Lights Out 10-11pm 4 August 2014


The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our life-time” Words spoken by Sir Edward Grey, Foreign Secretary in August 1914, as Britain’s ultimatum to Germany was about to expire

What is LIGHTS OUT? LIGHTS OUT is an invitation to everyone in the UK to turn off their lights from 10pm until 11pm, leaving on a single light or candle for this shared moment of reflection. In a dramatic nationwide event, the UK will plunge into darkness between 10pm and 11pm on 4th August 2014: upon this darkened canvas single lights will appear across the four nations, marking the hour that Britain entered World War 1 one hundred years ago.

LIGHTS OUT is a headline project of the cultural programme 14-18 NOW and was initiated by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport; 14-18 NOW is a curated programme of new art works across the UK that forms part of the official commemorations of the Centenary of the First World War, and is hosted within Imperial War Museums. LIGHTS OUT complements a candlelit vigil to be held at Westminster Abbey from 10pm-11pm on 4thAugust. Every member of every community in the UK is invited to respond to LIGHTS OUT, bringing their own personal thoughts and reflections to the occasion.

We understand many civic buildings, city landmarks, war memorials and other gathering places within local communities, are to become natural assembly points during the LIGHTS OUT hour