A stunning light show featuring five incredible installations as part of a Dumfries town-wide trail – along with the White Lights at the Whitesands – enthralled residents and visitors during the weekend.
Starting the Big Burns Supper celebrations in the town, the installations used light, sound and projection to showcase hidden places in Dumfries to an appreciative walking audience.
Visitors from across Dumfries and Galloway and beyond could start wherever they wish and explore the sites which included Burns Mausoleum, Greyfriars Church and Dumfries High Street from Friday to Sunday evenings.
Big Burns Supper has also capitalised on what has been an extraordinary year for sightings of the Northern Lights across Dumfries and Galloway. It invited residents to submit their photographs of the aurora borealis which were projected onto the High Street buildings.
The aurora borealis images – 300 were contributed – were crafted into a four-minute looped film which was underscored by a new performance piece by Dumfries Community Choir.
The lights trail included the resting place of national bard Robert Burns in St Michael’s Kirkyard, with the opportunity to step inside Burns Mausoleum and experience the sights and sounds in tribute to the former Dumfries resident.
Another was lighting up the Suspension Bridge over the River Nith, which was brought to life by The Stove Network in celebrating the connection to the showmen and women behind the annual Rood Fair.
Greyfriars Church was also on the trail with the public invited to go inside and light a candle at the Immortal Memory as a “silent memorial for those not with us anymore, for Auld Lang Syne”.
And there was an interactive light show inside the former Jumping Jacks night club.
Graham Main, executive producer and founder of Big Burns Supper, said: “It was spectacular. The last year has seen a major uptick in the solar activity that brings about the aurora borealis and we collected superb images from all over Scotland. It was a real talking point.”
The sound and light show was funded by EventScotland, part of VisitScotland.
Rebecca Edser, head of EventScotland, said: “Big Burns Supper’s diverse programme of performances and events celebrating the life and work of Robert Burns is a wonderful showcase of a key part of Scotland’s cultural heritage.
“The inclusion of the brand-new Northern Lights, supported through our National Events Programme, provided further opportunities for visitors and locals to immerse themselves in the life and work of Scotland’s national bard through the immersive light show.”
