A wildflower field on disused land will be occupied by giant creatures and lit up after dark for Welcoming Winter, a free evening of art, light and seasonal spectacle.
A family of three-metre-tall creatures made from hay will emerge from the darkness of a Mereside meadow this month, as part of celebrations for Lightpool’s 10th anniversary.
Welcoming Winter, on Friday 23 October, will bring the Field of Dreams to life after dark. The event is free and everyone is welcome.
The Field of Dreams is a seven-acre stretch of disused land that LeftCoast, the Creative People and Places programme for Blackpool, has spent the summer turning into a wildflower meadow with the international artists Heather Peak and Ivan Morison. The project aims to grow biodiversity, art materials and “new possibilities”.
From 6.30pm, the light artists AndNow will fill the meadow with what organisers describe as unexpected uses of light. The duo’s work has featured at Blenheim Palace, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the National Eisteddfod of Wales.
We are now taking the field into its next season, continuing to work with artists to create new and meaningful connections between community and land.
The hay creatures are being made by Morison from the meadow’s own harvest and will stay in the field over winter, slowly returning their nourishment to the soil while acting as guardians of the land. Morison is working with local volunteers to turn the cut hay into sculptures, following a harvest festival and scything last weekend (2-4 October) where the meadow was cut by hand.
“The Field of Dreams has changed so much over the summer,” says Laura Jamieson, artistic director of LeftCoast. “It’s become somewhere people come to make things, learn, spot wildlife, meet others or simply spend time outdoors,” she said.
“We are now taking the field into its next season, continuing to work with artists to create new and meaningful connections between community and land. It’s exciting to see our crop transformed into unexpected sculptures, and we want to invite the whole community to help us welcome them as they settle into the meadow for winter.”
Over the summer the meadow has hosted artist-led workshops in wild clay, seed harvesting, wood carving, natural dyes, field walks and sculpture. It has also become a haven for wildlife, with the Mereside community recording more than 50 species, including bolete mushrooms, kestrels, oystercatchers and a rare Clouded Yellow butterfly.
The project has been supported by Groundwork and Green Wave and Robert Snape, a conservation officer, has helped guide the planting and care of the meadow and trained local people in traditional scything.
The story of the meadow also continues on screen. Welcoming Winter, a new artist film by Huckleberry Films, will capture the evening in Mereside and the making of the creatures. It will be shown as part of Lightpool 2026.
Welcoming Winter is at the Field of Dreams, Mereside (opposite the Boys and Girls Club on the old playing fields, Bowness Avenue, FY4 4TE). Friday 23 October, 6.30pm–8pm. Welcoming Winter (artist film) is at the Studio at North Pier, Blackpool. 26–31 October, 6pm–9pm. Both events are free. Find out what else is happening at Lightpool here. Photos by Donna Hannigan.
