The SPECTRA Festival of Light did not disappoint

SPECTRA, Aberdeen’s very own Festival of Light, returned this year with such a bang that it failed to consider the weather that very nearly obliterated its visitors.

Keeping with the theme of this year – Spark of Inspiration –  the city definitely showed a flair for creative displays. The court of Marischal College was perhaps the most impressive one with mathematical displays projected onto the clock tower to the sound of booming classical music (think V for Vendetta minus explosions).

LGBT history month was also represented in the colourful projection on Marischal College

Turning the Kirk of St Nicholas into a skip-rope lookalike strobe room and creating a full-on zombie land in the cemetery, on the other hand, was definitely the biggest “u wot m8” of the night.

To describe the slightly chaotic mess of trying to navigate in almost complete darkness between tombstones, with moving projections of dead people on them, mud literally everywhere and a Rickman-worthy voice reciting a poem about sodden clothing and enraged seas – suffice to say the element of horror was not lost upon its audience.

Creepy much?

This guy really liked it

Inside the church was no doubt the best part of the exhibition (Tunnels – please buy this):

Skip-rope-lookalike-light at the entrance of St Nicholas

There was also an exhibition at Seventeen, a place no one could find. I’m sure it was great too but as the cold had made my arms go numb and I’d already gone through my all of my tissues #firstworldproblems, off to Union Terrace Gardens I bloody ran. There a genius had lit fires all over and we huddled for a minute, thawed enough to not feel like the walking dead.

There was more mud and more snow but other than a severe lack of light-sabers, and by that I mean a whopping amount of zero, the atmosphere was one of happy wonder at the pretty bling Aberdeen had to offer. Who cares about dying of cold if your heart pounds to the beat of the strobe-lights?

Sparky sparks

Union Terrace Gardens

If you did miss the exhibitions you can find all the information and amazingly better pictures of the installations on SPECTRA’s website.

But for now – 

You stay classy Aberdeen.