Pete WiseYou know there are fairies at the bottom of the garden, don’t you? The cynical need look know further than York’s Museum Gardens for proof. As night falls in the park a myriad of ethereal lights begin to glow – chains of warm bulbs, gentle orbs in the branches of trees, LEDs dripping from boughs like melting icicles and out-sized baubles nestling in the undergrowth, mischievous. This is Illuminating York’s Wonderland.
In an inspired collaboration between comedian Vic Reeves and local artists Bright White Ltd, Bar Lane Studios, Arup and Chetwoods Architects, Illuminating York has created arguably its most interesting and engaging attraction to date. This Wonderland combines surreal, pythonesque projections from Reeves with an ethereal, magical range of illuminations. The end result is an experience with a truly universal appeal.
The cheeky projections (which include the memorable image of a ‘male Adonis’ figure grappling with a walrus suggestively) are sure to tickle adults and children alike, whilst the lighting throughout the park will dazzle grown-ups with its prettiness and must be a mind-blowingly exciting experience for kids. The installations in place range from softly lit clearings and bicycles transformed into angels with brightly coloured wings, to children dancing on the ruins of St Mary’s Abbey.
The Vic Reeves Wonderland event in the Museum Gardens represents a major upping of the ante for the increasingly renowned Illuminating York project. Open 6.30PM – 10.30PM from tonight until Saturday, the transformation is set to be every bit as brief as it is wonderful. We recommend you catch this little bit of magic before it scurries off back to whatever enchanted place it came from.
For more information on the Vic Reeve’s Winter Wonderland and the Illuminating York programme of events as a whole, click here
