River of Light frequently asked questions

River of Light is an outdoor illuminated gallery on Liverpool Waterfront featuring light and sound installations from a range of national and international artists which residents and visitors to the city can enjoy and experience.

No, the route is completely self-guided and no booking or tickets are required. 

All installations are free to attend. 

River of Light will take place from 23 October to 1 November 2026. 

The installations will be around Liverpool Waterfront and surrounding areas. Exact locations of each artwork are on each of their information pages.  

There will be 13 artworks for you to enjoy in total.

Yes. Each year River of Light features different pieces. Some are from the same artists but no works are repeated. 

The artworks will be lit each night from 5pm until 9pm and will not remain on through the night to conserve energy. 

River of Light runs from 23 October - 1 November from 5pm- 9pm each day.

The light installations will be switched on at 5pm and off at 9pm throughout the start and end time of the programme.

Toilets open for public use are available at Royal Albert Dock and Liverpool ONE and are open until 8PM. 

Royal Albert Dock toilets can be found at L3 4AF. 

Liverpool ONE toilets are located inside the Visitor Centre, Wall Street, L1 8JQ. Toilets cost 30p per visit and are payable via contactless.

Further information on the artworks can be found here.

There are no fireworks as part of River of Light. 

The route is approximately 5km with no designated start or finish. It is recommended to download the map and plan your own route.

No, it is designed to be family friendly and all inclusive. It is advised that small children are accompanied by an adult at all times.

As the installations are outside in areas accessible by the public, dogs are allowed to walk the route.

Yes, all artworks are in accessible locations. Some pieces may be located on cobbled terrain, where this is the case this will be noted. Accessibility information can be found on the website here. 

A full accessibility guide for the event and each installation can be found here. 

At each of the installations there will be a large interpretation board with details about the installation and a QR code that can be scanned and will take you through to the designated page on the River of Light website for further details.

There will also be signage for the route map. 

The boards are all accessible but the public is reminded to wait until the board is available before reading the information.

Full information around accessibility at River of Light can be found here.

River of Light is a popular event and we encourage the use of public transport to ensure a smooth journey and to be more sustainable.

The nearest Merseyrail stations to River of Light are Moorfields (Wirral and Northern Line) and James Street (Wirral Line). For National Rail, Liverpool Lime St Station is approximately a 15 minute walk to Liverpool Waterfront, or visitors can utilise the Merseyrail underground service to Travel to James Street or Moorfields by rail.

Plan your journey in advance and refer to the Merseytravel website for the most up to date travel information. 

Liverpool is well connected to the UK motorway network. From the M6, take the M62, the M58 or the M56 directly into the city.

• Accessible parking facilities
  • Princes Dock Multistorey Car Park: There are 3 x dedicated accessible parking bays in this car park. For more information on this car park, please visit liverpoolwaters.co.uk/visit/car-parking/
     
  • Royal Albert Dock: There are 6 x dedicated accessible parking bays located on the Gower Street Car Park – please note that standard charges apply for blue badge holders in those spaces. For more information, please visit albertdock.com/parking/
     
  • *Q-Park: There are 5 x Q-Park car parks in the centre of Liverpool, and they have around 180 x blue badge parking spaces within their facilities (please note these are not free of charge). For more information on Q-Parks in Liverpool please visit q-park.co.uk/en-gb/results/?l=Liverpool
     
  • Liverpool City Council Blue Badge parking: If you have a blue badge you can park in any on street Pay and Display bays and in most of the city's Pay and Display car parks free of charge, with no time limit.  Badge holders must ensure that a valid blue badge is clearly on display in the windscreen, so the date of expiry and issuing council are clearly visible from outside the vehicle. For more information on Liverpool City Council Blue Badge parking, please visit  liverpool.gov.uk/parking-roads-and-travel/find-parking/council-car-parks/
     

In Liverpool, all licensed black cabs and several licenced private hire vehicles are wheelchair accessible. Here are some useful phone numbers of some of the major taxi companies within Liverpool - 
 

• ComCab – 0151 298 2222
  
  There are a variety of private hire taxi companies which will mainly be using saloon cars – some useful numbers are: -
  • Alpha Taxis – 0151 722 8888
  • Britannia Taxis – 0151 708 7080
  • Delta Taxis - 0151 924 7373

To allow for the safe installation of River of Light artworks, Dale Street/Water Street, between Exchange Street East and Lower Castle Street will be closed from 8am on Sunday 18 October until 8pm on Tuesday 20 October.

The same section of road will close again to facilitate the safe removal of artworks from 8am on Monday 2 November until 8pm Tuesday 3 November.

During the event itself, Dale Street will be closed to general traffic from Byrom Street to Water Street where it meets The Strand, along with the side streets onto Water Street. These closures will be in place from 5pm to 9pm each evening from Friday 23 October to Sunday 1 November.

The side streets include:

• Lower Castle St
• Fenwick St
• Rumford St
• Covent Garden
• Drury Lane
• Tower Gardens

The closures are necessary due to the proximity of the installations to the road and will help ensure the safety of visitors attending the event. More information can be found here. 

Yes, River of Light will be organising 'Quiet Hour' sessions for 2026. they will take place on 28 October and 1 November from 4pm-5pm. 

All of the light installations can be viewed from the ground and therefore there are no additional viewing platforms for any of the installations.

If you have further questions regarding River of Light that are not covered here, please contact the organisers on CultureLiverpool@liverpool.gov.uk

Blue Badge holders can park in designated Blue Badge bays, and any other pay and display bays, free of charge all day.

There are designated Blue Badge bays near to Liverpool Waterfront on Brunswick Street, Water Street and St Nicholas Place.

Find out more here on the Liverpool City Council website.

At the same time that River of Light takes place, major engineering work is being carried out on the Merseyrail Northern Line.

As a result, replacement bus services will operate between Hunts Cross and Moorfields from Monday to Saturday.

Train services will continue to run from Liverpool Central to Southport, Ormskirk, and Headbolt Lane.

Sunday rail services

On Sundays, replacement bus services will operate between Hunts Cross and Sandhills stations.

Train services will run from Sandhills to Southport, Ormskirk, and Headbolt Lane.

Sunday 18 October – Wirral line services will terminate at James Street station, there will be no services calling at Moorfields, Lime Street or Liverpool Central.

Sunday 25 October & 1 November – Replacement bus services will operate between:

• Birkenhead North and Moorfields
• Rock Ferry and Moorfields.

Train services will run between:

• Chester & Ellesmere Port and Rock Ferry
• West Kirby & New Brighton and Birkenhead North.

For the latest public transport travel information, visit www.merseytravel.gov.uk