BIGGER, BRIGHTER, BOLDER: NarraBRIGHT street festival to be most immersive and ambitious yet

Narrabri will be transformed into a glowing fantasy landscape next month when NarraBRIGHT returns with its most ambitious program.

The annual light and projection festival will take over the Narrabri CBD and Narrabri Creek Parklands on Friday, April 10, with major installations from leading Australian lighting artists Mandylights and Illuminart: Stories in Light.

The 2026 event will expand its footprint along the parklands, showcasing large-scale installations and projection artworks rarely seen in regional communities. As part of the expansion, sections of Maitland, Dewhurst and Tibbereena streets will be closed to traffic for the evening.

Mayor Darrell Tiemens said the calibre of artists engaged for this year’s event marked a significant step forward.

“NarraBRIGHT continues to grow each year, and in 2026 we are elevating the experience with nationally recognised lighting artists who specialise in immersive, large-scale works,” Cr Tiemens said.

“This is about bringing world-class creativity to Narrabri and giving our community and visitors something truly extraordinary.”

Mandylights will transform Collins Park into a glowing riverside wonderland featuring a series of immersive installations.

Among them will be Starscape, a six-metre-wide tunnel of hundreds of programmable acrylic stars, and Laser Garden, where thousands of slowly rotating coloured laser beams cut through theatrical fog to create a fully immersive light environment.

Another highlight, Nura, is a collaboration with Indigenous artist Warwick Keen. Inspired by traditional South Eastern Australian tree carvings, the illuminated pillars form an outdoor gallery reflecting First Nations memory and design.

Other installations will include The Gallery, showcasing artworks from the Narrabri community, and The River, a pathway of aqua-toned projections designed to evoke the continual movement of the nearby creek.

Mandylights said the team was excited to display their work in the regional town.

“It’s always exciting to help transform a local park and reinvent its appearance at nighttime, and we hope everyone gets the chance to see a small part of their hometown in a new light,” the team said.

Meanwhile, Illuminart: Stories in Light will return for its fourth consecutive year, transforming Maitland Street into a projection art trail built around community storytelling.

Artistic director Cindi Drennan said local ideas and imagination continued to shape the creative process.

“We’re inspired by the creative genius that emerges when the community shares their fanciful, dreamlike ideas, which are interpreted into fantasies that reflect Narrabri’s vision,” Ms Drennan said.

The projections will blend real and imagined worlds, creating a whimsical portrait of the town where everyday buildings become layered, magical and filled with hidden stories.

NarraBRIGHT forms part of a broader plan to expand the festival over the coming years.

Narrabri Shire Council general manager Eloise Chaplain said the event’s growth reflected a long-term cultural vision for the region.

“NarraBRIGHT is more than a one-night event; it is an evolving cultural experience for our region,” Ms Chaplain said.

The 2026 expansion marks the first stage of a three-year plan to connect the CBD through Collins Park and ultimately to The Crossing Theatre by 2028.

The festival is funded through the NSW government Open Streets Program, with Narrabri Shire Council securing $350,000 over three years.

NSW Transport Minister John Graham said events such as NarraBRIGHT show how main streets can be reimagined as community spaces.

“Too often our main streets are something we drive through, rather than drive to,” he said.

“As this event highlights, we can use our streets to bring communities together and drive revenue for local businesses.”