Spectra light festival is back in Aberdeen

Grant Dickie shines the spotlight on Spectra, Scotland’s festival of light, which has rolled into Aberdeen.

SPECTRA, Scotland’s festival of light, returns to Aberdeen for another weekend full of colour and imagination to brighten our winter nights.

The festival brings imaginative installations from artists around the globe to the Granite City in a spectacular and immersive show, offering visitors the opportunity to enjoy the displays while also interacting directly with some. Appearing in various locations across the city centre, including Aberdeen Art Gallery and Marischal College, Spectra is one of the first major events to be held in the newly-refurbished Union Terrace Gardens.

One installation that will instantly stand out is “Fantastic Planet”, which sees gargantuan white figures towering over spectators or laying down enjoying a rest amongst the other installations in the gardens. These figures are brought to the city from Australian creative talent Parer Studio and will not easily be forgotten. Make sure to pay a visit to the figure within the atrium at Aberdeen Art Gallery.

Move through the colourful lights, listening to the gentle sounds of some of the other installations until you reach “Illumiphonium”. Now it is time to get involved. How is your musical ear? “Illumiphonium” invites visitors to create music together on its many metallic chime bars.

However, the installation that fascinated me the most was the brainchild of “Sound Intervention”. “Luminosi Trees” towers above you in Union Terrace Gardens, a mesmerising and calming light show that reacts to the sound around it. These tall, almost jellyfish looking trees are covered in small lights with microphones that control the light patterns, creating an ever-changing and organic display. Due to this, every visit to the installation would be completely different as no sequence will be the same.

Away from physical installations, His Majesty’s Theatre and Marischal College themselves have lights projected onto their facades, creating captivating and thought-provoking light displays dealing directly with our changing climate and shared folklore of Norway and Scotland.

Altogether a mesmerizing experience, Spectra is a festival that can be enjoyed by all ages, a good excuse to wrap up warm on a cold winter night and get out to experience Aberdeen in a new light.

Spectra, Aberdeen’s multi award-winning festival of light and sound, returns to light up the Granite City from Thursday 9 to Sunday 12 February.

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Plus, don’t miss the March issue of Scottish Field magazine.