Now in their twentieth year of collaboration, Culture Creative and White Light continue to deliver some of the UK’s most visually captivating outdoor experiences. From the atmospheric chills of Halloween to the festive warmth of Christmas, White Light (WL), a d&b solutions company, is proud to be one of Culture Creative principle suppliers for their seasonal trails across the country.

At the heart of Culture Creative’s trails is a commitment to storytelling through light. Tony Simpson, Head of Lighting at Culture Creative, leads the design and delivery of lighting across all UK sites. With a background in both lighting design and technical management, Tony brings a deep understanding of how light can shape emotion, atmosphere, and audience experience.
“Our trails are about more than just lighting trees,” Tony explains. “They’re about creating moments, whether that’s the quiet magic of a winter woodland or the eerie tension of a haunted graveyard. Every fixture, every angle, every colour choice is deliberate. And WL understands that.”

From the theatricality of Halloween to the festive sparkle of Christmas, each trail is carefully curated to balance creativity, practicality, and environmental sensitivity. “We’re constantly reimagining what’s possible,” says Tony. “And that means working with suppliers who can match our ambition.”

As the scale and complexity of the trails grow, so too do the challenges. From navigating protected wildlife habitats to working within International Dark Sky Reserves, the lighting team must balance creative intent with ecological responsibility.

“The biggest challenge isn’t technical, it’s environmental,” Tony notes. “We work closely with ecologists to ensure our designs are wildlife-friendly. That means using red-spectrum lighting in sensitive areas, reducing light spill, and sometimes redesigning entire sections of a trail to protect local species.”

For the 2024/2025 trail season, WL supported two Halloween trails (Kew and Quarry Bank) and six Christmas trails (Kew, Dunham Massey, Stourhead, Bedgebury, Belton, and Chester), supplying over 5,200 lighting fixtures. These included 334 IP-rated moving lights, 1,875 intelligent LED fixtures, and 2,500 fixed colour LED fixtures, alongside a wide range of generics and specialist units.

Dom Yates, Head of Lighting at WL, comments: “Our relationship with Culture Creative goes back to 2005 when we supplied equipment to their Northumberland Lights events. We are proud to continue supporting them and enabling their creative vision thanks to our broad range of equipment. Over a four-week period, we deliver a significant volume of equipment to multiple sites, and we value the trust they place in us to deliver on time, every time. This year, we’ve seen a further shift towards LED source units, including some of the newest additions to our inventory such as the Ayrton Rivale, Martin MAC Viper XIP, and Chauvet Colorado Q15 Battens.”

With thousands of fixtures moving across multiple sites in a matter of weeks, the logistics are as demanding as the design. But for Tony, the relationship with WL is built on more than just equipment.
“WL makes you feel like you’re their only customer,” he says. “From Dom to the account handlers and prep teams, the level of care and professionalism is exactly what you’d expect from a company of their calibre. They get what we’re trying to do, and they help us do it.”

As Culture Creative continues to push the boundaries of outdoor light art and celebrates 20 years of creating magical experiences, WL remains a trusted partner in delivering experiences that are as technically robust as they are creatively inspiring.

Photo courtesy of Culture Creative, Photos by Geraint Lewis