D-LUX Festival of Light is all set to return to Dumfries Town Centre this January with their fourth annual event. The local team will again bring video gaming ‘oot the hoose’ and on to the High Street with ARCADE 2020.
In January 2019, D-Lux ARCADE transformed the High Street into a series of giant, playable spaces, enjoyed by an audience of over 4000.
ARCADE 2020 will light up the town with giant, building-sized video projections of much loved new, classic and retro video games that are more normally played alone or shared at home or online. All the games can be played live and for free, or you can just wander through the town and watch.
Expect dancing, music and sports on the GAMESTANES, the GAMESBUS is back with family-friendly animated japes, the Oven will again be transformed into RETRO ALLEY, with far-out puzzlers and space games in D-LUX BEYOND at the Stove. New for this year, the HEADSPACE gaming trailer will draw up in Queensberry Square to host games that are great for relaxation and escape. This is part of a new focus on gaming and mental wellbeing.
“We had quite a few unexpected chats with folks last year about how people use their gaming to get away from day-to-day worries, as well as to socialise and relax – positive stuff,” say’s D-Lux Creative Director John Wallace. “So this year we thought it would be cool to take that on and try to open up a discussion about positive mental health and video gaming.” As well as the new HEADSPACE area, THE STREAM – a marathon gaming session featuring wellbeing-themed ‘sofa chats’ with invited guests – will be streamed live online from The Oven.
For 2020, D-LUX have partnered up with C U THRU – D&G’s early intervention project for 16-30 year olds experiencing mental ill health run by Support in Mind Scotland.
C U Thru coordinator Susan McEwan said: ‘Everyone’s really excited to be part of ARCADE 2020 Festival this year. You hear a lot about the negative effects of too much gaming, but more people use games to relax and escape from every day worries.
I’d say most people are gamers these days, and that goes for the young people that use our project too. Many of them socialise via online games, which can help with feelings of isolation, but having the chance to get out and meet people around a shared interest is really important too.” D-LUX will run from Thursday 30th January to Saturday 1st February from dark until late. All events are free to members of the public – no experience required!
If you would like to be involved or to keep up to date with their events, visit https://www.d-lux.org.uk/ or find ‘D-LUX’ on Facebook.
And for those who do want to get more closely involved, lookout for a special event on 18th January at The Oven, featuring AVATAR II costume and makeup drop-in session and a sneak-peek at THE STREAM.
D-LUX is funded by Creative Scotland, The Holywood Trust, The People’s Project and Dumfries & Galloway Council, with support from SP Energy Networks and Support in Mind Scotland.
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