September will bring Toowoomba’s unsung cultural and creative heroes to the limelight at LIT Festival: Stories In Light, a new two night street art festival from Friday 28 to Saturday 29 September.

Digital media producer and festival director Ben Tupas has brought together local and internationally established artists to bring colour and light into the night. “With LIT Festival: Stories in Light, we want people to explore Toowoomba into the evenings and breathe more energy into the nightlife,” he says. “Toowoomba has an enviable lifestyle and this festival seeks to open up the city and entice people and businesses to find a niche with new tourism opportunities.”

The festival will create dynamic light projections using the city’s historical buildings as canvases. The magnificent light show is being held alongside the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers, bringing beauty to those visitors looking for fun night events. “We want people to stay in Toowoomba and explore what we have to offer. When First Coat wrapped up in 2017 we were left with stunning works across the CBD but the festival to celebrate the creative talent was lost,” Tupas says. “LIT Festival is looking to fill that gap and reclaim some of the cultural and creative experiences this city is renowned for. In July we’ll launch a community callout to find the unsung heroes and faces of Toowoomba that will be part of our installations. We want to hear from people that have a great story to tell or know of someone that should be recognised. This is a festival for Toowoomba to own and share, and we want residents to be a big part of that.”

One of the artists announced is Toowoomba’s Jesse Paul Wright. He is widely known for his large-scale sculptures, and along with Connor Quill, the duo are working together to create one of the three major installations implemented in the festivals. “We’re excited to be working with Toowoomba professionals like Ruth Atkinson from Visual Focus who will bring the technical brains to power the art, as well as local artists such as renowned animator John Rowe,” Tupas says. “Behind-the-scenes we’ve been scouting out the best locations to showcase the dynamic talent we have as part of the festival.”

Readers also enjoyed this story about the Stanthorpe Art Prize.