Migratory Light - Chris McClean
19th, 20th & 21st February - 5:30pm - 9:30pm
Location - The Lawn - What Three Words: ///behind.prompting.lift
This walk-through artwork transforms bird migration into moving light.
Drawing on ecological data from the Humber Estuary, “Migratory Light” traces the seasonal movements of birds that pass through the region, translating flight, density and rhythm into coloured streams that flow around and above visitors.
Audiences can choose to view or interact with the behaviour of the light. Streams bend, merge or intensify in response, echoing the way flocks navigate weather, terrain and disturbance. The work is not a literal simulation, but an interpretive visualisation that balances scientific insight with sensory experience.
The bird sounds heard as part of this installation are field recordings of the Eurasian curlew by Merlyn Driver. Merlyn’s multi-artist album Simmerdim: Curlew Sounds was released in 2022 in partnership with the RSPB to raise funds for curlew conservation.
This commission was made possible through funding from Arts Council England’s Place Partnership Fund and Create North East Lincolnshire as part of the “Exploring Digital” programme.
About the artist(s)
Chris McClean is an artist, photographer and filmmaker based on the Humber. Working across photography, film and audiovisual forms, his practice develops through sustained engagement with landscape and place. Projects are allowed to unfold gradually, often returning to the same locations over extended periods.
Rooted in the region, his work is shaped by close observation and long-term presence rather than singular events, moving between still and moving image, sound and installation. His projects have been presented through exhibitions, screenings, publications and public-facing formats, and frequently involve collaboration with local communities and institutions. While grounded in specific locations, his work speaks beyond them, engaging broader questions of place, change and how landscapes are experienced over time.
Access information
This installation is accessible for all.
Sustainability information
By working with existing public space and grounding the piece in ecological data from the Humber, it encourages environmental awareness through experience rather than instruction, while remaining open and accessible to a broad public audience.
Select a day
Select a location
Select type of event
Walking Histories
Lincoln Free Walking Tour
Outdoor
19th, 20th & 21st February
Walking tour experience through the historic streets of Lincoln alongside the Reimagining Lincolnshire project, unearthing and illuminating hidden heritage stories in the city, in particular focusing on historically marginalised communities.
The People’s Market
Human Studio
Indoor
21st February
The People’s Market transforms Lincoln’s historic marketplace into a living archive of everyday activism. At Frequency, it will present a work-in-progress AR prototype, inviting audiences to shape its design through collective community feedback, exploring stories of past and present activism through play, discovery, and interactive storytelling.
The Fox and the Otter
Lumo Workshop
Outdoor
19th, 20th & 21st February
The Fox & The Otter is an illuminated walkabout performance inspired by the viral CCTV footage of a fox and an otter who unexpectedly befriended each other on Lincoln High Street. Recreated as glowing puppet lanterns, the two animals travel together through the high street, bringing their story of unlikely friendship to life.
The FlightPaths Trail
Electric Egg
Outdoor
Launching 19th February
A free immersive audio-visual trail launching as part of the Reimagining Lincolnshire project, exploring Lincoln’s WWII histories through geo-located stories and films via the Echoes Explorer app.
The Finish Line
Flexer & Sandiland
Outdoor
19th, 20th & 21st February
Celebrate reaching the top of Lincoln’s famous Steep Hill! The Finish Line is an interactive installation where your arrival is met with cheers and a round of applause. Take a moment to enjoy being recognised for your climb and join in the shared celebration at the summit. A playful tribute to determination and the thrill of reaching the top.
Talking Heads
Impossible Arts
Outdoor
19th, 20th & 21st February
Imagine three towering Easter Island style heads that talk and sing, and one of them suddenly has your face. Step up, speak or sing, and watch your expressions appear on cue. Talking Heads is playful, surprising and impossible not to join in.
SubFrequency Games
Earth Bound Misfits
Outdoor
19th, 20th & 21st February
SubFrequency Games is a high-energy outdoor street party where bass, play and performance collide. Expect big sound, crowd challenges, theatrical hosting and moments of joyful chaos that pull everyone into the experience. It’s loud, welcoming and irresistibly playful - When the Dj’s hit play, we play to win!
Serving Sounds
Working Boys Club
Outdoor
19th, 20th & 21st February
Step up, grab a glass, tap a beer mat, and drop a beat. Serving Sounds is a joyful pop-up bar where everyday objects trigger iconic grooves, thumping basslines, and unexpected musical magic.
Resonant Pulse
Lucy Mager
Outdoor
19th, 20th & 21st February
Resonant Pulse is a multi-channel sonic installation recontextualising the sounds of Cleethorpes beach to create an interactive and meditative experience. Speakers will be arranged in a circle, facing inward, inviting the audience to stand or move within. Sounds and frequencies will interact within this circle for a full-body audio experience
Migratory Light
Chris McClean
Outdoor
19th, 20th & 21st February
A walk-through artwork that translates bird migration into moving light. Drawing on the rhythms of the Humber Estuary, the work invites audiences to step into unseen journeys that connect the city to distant coasts, revealing migration as a shared, living process.
