LightNight Liverpool returns on 19 May, promising to bring hundreds of free cultural events to the city as the evening sets in.

More than 900 artists and performers will take part in the afterhours arts festival which is based around the theme of ‘time’, and we’ve picked out eight programme highlights worthy of yours.

1. Rotation Eighteen269, Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral

New media artist Andy McKeown will illuminate the interior of the Metropolitan Cathedral while its choir performs Thomas Tallis’s ‘Lamentations’ with organ music from Matthew Searles. The event takes place from 6.30pm to 9.30pm.

2. Soundtrack of our Lives, Dorothy

Visitors are invited to explore music’s ability to transport us to a specific time and place with this interactive installation at Dorothy’s Baltic Triangle studio. A map of musical memories and a co-curated playlist will be created between 5pm and 11pm.

3. LightNight at the Unity Theatre, Unity Theatre

Window projections and a programme of street theatre will take place outside of the Hope Place performing arts venue – which is in the process of a £845,000 transformation – on LightNight.

4. Step Ladder / Charcoal Heather, Liverpool Parish Church

Liverpool Parish Church is among the new venues joining LightNight this year, hosting debuting work from Liverpool Biennial artists Frances Disley and Stephen Sheehan. Taking place between 7.30pm and 9.30pm, both pieces combine performance with audience immersion and traditional art techniques.

LightNight photos copyright Matt Thomas and Open Culture

5. LightNight at Liverpool Philharmonic, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

The classical music venue is opening up its main auditorium for a LightNight first. Guitarist Craig Ogden, the Rubber Duck Orchestra and composer Jonathan Raisin will headline an evening of eclectic musical performances, from 5.30pm to 10pm.

6. Flow2: The Pioneers, Open Eye Gallery

Acclaimed pianist David Braid will perform newly commissioned jazz-classic numbers, backed by the 13-piece orchestra Sinfonia UK Collective. The show takes place at the waterside photography gallery from 7pm to 10pm.

7. DROAR, Victoria Gallery and Museum

Another original commission, DROAR coincides with the exhibition of Liverpool-born comic artist John Higgins and will see a giant Judge Dredd overseeing the creation of a ‘mutant dandelion’. Catch this one between 9pm and midnight.

8. LightNight After Party: Time Capsule, Constellations

Visual art and dance music will collide as LightNight’s official aftershow party hits Constellations. Artist Sam Wiehl will create a digital memory bank from Polaroid photos while Andy Votel belts out a pulsating soundtrack between 10pm and 2.30am.

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