Live from Dungeness

One by one, the lights come on…

In the week of World Maritime Day, Radio 3 embarks on a unique live journey around Britain’s coastline, marking the 200th anniversary of Longstone Lighthouse and celebrating the lights that have guarded our shores for generations.

Across twelve hours of live broadcasting, Where the Light Sings travels the length and breadth of the UK in a lighthouse relay, broadcasting from wild and remote places rarely heard on national radio. Presenters around the coast will pass the baton from Dungeness in Kent to Ardnamurchan in Scotland, Strumble Head in Wales, Rathlin Island in Northern Ireland and St Aidan's Church in Bamburgh, where the legendary Victorian lighthouse heroine Grace Darling is buried, before the journey heads towards the far south-western edges of Britain.

Petroc Trelawny anchors the adventure with a special journey of his own - providing updates along the way - to reach his location for the final broadcast of the day as the sun goes down.

Music provides the soundtrack to the journey, from great classical works inspired by the sea, islands and lighthouses, to music rooted in the landscapes and communities around them. Live performances from around the coastline sit alongside the elemental sounds of the sea - crashing waves, wind, gulls and bells - and voices of lighthouse keepers, engineers, lifesavers, sailors, and those whose lives have been shaped by these extraordinary places.

From the first broadcast on the shingle landscape of Dungeness to a final destination on the Atlantic edge of Britain as darkness falls, Where the Light Sings is a shared adventure and a celebration of light, music and our enduring relationship with the sea.

The voyage begins with Georgia Mann live from Dungeness New Lighthouse, watching over one of Britain’s most extraordinary landscapes - a vast shingle headland where the light never quite settles. Against a shifting shoreline that has long captivated artists from Derek Jarman to Pink Floyd, Georgia explores the unique story of the lighthouse - the fifth on the site - paying a visit to the Old Lighthouse along the way. And visits from accordionist Alise Siliņa and the Caritas Chamber Choir provide live performances which will echo through the iconic black and white tower of the lighthouse.