Light Up The Town Ambassadors

Light Up The Town is an annual light art festival taking place in West Suffolk. MarketPlace Arts is recruiting local residents to act as ambassadors and be involved in a group meeting to inform the next Light Up The Town events.

Light Up The Town is an annual light art festival taking place in West Suffolk. MarketPlace Arts is recruiting local residents to act as ambassadors and be involved in a group meeting to inform the next Light Up The Town events. Ambassadors will receive £25 to cover expenses for their time in and travel to the group meeting. Our questions are designed so that we can recruit a diverse group that can represent each town truly. We hope to hear from a range of voices. You don’t have to know about arts and culture, or have attended one of our events before – we want to hear from local people who can tell us about what their life is like in their town.

Ambassadors will take part in one, two-hour meeting which will be a friendly, informal session to share ideas and discuss what matters locally. These will take place in June or July. Food and drink will be available. We particularly welcome people who don’t usually get asked for their views, and anyone who feels their perspective isn’t often heard.

SIGN UP TO BE A LIGHT UP THE TOWN COMMUNITY AMBASSADOR

DROP-IN Q&A SESSIONS 

Have questions about the Ambassadors call out? Join us for an informal online Q&A session where you can ask members of the MarketPlace team any questions about the Light Up The Town ambassadors.

• Join the Drop-in Q&A on Wednesday 13 May, 12:30–1:30pm
• Join the Drop-in Q&A on Monday 18 May, 6pm – 7pm

FAQ’s

Meetings

Light Up The Town will run in Brandon, Mildenhall and Newmarket in 2027. We are running a group meeting in each town so that local people can shape the event for their town. Each meeting format will run in the same format.

Schedule

The meeting will run for 2 hours. The MarketPlace Arts team will be on site for 30 minutes before the meeting so ambassadors can arrive early and ask any questions if they wish to. This is entirely optional. A comfort break will be scheduled mid way and food and drink will be provided. 

Venues

We will be booking a private room in a town centre community space in each town. We will ensure the space is wheelchair accessible and easily walkable from the town centre/ local public transport links, The venues will be booked when a meeting time slot has been confirmed. 

Ambassadors

Each meeting aims to have 15 local residents who live, work or have a strong connection to the town. Our questions are designed so that we can recruit a diverse groupl that can represent each town accurately. 

What is the project about?

Over the past two years, Light Up the Town has grown into a much‑loved annual highlight attended by nearly 3000 people. In 2025, the light shows toured across seven towns, where historic buildings were transformed with projection artworks co‑created by local residents.  

In 2026, the project expanded further, as Suffolk artist Henry Driver transformed churches with Water Portals, an interactive video artwork exploring hidden microbial worlds. Alongside this, community workshops, lantern displays and a guided folklore Light Walk brought people of all ages together. This year also saw the unveiling of a permanent glow‑in‑the‑dark mural at Brandon Heritage Centre, co‑created with local young people from Teen Chill and the Breckland Astronomical Society members, now a lasting legacy for the town.

Light Up the Town will celebrate local creativity through large‑scale illuminated artworks, participatory workshops, and a programme of events designed to bring people in West Suffolk together in joyful, accessible ways. Happening in January and February,  the event uses these transitional months to focus on climate adaptation and the local environment, at a time when the landscape is dormant. Attendees say  “The environmental theme draws people together” and “the theme is good because it is something you wouldn’t normally see”.

What to expect

• The group meeting will take place in a private meeting room. 
• Refreshments will be provided throughout. 
• The MarketPlace Arts team will present the project’s aims and vision. 
• On a screen, the MarketPlace team will go through the potential options for activities that could be offered, inviting a group discussion.
•  Ambassadors are not expected to have prepared any thoughts or opinions – no prior research is necessary. 
• We welcome all forms of feedback. It is important to us that this project feels exciting and relevant to local residents. This might mean being critical of some ideas or suggestions. This is important for us to hear and we welcome it.
• We don’t expect you to speak ‘on behalf’ of local residents. We invite you to bring your lived experience, knowledge of local services and events to the discussion.. 

Access information 

• We will leave feedback forms which will give ambassadors the option to leave anonymous feedback in case they would prefer to share thoughts anonymously following the meeting.
• The meeting takes place in a meeting room with backed, armless, chairs.
• The meeting will take place in private rooms in community centres and we expect that some background noise from other activities on site might be heard.
• All information will be shared via a powerpoint presentation which includes pictures, video and descriptions of activity. If you would like a copy of this in advance, please let us know and we can get this to you

Why is a group meeting happening? 

The ambassadors have been invited by MarketPlace Arts to represent their communities in the decision making process for this project. MarketPlace is proud to be part of the Creative People and Places programme, developed by Arts Council England with support from National Lottery funds. This initiative supports people in creating cultural activity right where they live.

We produce a wide range of creative projects all year round. From all day festivals, to art installations, creative workshops, theatre or storytelling; there’s something for everyone. Every project is co-created with the communities they’re happening in, ensuring authentic and meaningful experiences for all. For this project, the group meeting is one part of our co-creation process. 

Will I be paid? 

Ambassadors will receive £25 to cover expenses for their time in and travel to the meeting. This will be facilitated through bank transfer. Please let us know if receiving a payment presents an issue for you – for example if you are in receipt of universal credit or work allowances. 

What experience/ qualifications do I need to apply?

No qualifications or experience are necessary. We would like to make this process as accessible as possible – if there are reasonable adjustments we can make to support your application and involvement we welcome the discussion, please email Maddie on [email protected] . You don’t have to know about arts and culture, or have attended one of our events before – we want to hear from local people who can tell us about what their life is like in their town. You might have lived/worked in Brandon, Mildenhall or Newmarket for 3 months or for 30 years. You might be a teacher, a charity shop volunteer, a cleaner or a baker. You might be looking to learn more about arts and culture or you might just know a lot about your town. You might have never done something like this before! We would love to hear from you.

What happens next?

The group meeting will inform the decision making for what events are offered, where and how. The MarketPlace Arts team will use the feedback from ambassadors to make a programme of events that best meet the need and requests from the meeting.  You will be invited to join us for Light Up The Town in 2027. We welcome suggestions and feedback outside of the meeting and would like to build a relationship with all ambassadors. 

Want to know more?

If you would like to hear more about the project or discuss the opportunity, please email Maddie (Creative Producer of Light Up The Town) at [email protected]. No question is too big or small.