Embrace the magic of Christmas in Cork as SOLAS, a wonderful new immersive winter light experience in the heart of the city centre opens!
Christmas in Cork truly begins this evening as SOLAS, a large scale public interactive lighting experience is unveiled in the plaza in Emmet Place in Cork.
Organised by Cork City Council, SOLAS is the centre piece of Corkmas, a new festive campaign for Cork, which is aimed at increasing footfall to the city over the festive period and growing the number of people who avail of its retail, hospitality, and cultural offering by ultimately making the city a destination at Christmas.
CE of Cork City Council, Ann Doherty said “Corkmas is about supporting local and celebrating, discovering, and re-discovering the many experiences, and traditions, new and old, that make Christmas time in Cork so unique.
To encourage footfall to the city we are working closely with the city’s retail, hospitality, and cultural sector to better amplify the city’s diverse programme of festive activities. We ask people to support local this Christmas, shop sustainably and check out the city’s unique festive offering on corkmas.ie which features details of SOLAS and the very popular Ferris Wheel”
The SOLAS light and sound experience will run every day until December 21st, from 4pm to 11pm daily.
Stroll through this enchanting space and enjoy watching the lights move in time to the strains of music floating through the air.
Stand within the installation and be mesmerised by a 360* light show where a canopy of overhead orbs create and diffuse a rainbow of colour in time to the music. Conduct the illuminations via a state of the art, interactive touch screen and watch Emmet Place light up!
Each weekend from November 24th to December 17th, Emmet Place and SOLAS will be the site of a hub of family friendly Christmas fun, with a host of musical performances, Christmas singalongs and festive entertainment.
In addition to SOLAS beginning, the streets of Cork will glitter and shine this evening as over 7 kilometres of energy-efficient LED Christmas lights are turned on at St Patrick’s Street, Grand Parade, Oliver Plunkett Street and adjoining streets such as Opera Lane and Academy Street by Cork City Council, Cork Business Association working with traders and by independent outlets.
Cork City Council has also installed 60 glittering Christmas trees across the city centre, suburbs, towns and villages, all which will have their Christmas Lights switched on this weekend.
The preparations for Cork’s Christmas celebration have been underway since the beginning of November with 6 Cork City Council staff members and a crew of 17 electricians working hard to ensure that Cork sparkles and shines brightly this Christmas.