The first look at the 2025 edition of Aberdeen’s Spectra festival has been revealed. Each February, the Granite City hosts the four-day public arts festival.
It includes a variety of art installations that are focused around light, including sculptures and projections. Spectra, known as Scotland’s Festival of Light, will return to Aberdeen between February 6 and 9. The theme of the upcoming festival will be ‘Journeys’.
Ahead of the new year, art light installations from Australia and Newcastle are the first to be announced for the line-up. The installations will include a 100-feet inflatable light castle called Sky Castle, from Australian artist ENESS, and a large illuminated slinky toy called End Over End, from Newcastle-based Studio Vertigo.
Sky Castle will be found in Union Terrace Gardens and will offer an interactive sound and light installation via a cluster of inflatable arches. As guests move through the arches, their movement will power and progress a melodic xylophone soundscape stimulating colour changes in each arch.
Meanwhile, End Over End will be held in Aberdeen’s Marischal Square. Here, the slinky will light up to create the movement of the nostalgic toy, with the proportions giving visitors the impression they have shrunk and found themselves in Alice’s Wonderland.
Cultural spokesperson for Aberdeen City Council Martin Greig commented: “Spectra provides a wonderful platform to experience out-of-this-world light installations from gifted artists from across the world. Our first confirmed artists really will help us to illuminate the skies of Aberdeen with their bold and bright designs and we can’t wait for people across the city and beyond to experience them.
“We thank the artists for choosing Aberdeen to showcase their work and giving us all an unrivalled opportunity to experience their sensory light installations up-close.”
Artist and Founder of ENESS Nimrod Weis added: “We are very excited to bring our installation Sky Castle to Aberdeen which is the first time an ENESS work has appeared in Scotland. Sky Castle is very close to our hearts because it was created as a symbol of hope after Covid alluding to the appearance of rainbows after a storm.
“Since then, this installation has brought joy and happiness to public spaces around the world, attracting young and old with its generative soundscape and ever-changing lighting effects. We look forward to delighting the people of Aberdeen in February.”
Now in its 11th year, Spectra has grown from an initial audience of 10,000 to more than 100,000. The festival also contributes £2.6 million in visitor spend to the local economy.
More information can be found on the Spectra website.
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