London is burning bright this weekend with the start of the year's Lumiere London festival. The work of more than 50 artists from around the world is on display to accentuate the city through displays of light. More than one million people are expected to take in the sights.

Lumiere London is a visual feast, a kaleidoscopic offering to the bleak mid-winter night, and an Instagrammable buffet for those passing through, reports CBS News' Jonathan Vigliotti.

Some of the light installations throughout London as part of the Lumiere London festival. CBS News

For one weekend, the British capital becomes a gallery for light, all thanks to the imagination of a group of international artists.

Their works vary from the fantastic – like Rami Bebawi's shimmering wheat fields and Miguel Chevalier's lunar Oxford Circus installation – to those anchored by reality. Daan Roosegaarde "Waterlicht" at King's Cross was inspired by the world's rising sea levels. Alaa Minawi's "My Light is Your Light," a tribute to Syrian refugees.

"Entre les Rangs" by Rami Bebawi (left) and "Waterlicht" by Daan Roosegaarde (right). CBS News

Art installations light up more than 50 different locations across the city during the four-day festival. Lumiere's creator Helen Marriage said the ultimate goal is to celebrate public space.

"We feel like these moments that we can create, moments of magic, give the city back to its residents and its visitors," Marriage said.

The event was also designed as an antidote of sorts to post-holiday blues and a way to forget the sunlight goes out around 4 p.m.

For now, flamingos flock in Chinatown and illuminated umbrellas spin through the streets until the lights go out on Sunday.

