds make a difference in so many ways – from widening participation, to supporting research, to improving student experience, to providing student opportunities.
Discover their impact in action by visiting the student installations funded by alumni and supporters.
- Created by PhD researcher Bev Adams, you’ll find Gaia and Maia in the University Precinct. Bev’s research investigates how street theatre puppetry can be effective in climate change communication, and here you’ll witness a glowing giant puppet and her small human friend share playful stories of connection with our living earth.
- Whilst you’re in the Precinct, look out for Wondering The City, where artist Verity Hannaway-Mackay invites you move between and explore the high-rise buildings of Leeds through this tactile sculptural installation that plays with light, form and colour.
- Head over to the Plaza to view Komorebi. You’ll walk amongst dappled light and shifting shadows created by artists Melissa Nesbitt and Amy Jamieson. They’ve used fabric lanterns decorated with cyanotype silhouettes to capture the effect of sunrays dancing through leaves.
- Your fourth stop is stage@leeds, where the hidden life of bacteria is revealed by artist Livi Smith in Symbiosis. Large-scale video projections of bacteria and yeast allow us to look further than the eye can see into how these different organisms work together to create scoby, a naturally occurring fermented biomaterial.
4. Walk through the woodland of the future
Sitting on the outskirts of Leeds, Gair Wood is the University’s living laboratory dedicated to ecological research and renewal. Alumni and supporter donations helped bring the 66,000 tree woodland to life, as did volunteers who gave time to support the planting.
Now, as the autumn leaves begin to fall, visitors can experience a projection of dancing leaves to represent Gair Wood, the ‘woodland of the future’. Found outside the School of Music, Artist Lou Chapelle's work ‘What We Leave Behind’ is a poetic response to the woodland. A choral soundtrack, recorded with Opera North Young Voices and Youth Chorus, sings the new woodland into being as a future home for hundreds of plant and animal species.
Learn more about Gair Wood, which is part of The Alliance for Northern Nature, a groundbreaking partnership to bring biodiversity back to the UK.
5. Bring your family to LUU
Revisit your old stomping ground at LUU for a special Be Curious event in the Riley Smith Theatre. You’ll enjoy a fun-filled evening of hands-on activities for the whole family, and a chance to see how research taking place right here in Leeds is helping to shape the world around us.
Find out more
Light Night Leeds is organised and supported by Leeds City Council and funded by Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grants and sponsors from the city.
Discover the full programme on open up, the University’s arts and culture box office website.