This year’s Dublin Winter Lights display is partly powered by vegetable oil generators.
The annual display will see colourful projections and lighting displays transforming 16 locations around the city.
The Spire will be included for the first time this year, alongside a Viking Boat on the Liffey and a new installation in the Liberties’ Bridgefoot Park.
Triumphal Arch Dublin Winter LightsPeople are being urged to follow the new walking trail map – which will bring them to all 16 locations in a row.
Children can also follow the adventures of Rua the red squirrel on the way – with QR codes at each location letting you read the next chapter in the story.
The 16 locations are:
- Liberties: Windmill Digital Hub
- Liberties: Bridgefoot Street Park (New Location)
- Smithfield Square (New installation)
- Barnardo Square (Children’s Art Competition)
- Millenium Bridge
- Wolfe Tone Square (New Location)
- Dublin Spire
- O’Connell Street Monuments
- Custom House
- Triumphal Arch
- Georges Dock (New Location)
- Samuel Beckett Bridge
- Seán O’Casey Bridge (New Location)
- Liffey Viking Boat (New Installation)
- Mansion House (4th Dec)
- Merrion Square Park (1st Dec)
Meanwhile, this year's festival is being powered by hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) generators and “where possible,” localised battery storage power.
HVO is an alternative to fossil fuels and the batteries will be charged at off-peak times to reduce draw on the electricity grid during peak hours.
Dublin City Council events spokesman Simon Clarke said the moves confirm the council’s “commitment to facilitating and delivering more energy efficient and environmentally sustainable events in the city centre”.
Samuel Beckett Bridge Winter Lights Dublin.He said each location only uses small amounts of power – noting that the Spire projection uses the same wattage as a domestic iron and the Millennium Bridge installation the same as a toaster.
The lights were officially switched-on last night and will remain on until January 1st.
The Rua the Red Squirrel story and walking trail map are available at DublinWinterLights.ie.
Printed copies of the book in English and Irish will be available in every Dublin City Council Library.
