The historic Walled City of Derry will come to life from next week with an immersive music and light festival called ‘Illuminate’.
Illuminate will brighten up the dark winter nights with a trail of live projection shows across the city’s most iconic buildings, turning them into spectacular pieces of art.
Illuminate will run over two weekends, February 17 to 20 and February 24 to 27 and visitors can expect a music, drama and art installations telling the incredible stories of a legendary place with activities from 6pm to 9pm each day.
Odhran Dunne of Visit Derry said: "Illuminate is a new festival that’s going to be an atmospheric spectacular featuring state-of-the-art projections which tell the unique story of Derry along a 1.5km route.
"Adults and children will be transfixed by the live illumination experiences as the story unfolds on their walk around the 400-year-old walls. It’s an experience like no other this February and not to be missed.
"People will relive some of the dramatic scenes from the Siege of Derry 1689, learn of the city’s more recent history and how the city has been reimagined.
"There are six key locations to look out for, including the wonderful 400-year-old walls, the original Walled city gates, the iconic Guildhall and St. Columb’s Cathedral."
Funded by Tourism Northern Ireland as part of its Embrace A Giant Spirit campaign, Illuminate will bring Derry's city centre to life.
Visual Spectrum Studio is the company tasked with capturing the story of Derry which will be cast over some of the city's most iconic landmarks.
Their brief - capturing 1,000 years of history in a series of digitally rendered animations, enhanced by music and performance – is no mean feat for anyone, particularly in a city renowned for its outdoor cultural events.
In Illuminate the past and present collide, as the wonders of modern technology conjure up the characters and landmark moments of a millennium, to create a completely different visual experience for all ages.
Multi-media master Ryan Vail said: "For us, it was a chance to tell the story of this City in the most interesting way possible. We have so many amazing stories from the past, this was our chance to use our skills to bring them to life through animation and a format that everyone can enjoy.
"The biggest technical challenge for us is definitely the Guildhall show, which is a full scale mapped projection show. This is something that's never been done here before. For us to debut a show of this calibre here is very exciting, especially as it's a first for Derry and Strabane."
The digital displays are complemented by specially composed pieces of music and live performance. A series of music gigs from Music Capital will also take place across a range of venues, an opportunity to enjoy some intimate performances by an array of popular artists.
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