14 sound and light installations as part of a free town-wide trail co-created with a range of different partners, will help to bring light to the dark winter months, taking place from the 15th to the 19th of January 2026 and will include a five-day Winter Food & Drink Village in the heart of the High Street.
At the centre of the light trail experience will be Burns Light, a brand-new historical retelling of Robert Burns and the Burns Mausoleum, which is the resting place of Scotland's most important son. A new music score created with emerging music creators in the town will bring the mausoleum to life through a six-minute audiovisual projection which will be beamed onto the white monument over the five days.
The project will examine the famous visitors to the Mausoleum over the last 208 years as well as famous people who have been influenced by Robert Burns, including musicians like Bob Dylan and The Beatles.
Other highlights include:
Phantom Spectra, which is commissioned by the Stove Network and explores the town's history with the travelling fair community which goes back nearly 200 years. An odyssey of the fair. A ghost in the town. A ride through memory, presence, and what is yet to come. Phantom Spectra is an immersive, geo-located binaural sound installation that draws you into the spirit of the fair — part documentary, part dream. A story that slips into the invisible, where past, future, and spirit collide.
Divided, which is a new work that first appeared at the festival last year and takes place inside in an abandoned nightclub. The piece uses mirrors and recreates an outside world inside with real grass and Christmas trees that the community donate. The piece explores the shifting view on immigration and asks the spectator to see themselves as others see them and immerses the audience into a sonic
Washing Line makes a return to the festival which will be hung up Gass House Close and will bring forgotten voices back to life in a re-working of this favourite installation which was last seen in 2017.
Birds on a Wire is a new installation created by the community and will be the centrepiece of the festival on the High Street. Spectators will be able to interact with birds who have visited the town centre by sitting on a telephone wire.
Biofluorescence is a new work created by Summerhill Community Centre in partnership with RSPBS Scotland and will bring to life on of Scotland’s only rain forests through an interactive silent disco experience which viewers can watch projected onto the side of the Midsteeple Quarter.
Other highlights of the light trail include:
Lights of Hope, which form part of the lighting up of the promenade and town centre spaces by Dumfries Partnership Action Group.
Norway Haus which celebrates the town's Norwegian connection during World War II at the Venue Nightclub.
Immortal Memory, the immersive experience which allows spectators to light a candle for someone they loved at Greyfriars Church.
Lots of local venues are getting in on the action by lighting up their windows, including:
The recently renovated Ewart Library who will be celebrating their programme through Reading Room.
Dumfries Table Tennis Club will be offering young people the chance to play glow-in-the-dark table tennis.
Rabbie's Winter Village in the centre of the High Street will include five days of music, food and drink will be presented by local musicians, artists and producers from across the region as well as a free family hub across the five days.
Dumfries Carnival will run through the festival on Saturday the 17th of January and will include a cast of over 2,000 members of the community dressed up, dancing and bearing lanterns. The theme for this year's carnival is outer Space, including links to the first Moon landing.
Also check out other Festivals in Dumfries, Music events in Dumfries, Trips & Adventurous Activities in Dumfries.
