Aberdeen’s Festival of Light nominated for multiple awards

19 July 2016

SPECTRA 2016 - Aberdeen’s spectacular festival of light - has been nominated in three categories of The Drum Scottish Event Awards 2016, which recognise success and innovation within events and festivals nationally.

Aberdeen City Council in partnership with arts-led production company Curated Place delivered the four-night light festival, pairing leading international artists with Scottish collaborators creating the North East’s most successful event.

In only its third year SPECTRA has been nominated for ‘Cultural Event of the Year’, ‘Large Event of the Year’ and ‘Festival of the Year’, and will go up against long-established events including the Turner Prize which was held in Glasgow earlier this year; the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (Underbelly Circus Hub); The Enchanted Forrest; the Glasgow International Comedy Festival; and The Royal Highland Show.

Now a firm fixture on Aberdeen’s cultural calendar, this year’s SPECTRA was enjoyed by 35,000 visitors over the course of the festival in February. Union Terrace Gardens, St Nicholas Kirk and Marischal College were transformed with spectacular and innovative light installations created by international artists and smaller events at Seventeen and the Anatomy Rooms.

A range of vibrant images and videos were shared across social media by visitors to the event who enjoyed jumping in Jen Lewin’s Pool, a series of pressure sensitive pads filled with LEDs that were arranged in Union Terrace Gardens, and a host of other interactive works.

SPECTRA is nominated for the People’s Choice Event of the Year, Cultural Event of the Year, Festival of the Year and Large Event of the Year with the winners due to be announced at an awards ceremony on Wednesday 05 October in Glasgow.

Leader of Aberdeen City Council, Councillor Jenny Laing said: “To be nominated alongside events like the Turner Prize is a huge honour and highlights the hard work from City Council staff and Curated Place to bring such a unique festival to the people of Aberdeen. SPECTRA proved to be very popular with residents and has been embraced by artists, and this is set to continue, making SPECTRA a real northern light in Scotland’s cultural scene.”

Andy Brydon, Director of festival producers Curated Place said: “SPECTRA’s nominations in three categories for the Scottish Event awards is testament to the hard work of the creative team, our artists and the strong partnership Curated Place have developed with Aberdeen City Council’s creative and events teams since 2014.

“With next year’s festival currently in development this acknowledgement of the whole team’s efforts has fired us up to deliver bigger and better than ever before.”

SPECTRA 2016 has also been nominated for Best Creative Lighting Event at the Darc Architecture Awards alongside other major international light festivals including the Colosseum Light Messages, Italy; Lighting Up the Royal Seaport’s Gas Holders, Sweden and San Francisco City Hall Centennial Celebration, USA. The winner will be announced at the awards ceremony, in London on Thursday 15 September.

SPECTRA will return to Aberdeen in February 2017.