JanineReview by Izzah Khojah age 13
On Saturday the 14th of October I went to first ever Harehills Light Night at the Thackray Museum of Medicine. Hot on the heels of the main Leeds Light Night, this gave local people a chance for a smaller scale, welcoming experience.
The museum was open to all and for the night it was free to anyone and everyone. The whole community was invited to explore its exhibits, view both local and global short animated films AND see a dazzling light projection on the outside of the Museum.
The whole night was hosted by Leeds Animation Workshop who have been making animated films in Harehills for over 40 years, all over Leeds and beyond. The events’ movie makers consisted of award winning animators, to local school children and people who’d always wanted to try making animations -and got their chance this summer at a series of free all day animation sessions, supported by Leeds 2023
A delicious free buffet by Anand sweets provided pakoras, samosas, julebi, mango lassi (a traditional sweet mango drink), and much more. There was Irish light music, which was sung alongside acoustic guitar and gentle Indian music were a treat for everyone.
Outside there were projections of lots of short animations onto the massive Thackray Museum entrance, and for fun kids could make shadows of birds to reflect onto the building, which was great. I lit up my brother so he could take pictures. A truly intergenerational, family friendly evening, and great entertainment that we could walk to from home
Another amazing feature was a fun bingo for everyone, it consisted of 25 squares that had different things on them that you needed to spot on the animations. A lot of kids finished this and they won animal stickers.
Overall the experience was lovely as there were different types of food, animations, music and people, and the fact that for the whole night the museum was buzzing counted for a lot. Plus the Museum staff gave everyone a really warm welcome
The best news- if you missed this you can recapture some of the magic by coming to The Harehills Culture Show, also hosted by Leeds Animation Workshop, this Friday 20th October at another iconic Harehills Building, Shine on Harehills Rd. A night showcasing local artists and local musicians. Watch this space for more details
