Bigger, better Firelight this year

Firelight will expand to include Victoria Harbour for its second year, after a review of last year’s festival overachieved in NewQuay.

The expansion of the winter event also includes merging the Winter Glow festival into Firelight, which will run from June 29 to July 1, and will close Harbour Esplanade to traffic.

Over three nights in 2017 Firelight saw 30,000 pedestrian visitors. The footprint has been tripled to cater for an expected increase this year.

Firelight will have an orange colour theme this year, and will continue to focus on winter solstice traditions and celebrations.

It’s not yet known exactly how the closing of Harbour Esplanade will work – when it will be closed or from which points.

Questions were raised at the Docklands Chamber of Commerce meeting on April 11 – when the expansions were announced – about the Harbour Esplanade closure citing apparent transport difficulties that arose from the street closure on New Year’s Eve.

City of Melbourne couldn’t answer questions from Docklands News regarding this issue, but said more information would be released next month.