Buildings all over the UK will be blue-lit as a salute to the NHS at 8pm on Thursday 26 March. Professionals in the events and entertainment industry are joining together to generate a nationwide light show illuminating landmarks and historic buildings.
The campaign was inspired by the NHS Clap For Our Carers campaign. Events and entertainment industry leaders wanting to create a simultaneous show of support, are contacting every major building and landmark in the UK to invite them to #lightitblue.
The industry is specifically targeting buildings and landmarks with existing LED technology, so that we will be adhering to the NHS’s critical messaging for everyone to stay home. Over 60 theatres, bridges, cathedrals, castles, iconic sports stadiums and national landmarks have been contacted to date. The list of venues and locations already planning to turn blue on Thursday night includes The O2, the Royal Albert Hall and Bristol City Football Club. Many other national landmarks are hoping to come onboard.
The events and entertainment industry finds itself in an unprecedented state of enforced inaction. The best thing the events industry can do, apart from staying home and looking after our families, is to send out a massive thank you to all of the healthcare professionals who are going to be risking their own health to save people made seriously ill by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our industry leaders also feel a responsibility for the mental health of countless employees who are feeling anxious and confused about the future. We believe that the #lightitblue campaign will galvanize their enthusiasm and pride in a mass gesture of solidarity.
It is planned that after buildings across the UK have turned blue on Thursday night, the campaign will roll in the personal and digital space, so that people will be inspired to add their own versions of the message, and the national vote of thanks for the NHS will reverberate from every home.
