Thamesmead’s Light the Way festival is set to return this Saturday with a lineup of performances, a glowing iceberg installation and a flash mob – all to highlight the importance of Thamesmead’s natural environment.

On Saturday, March 4 from 5pm-10pm visitors will be able to walk through a light trail in a one off, free family event.

The walking trail will begin from the Lakeside Centre, where visitors will take an evening walk along Bazalgette Way and parts of the Ridgeway and finish at Crossway Park.

The Light the Way festival is a collaboration between Peabody and Hives Curates bringing a mix of performances from south east London artists, light installations, film screenings, and a flash mob performed by London College of Performing Arts.

The theme this year will focus on Thamesmead’s natural environment - featuring a lineup of cultural performances together that focus on this issue.

Lisa Drew, Peabody’s Cultural Programme Manager for Thamesmead, said: “We’ve got a fantastic night planned for this year’s event with everything themed around nature and local biodiversity.

“The installations will be visually spectacular and we're fortunate enough to have worked with a host of diverse artists, some of whom are local to the area.

“it’s been a pleasure working with Hive Curates who understand why showcasing local talent is so important to us, and we can’t wait until visitors get to experience the light festival in person”.

The 25-meter-wide screen will play four films that relate to the festival’s theme of highlighting the significance of Thamesmead’s natural environment, including a showing of film The Odds & Events produced by London filmmaker Simon Rattigan.

The trail will also host a number of stations selling hot drinks and food along the trail.

The trail will also feature a number of artists such as Thamesmead’s, Miyuki Kasahara, with a display of her Folding Flocks origami installation along with Sarah Garrod, who will be presenting a community led project ‘Nature Through a New Lens’.

Artists Lisa Cheung and Alex J Tuckwood will be showcasing STELA which will simulate the arctic skies with electric blue, green and violet lights.

Visitors walking past the Crossway Pond can expect to see a colorful iceberg artwork piece called A Fragile World which will glow by the energy generated from bike pedaling.

Alongside the lineup of acts and performances, The Pathways to the Thames project team will also be highlighting their plans to build a new path to connect Southmere Lake to the River Thames as part of a project in partnership with Sustrans and GLA.

Chantelle Purcell, Co-Founder and Director at Hive Curates, said: “Light the Way will be packed with lots of exciting family-friendly light installations. In these darker months, we wanted to unite communities by sparking joy through positivity and light.

“The festival has given us the opportunity to work in remarkable landscapes and transform these settings at night.

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“There’s some incredible local conservation work being delivered by local groups Pathway to the Thames and North West Countryside Partnership and we wanted to highlight that throughout the route as well.

“As a team of creatives it was really important to connect with these wonderful communities and local creatives to celebrate biodiversity, wildlife and the many waterways surrounding Thamesmead.

“We hope you’ll join us in switching off your lights at home and joining us in discovering unexpected and playful light pieces in the Thamesmead landscape.”