The festival of light and hope also features smaller installations that are just as enchanting, but perhaps not quite as in-your-face.

But, take the time, and their magic will be revealed.

Enlighten director Vickii Cotter said she and her team also had to consider precautions around COVID-19 social distancing requirements when selecting the illuminated installations.

For this reason, they chose ones which could be displayed off the ground, or activated by feet, not hands.

Six works will be dotted around Enlighten which runs from February 26 to March 14. The illuminations will be on display until March 8.

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Ms Cotter said there would be an inflatable arch called Live for Love by the artist Gas, that would be positioned high, but not so high it wouldn't be Insta-worthy.

Monkeying Around by Chimera Atelier and Pineapple Design Studio features eight cheeky, illuminated moneys in the trees above Enlighten. Love Birds, by the same artist, will be suspended overhead, creating a colourful canopy and representing a community coming together. A piece called Electric Meadows is a field of 45 stepping stones which will light up when people step on them.

"It will look really stunning because again because you touch it with your feet, not your hands," Ms Cotter said. "We've really thought about COVID."

Canberra artist Geoff Filmer has also been commissioned to create a work to fill the drained Reflection Pond.

More well-known for his murals, Filmer will be doing a sculptural work of fish that will hover over the pond and reflect light.

"It's called All of Us and it reflects the difficult times our country has experienced over the [past] 18 months but also how we have been able to come together to overcome obstacles," she said.

"I also know him more for murals and art, so this is a really nice opportunity for him to do something different."

There would also be other works dotted around the Parliamentary Triangle.

"Because our subtle theme is 'hope', we are bringing back some of our small neons. We've got some really nice neon rainbows which are coming and will look really pretty," Ms Cotter said.

She said Enlighten was also an opportunity to feature local food vans that had been doing it tough over the past year due to coronavirus restrictions on events.

People need to register - at no cost - to go to Enlighten Alley and Bentspoke Beer Garden where there will be seating, food, music and installations.

There is no need to register to just see the illuminations. All the projections this year will be digital, which means moving images, with the National Library and Parliament House having digital projections for the first time.

"It's going to look really beautiful and the artwork I've seen is spectacular," Ms Cotter said.

For more information and to register go to enlightencanberra.com

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