Light Painting
Access Creative
Outdoor
19th, 20th & 21st February
An open, all-ages light painting workshop inviting audiences to play, experiment and create with light. Participant will explore colour, movement and long-exposure photography in a fun, accessible way, discovering how imagination and technology combine to transform light into art.
In addition, Access Creative will also be joined by Not Quite North, a specialist film lab and vintage camera shop based in Lincoln. They’ll be at Saltergate across all three days, offering their expertise on how to utilise analogue cameras and various hands-on techniques!
Light Gliders
Circo Rum Ba Ba
Outdoor
19th, 20th & 21st February
The Light Gliders spin elegantly into view glowing like lanterns and whizzing around the audience full of mischief and grace. They light up a space with their choreographed colour changing lights, magically turning around the audience, dancing between them, a mixture of ballet dancer and sprite. The Light Gliders are tiny, only four feet high and audiences delight in spinning them round then letting them go to whizz off at speed.
LIGHT BOAT
The Institute for Crazy Dancing
Outdoor
19th, 20th & 21st February
LIGHT BOAT is the slowest ride on earth: rock gently; turn slowly; and listen to the LB Alphabet as the drum beats and the chains rattle. At the end of the journey, participants are invited to file their Forecast for the future in the Ship’s Log.
Lantern Making Workshop
Lumo Workshop
Indoor
17th and 18th February
Join Lumo Workshop on the Mezzanine Floor of the Cornhill market to create your own small pyramid lanterns! These beautiful lanterns can be personalised and crafted by participants of all ages. Once made, you can collect them on the festival nights from the Cornhill Market to carry through the city, helping to light up Lincoln and become part of the event. A hands-on, creative way to bring the festival to life and join in the celebration of light and community.
Infinite Museum
MBD
Indoor
19th, 20th & 21st February
Infinite Museum is a multi-person Virtual Reality (VR) experience inviting audiences to explore short stories rooted in local heritage. Structured as a virtual museum, each room transports visitors to different moments and environments.
FlightPaths – Installation
Electric Egg
Indoor
19th, 20th & 21st February
The FlightPaths installation was created as part of a collaborative process between artists Electric Egg and the children of Westgate Academy Primary School. The installation explores the themes of home and journeys and looks at the contribution of international aircrew in ‘Bomber County’ during the Second World War.
Drift
William Lindley
Indoor
19th, 20th & 21st February
Drift is a moving image projection exploring Lincoln and Lincolnshire, connecting the county to the city, taking in various locations, including Horncastle, Grimsby, Boston, Spilsby, Scunthorpe, Sleaford, Gainsborough, the fens and the wolds. It will be projected within St Mary Le Wigford, onto screens with a soundscape.
Dragon’s Breath
ITHACA at the Castle
Outdoor
19th, 20th & 21st February
ITHACA Studio will be returning for Frequency 2026, lighting up Lincoln Castle with a new immersive experience created especially for the festival.
DJ and Beatbox Workshops
Noise Academy
Indoor
21st February
Noise Academy's open DJ and beatbox workshops are fun, high-energy sessions where young people can explore rhythm, sound, and performance in a relaxed, inclusive environment. Participants learn core skills, experiment creatively, and build confidence through hands-on music making, guided by experienced professional tutors.
Circa
Limbic Cinema
Outdoor
19th, 20th & 21st February
A mesmerising installation that will transform the Deans Green at Lincoln Cathedral, and invite audiences to connect with the biological patterns and rhythms of nature.
BOUNDING LIGHT
Vent Media
Outdoor
19th, 20th & 21st February
Bounding Light shows how light can be shaped by edges, lines, and boundaries. By working within the building’s existing structure, the artwork invites people to see a familiar historic building in a new way — not as something fixed and unchanging, but as a surface that can be brought to life through light and movement.
ARCADE
DARKFIELD
Indoor
Friday 13 - Sunday 22 Feb, 12-8pm (Closed Mon 16 Feb)
DARKFIELD’s ARCADE is an interactive experience that uses the aesthetic of 1980s video games, complete darkness, 360 degree binaural sound and sensory effects to immerse players in a war-torn world through which they can choose their own path.
An Elevated Platform
Flexer & Sandiland
Indoor
19th, 20th & 21st February
A dysfunctional Karaoke for the body, An Elevated Platform echoes a world saturated with social media, where every action we make is both celebrated and scrutinised in equal measure.
4 Bit Playground
Pather and Johnston
Indoor
19th, 20th & 21st February
4 Bit Playground is an interactive kinetic installation of autonomous cube-creatures that respond to human presence and each other. Each cube has programmed personalities that generate social behaviours, transforming their space into an ecosystem that questions the expectations we place on machines, our relationship with them and collective machine agency.