The sun will set in Burlington at a disheartening 5:53 p.m. on Saturday, October 24. But 67 minutes later, lasers and projections on Lake Street will become a beacon in the darkness for the inaugural Night Watch.
The outdoor light art festival was conceived by Seven Days cofounder Pamela Polston and Alex Reeves, founder of the local “experience design” studio Vanish Works, whose installations have been seen from Lincoln Center to the Church Street Marketplace. For one night only, building façades, courtyards and copses of birch trees will become backdrops for works by light artists from Vermont and Montréal. Local musical acts soundtrack the event.
Night Watch happens a week before Halloween and, for more literal-minded folks, the end of daylight saving time on November 1. The festival is also 10 days before the midterm elections on November 3. “There’s so much darkness in the news and strife among neighbors,” Reeves said, adding that a goal of Night Watch is to “lift people’s spirits and show that there’s hope and resistance.”
Night Watch producer Polston, who lives in Burlington and retired as Seven Days visual art editor in 2024, said she hopes audiences will consider broad meanings of the event’s tagline: “Artists Dispel the Darkness.” As she noted, “There’s a lot of ways to interpret darkness.”
Reeves, the festival’s creative director, said many of the installations are abstract and invite a variety of understandings. They are also designed to be interactive and sometimes ask viewers to become part of the work. One example is the piece Reeves is creating, inspired by the history of radar technology. Other exhibits include a fire organ performance by Derek Rice, who will play an instrument that shoots flames to accompany each note, and works by Liggy Lights, Aromatic Designs and Natalie Jones. Musical sets by Roost.World, Amelia Devoid and missandri will take place inside Fluffy the bus, a multifloor interactive art car that was designed for the Burning Man event in Nevada. Foam Brewers will serve as festival headquarters and a hub for food and drinks.
Night Watch might be an illuminating commentary on the state of the world. But that might also be beside the point.
“It has been said that every work of art is an act of resistance, and I don’t know if that’s literally true. But there’s something magical about bringing light to the darkness,” Polston said. “It’s why we like fireflies.” ➆
This article appears in The Tech Issue • 2026.
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