Friday 3 & Saturday 4 February from 5pm until late 

Excitement is building in Nottingham as the much-anticipated Light Night opens today. Over 30 light-based installations, performances and activities feature right across the city centre as part of this free after-dark festival.  

Highlights include Pulse at Old Market Square, Evanescent at Sneinton Market Square, Fear The Light at Sussex Street, Neon Dogs at Hounds Gate and The Nectary on Carrington Street. The Tom Dale Company and Inspire Youth Arts return to Nottingham Contemporary for an electric dance performance, there are music stages at Trinity Square and Binks Yard, and there’s even a special commission at Lister Gate to remember and honour Nottingham’s much-loved Xylophone Man. 

I am also hosting a special ‘Stories by Candlelight’ session for children in the Council House in Old Market Square as the finale to our Big Reading Challenge. This is taking place from 5pm to 7pm tonight (Friday 3 February) and is free for families to drop into.  

The best way to plan your evening is to download the free event app, available via the App Store or Google Play. The app lists activities by day and time, and you can also filter by categories. An interactive map will point you in the direction of activities and installations near you. A number of printed event guides will be available from the Tourism Centre on Smithy Row. 

Make sure to use #NottinghamLightNight if you post on social media! 

Organised by Nottingham City Council in partnership with Nottingham Business Improvement District (BID), the organisation behind It's in Nottingham; the event is also being supported with funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England. 

https://www.visit-nottinghamshire.co.uk/whats-on/light-night-2023-p488231 

It’s great that the council’s Active Nottingham team will be investing £1.5m in new gym fitness equipment over the next five years.  

Each of our six leisure centres will receive much-needed new equipment as the current kit is wearing out. Harvey Hadden Sports Village and Clifton Leisure Centre will be the first to benefit in the Spring. 

The average lifespan for a piece of cardio equipment is five years and the cost of repair outstrips the value of the older machines so it makes sense to invest in new kit. 

Membership at our gyms is increasing but we know that replacing old equipment will help to improve customer satisfaction as well as mental and physical health and wellbeing, enabling our leisure centres to remain competitive in an ever-growing sport and leisure marketplace, especially as today’s gym-goer wants to see smart technology on fitness equipment to enhance their gym experience. 

For more updates and keep up to date on the improvement works, visit Active Nottingham’s Facebook page here. 

The Government announced yesterday that the current arrangements in place for overseeing ongoing improvements at the council will continue rather than commissioners being appointed. 

The decision means that the Improvement and Assurance Board chaired by Sir Tony Redmond will remain in place to support the council in implementing its ‘Together for Nottingham’ improvement plan.  

We very much welcome the Government’s decision which reflects that the current arrangements in place are working. 

The council has already made many of the improvements expected of us by the Improvement and Assurance Board and the Government. In particular, we had agreed a balanced budget and medium term financial plan prior to the soaring inflation and energy costs that have affected the finances of households and councils up and down the country – and we are well on the way to balancing the budget for a second year.  

We recognise there is much more work to do to increase the pace of the changes and to put the council on a solid financial footing despite the huge budget pressures we and all councils are facing currently.