Durham City is hive of activity as final preparations are made for Lumiere
Adrian Fets, Chair of the Durham Independent Taxi Association (center) with fellow taxi drivers Keith Moore, Paul Bowman, Steve Brown, George Patton and Steve Bennett on North Road in Durham.Adrian Fets, Chair of the Durham Independent Taxi Association (center) with fellow taxi drivers Keith Moore, Paul Bowman, Steve Brown, George Patton and Steve Bennett on North Road in Durham. DURHAM City is a hive activity with an army of workers making final preparations for the third Lumiere festival.
Lumiere organisers will tomorrow (Wednesday, November 13) be testing a range of installations in rehearsal for the event, running from 4.30pm to 11pm each night from Thursday to Sunday.
The festival, commissioned by Durham County Council and produced by Artichoke, will feature 27 installations, including a staggering simulation of the sun – exactly 100 million times smaller than the real thing – a pulsating juke box, a 9m high Christmas tree and a giant elephant.
Artichoke co-director Nicky Webb said today (Tuesday, November 13): “A huge army of people are busy. Apart from our own team there are workers from the county council who are working.
"It is exciting for us that the whole city and region is anticipating what we are about to do - and we are pleased at the way things are going.
“The weather is great very kind to us and we hope it stays that way.
“What is really lovely is that our guide and map has just been delivered and as fast as we get them out to the city they are being snapped up.”
Meanwhile, Durham taxi drivers are up in arms over moves to move them from ranks in the city centre, including in North Road, during the festival.
Durham Independent Taxi Association chairman Adrian Fets said: “There is no provision for taxis in the city centre from 2pm apart from the Framwellgate Waterside.
“They might as well put us on the moon, because no-one’s going to walk down there.
“People don’t know where the taxis are. Even if they did know they are not going to walk all the way down there. What they (the council) are doing is stopping us from making any money.”
County council strategic traffic manager Dave Wafer said: “Road closure notices have been in place where access to ranks will be impacted and alternative arrangements have been made to accommodate a temporary taxi rank.
“All taxis are being diverted onto Framwellgate Waterside from 2pm on the days of the event until 2am.
“This arrangement will be closely monitored by the police and additional actions will be taken if necessary.
“However, to help the taxi trade make the most of the opportunities presented by the increased footfall in the city linked to Lumiere, the location of the temporary rank is highlighted on the map included in the festival guide. Thousands have already been snapped up.”
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