This year's Durham Lumiere to be the last

Durham Cathedral lit up during the 2023 festival

This year's Durham Lumiere will be the last, it has been announced.

Launched in 2009, the city's light festival has taken place every two years and drawn more than 1.3 million visitors since it began.

Usually taking place across four nights in November, 2025's edition has already been shortened by a day due to increasing costs.

Its organisers said the decision "had not been taken lightly" and next month's final event would be "a fitting farewell".

The festival's swansong will take place between 13 and 15 November with intricate installations illuminating streets, landmarks and buildings across the city.

These will include a huge forest of illuminated flowers outside the cathedral, a constantly changing digital waterfall which responds to human touch and a "glowing swarm of butterflies" at Crook Hall.

Artworks will also be placed in Shildon as part of celebrations to mark the 200th anniversary of the Stockton and Darlington Railway.

This large-scale Belgian light installation by artist collective Bobolito&Co will be in Durham's Market Place

Helen Marriage, artistic director and CEO of public art producers Artichoke, said: "When we first brought Lumiere to Durham, we didn't know if it would work.

"Fifteen years on and it's become part of the city's story, sparking joy and conversation.

"But to sustain a festival of this scale and ambition requires investment and commitment at a level that is increasingly difficult to secure.

"So, rather than diminish what makes Lumiere extraordinary, we have chosen to close this chapter with a celebration."

However, she also said its legacy would "live on in the memories of those who visited it, as well as in the skills, confidence and ambition in everyone that has played a part in bringing it to life".

Councillor Andrew Husband, leader of Durham County Council, said the festival -which has generated more than £43m for the local economy - had "helped put our city and county on the world stage".

He added that this was "by no means the end of light art or major events in County Durham" and that the authority and its partners would "explore new ways to fire people's imaginations and bring communities together".