On Saturday 7 October, Goodwill Ambassador Lucy and her daughter (honorary ambassador for the evening) attended the City of Lights event produced by MK Islamic Arts & Culture Group.  The project was a 4-day event culminating in a city-centre spectacle.

As darkness fell the exterior of the Central Library came alive with projected imagery celebrating art, science and culture, which included moments of reflection on the NHS’ long history. A large audience gathered for this light spectacle before being led by a procession of lanterns up to Campbell Park.

Creative artist and educationalists Route Canal Arts had delivered workshops with local schools to create large and colourful lanterns which led the way to Milton Keynes’ Market where Celeste, the giant helium puppet animated the crowds with her car-stopping graceful movements.

As you can see from the photos, the event was well attended with audiences from all backgrounds and once they arrived at Campbell Park, they all became one – dancing to Symphonica and Mr Switch for a fusion of hiphop and classical music with live musicians, singers and DJ, creating tunes you couldn’t help but dance to.

In advance of the audience gathering at the Central Library, there was a launch event hosted by Paul Thompson from SEMLEP with key speeches from the Mayor of Milton Keynes, Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire and Principal of MK College. The sentiment of the launch was the importance of profiling digital skills (coding) and technology through culture, especially with the newly opened Institute of Technology, the importance of Bletchley Park and their upcoming of the AI Safety Summit.