{"id":6927,"date":"2026-02-21T11:02:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T11:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/?p=6927"},"modified":"2026-02-21T11:02:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T11:02:16","slug":"scotlands-festival-of-light-returns-to-aberdeen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/news\/2026\/02\/21\/scotlands-festival-of-light-returns-to-aberdeen\/","title":{"rendered":"Scotland\u2019s festival of light returns to Aberdeen"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the 5th to 8th February, an enchanting display of artwork lit up the city of Aberdeen following the 12th annual return of SPECTRA – Scotland\u2019s Festival of Light.<\/p>\n

The free public event included exhibits in the Union Terrace Gardens, Aberdeen Art Gallery, St\u00a0Nicholas Kirkyard and Marischal College. \u2018Be Curious\u2019 was the theme of this year\u2019s festival, and\u00a0it certainly didn\u2019t disappoint.<\/p>\n

The Fire Garden\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Fire Garden saw the Union Terrace Gardens host rustic, mechanical sculptures of fire. The exhibition was crafted by some of the UK\u2019s leading metal sculptors and produced by Salford-based outdoor arts experts, Walk the Plank. 360\u00b0 degrees of flames lit up the industrial displays\u00a0of artwork, many of which included words and sentences which left viewers wondering about its\u00a0deeper meaning.<\/p>\n

Solace<\/strong><\/p>\n

Solace, by Amelia Kosminsky, was held at Aberdeen Art Gallery. Hand-made and hand-sewn\u00a0lanterns hung from the ceiling of the Remembrance Hall, offering light and hope to its viewers,\u00a0making them pause and feel the moment. Described as \u201cSolace captures a suspended moment in\u00a0time,\u201d this exhibit certainly brought time to a standstill as audiences watched in awe of its peace and\u00a0tranquility.<\/p>\n

\"Solace,
Solace, SPECTRA 2026 | Photo by Emily Reid<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Flux<\/strong><\/p>\n

Also held in Aberdeen Art Gallery was Flux, By Collectif Scale. This illuminating display\u00a0debuted in 2021 at the Constellations de Metz, France. The kinetic art installation, inspired by\u00a0complexities of nature, was an articulately put together display composed of 48 strips of light\u00a0arranged in a circle. The structure moved at varying speeds along with its composition, and was\u00a0controlled in real-time. The display offered a different angle depending on where it was being\u00a0viewed – watching from the upper viewing areas offered a completely different perspective – and\u00a0one even more hypnotising.<\/p>\n

\"Flux,
Flux, Spectra 2026 | Photo by Emily Reid<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Flower Field<\/strong><\/p>\n

Artist Jig Cochrane and team at Jigantics created a colourful display of nature in a newly imagined way. An almost otherworldly experience, attendees found themselves immersed in flowers, ranging from small, yet-to-bloom buds, to towering blooms as tall as the trees that surrounded them. This scene of spring brought a contrast to the otherwise somber atmosphere of the St Nicholas Kirkyard graves\/grave site.<\/p>\n

\"Flower
Flower Field, SPECTRA 2026 | Photo by Emily Reid<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Follow Your Heart\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

After viewing the scene of flowers, attendees were bid adieu with bright and colourful heart\u00a0symbols as they exited the Kirkyard. Their electric colours designed by Laura Curran were\u00a0accompanied by an original marimba composition. This particular display was commissioned as\u00a0part of SPECTRA 2026\u2019S Micro-Commission Programme.<\/p>\n

Parallels\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Architecture Social Club (ASC) took over Broad Street (Marischal College). Its unique approach\u00a0to light and sound, along with the addition of smoke, created an almost concert-like atmosphere.\u00a0This abstract display was composed of thousands of fragmented laser beams, which were\u00a0converted from moving film reflecting off of thousands of precise mirrors placed at degree\u00a0accuracy. ASC is an award-winning, multidisciplinary design studio.<\/p>\n

Monfingu<\/strong><\/p>\n

An interactive digital artwork could be found on Broad Street, near Marischal College. The\u00a0 Dutch artist collective WERC used depth-camera technology in their design, so that visitors appeared on a screen in a pixel-like form.<\/p>\n

SPECTRA provides lucrative opportunities for Aberdeen\u2019s businesses during an already trying time. Before the festival\u2019s arrival, Aberdeen City Council offered local businesses a one-time grant of \u00a3500 to show their support for the event. Last year there were over 100,000 visitors to the festival across the four-day period, shared by Councillor Martin Grieg. As culture spokesperson for the council, he spoke highly of the event\u2019s advantages for Aberdeen\u2019s struggling city centre:<\/p>\n

\u201cOur one-off grants to local businesses are intended to make the city and the city centre even more vibrant during the period of the Spectra displays. This has become a very popular annual event and we want the business community to benefit as much as possible from the increased footfall.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the 5th to 8th February, an enchanting display of artwork lit up the city of Aberdeen following the 12th annual return of SPECTRA – Scotland\u2019s Festival of Light. The free public event included exhibits in the Union Terrace Gardens, Aberdeen Art Gallery, St\u00a0Nicholas Kirkyard and Marischal College. \u2018Be Curious\u2019 was the theme of this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":6928,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","iawp_total_views":5,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[254,1091,755,467,1711,1710],"wf_post_folders":[181],"class_list":{"0":"post-6927","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-aberdeen","9":"tag-art","10":"tag-arts","11":"tag-festival","12":"tag-light","13":"tag-spectra"},"acf":[],"author_meta":{"display_name":"Emily Reid","author_link":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/author\/emily-reid\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/FlowerField-225x300.jpeg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["News<\/a>"],"unlinked":["News<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["Aberdeen<\/a>","art<\/a>","arts<\/a>","Festival<\/a>","light<\/a>","spectra<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Aberdeen<\/span>","art<\/span>","arts<\/span>","Festival<\/span>","light<\/span>","spectra<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 6 months ago","modified":"Updated 6 months ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on 21 February 2026","modified":"Updated on 21 February 2026"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on 21 February 2026 11:02","modified":"Updated on 21 February 2026 11:02"},"featured_img_caption":"Flower Field, Spectra 2026 | Photo by Emily Reid","series_order":"","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6927"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6927\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6933,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6927\/revisions\/6933"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6927"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=6927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}