The city of Aurora’s light festival is coming back but this time with more shine.
Aurora’s first LUMENAURA took place last year. This interactive light and sound festival highlighted a specific downtown area. Jon Zaghloul, the city’s communication manager, said this year’s light spectacular will expand.
“Whether you're walking around on Broadway, Illinois Route 25 all the way down to River Street on the other side of downtown,” he said, “there are going to be installations all over and more installations, which is really exciting. And it allows more people to spend more time throughout downtown and then get a real nice sort of flow of all of these different pieces of artwork.”
Zaghloul said based on resident feedback, the festival is a week shorter than it was. He said they want to have a bigger impact in less time.
“We’re showcasing all these international and then national artists," he said. "So really, when you when you get down to it, I mean, there's probably nowhere else that I could think of where you could see all of these different artworks, from the UK, from Hungary, from the United States, Canada, too, all in one spot.”
A company called Monochronicle, an urban art and design studio, worked with the city to bring in national and international artists.
Spectators will have the chance to experience Native American storytelling, the 80s cover band Sixteen Candles and Motown Nation.
Zaghloul added that the event also offers accessibility.
“Ninety percent of the artwork that we're going to be putting out is ADA accessible," he said. "And then for the fest weekend as well, there's going to be sort of a soothing space for those who are more sensory sensitive.”
He said there will be a sign language interpreter and some of the installations will include audio descriptions.
This year’s LUMENAURA begins Oct. 10 and runs through Oct. 26. The festival weekend is Oct. 10 through Oct. 12.
