Join our purple pathway of light, as we turn 200
15 Dec 2023
On Wednesday, 17 January we'll be celebrating the start of our University's 200th year with a special evening of light, poetry and performances
From 6.24pm (18:24 representing our founding year) a pathway of light will illuminate iconic places and spaces on campus and beyond in our signature colour: purple.
To brighten up the start of 2024 we're inviting staff, students, local alumni and communities to wrap up warm and take an evening stroll along the pathway from Engineering Building A, along Oxford Road to the Whitworth Hall – perhaps discovering a few surprises along the way.
Visitors are then invited to come in from the winter’s night to enjoy free, light-filled festivities at a unique ‘Museum Late’ at Manchester Museum from 6pm to 9pm. The evening offers something for everyone with curated tours, hands-on experiences, uplifting poetry readings and illuminating music.
Performances will include a recital of a specially commissioned bicentenary poem by its writer, alumna Rebecca Hurst and an experiential set by alumnus David McFarlane and associated musicians, who use music and light to visualise the experience of chromesthesia – a condition where sound evokes an experience of colour, shape and movement.
Our wider international community will be joining in celebrations too with light up events taking place from Dubai to Hong Kong.
We hope you will join us for what promises to be a memorable start to our year of bicentenary celebrations. Find out more about what we have planned for 2024 on our bicentenary website.