The other week I went to a light festival called Glow in my local park. I missed it in the past few years for different reasons and figured I should finally go this year. This used to be a free event, but the organizers started charging an entry fee this year. It was Pay What You Decide, and I paid the recommended price. I didn't mind paying as running these events cost money and all the funds go back to the community instead of profit making. I'd rather contribute something in case they cancel these events in the future. It's a small price to pay to keep the community alive otherwise this world can be such a boring place.
I arrived about 20 minutes before my timed entry slot, and there was already quite a long queue waiting. They were very strict with letting people in at the correct time, which was good in a way, as it avoids having too many people in the venue at the same time.
I've been to this park a few times for walks, but only during daytime. I was a bit disoriented when I got in as it was so dark, and very muddy, I had to be careful where I walked. The first thing I saw and recognised was the fountain. It had been transformed into a Dancing Fountain, with lights and music, very fancy.
A bit further on were the Swings lit up in lights and with a long queue of kids waiting to have a go. Sadly no swings for me again.
In pretty much every village or town in UK you will find some sort of remembrance memorial. This is where people come on Remembrance Day to pay their respects to those who fought and died in the wars. It was a fitting place for the Peace Shrine. In the weeks before the festival, I saw the organisers were looking for people to donate glass jars and volunteers to help create this display. It was very nice to finally see over 200 glass jars decorated by the local community and standing there in solidarity for peace.
I think Needlework Community on Hive will love this display called the Magical Mushrooms. It's a mushroom garden crocheted by the local community, they look so whimsical when lit up in neon lights.
I love interactive displays, like Shadowplay. It creates colorful silhouettes when you stand in front of the wall. This is such a simple yet effective display and offers a lot of fun, yeah, it's very easy to please me.
There is a strong sense of community in this light festival, where many of the displays were created by the locals. Lightopia was another one. Old lampshades were hung up on the tree and lit up in funky neon lights. I wouldn't mind having this at home, it would be so cool in my living room!
Meet Roosie everyone! Roosie is a life size cow, and is also created by a local group. The sculpture is about the youngsters from the group first encounter with a cow in a nearby city farm. "The vibrant neon hues pulsating through the sculpture mimics the electrifying energy of the initial connection." Confession, that was the blurb from the official program, I didn't write it!!!
The UV Garden is definitely my favourite out of all the displays. This part of the park is a separate garden dedicated to a journalist called Jill Dando who was born and grew up in the area. She was a national journalist with the BBC and was shot dead in 1999. To date, her death is still unsolved. The artwork here is created by residents in a local rehab center. I love how enchanting everything is, and it gives so much strong energy and vibes. Maybe it reflects how the residents are feeling and their aspiration to a brighter future.
Last and not the least, as I was leaving the UV Garden, I wanted to take a photo of the lights in the rest of the park. I tried to be creative, and focused on a flower off a branch with the lights blurred in the background. What I didn't realise at the time, because it was so dark was that the flower is a sakura! I only saw it when I got home and opened up the photo on my computer. Now I have to go back to the park to get a better view of the sakura during day time, they are beautiful when they are blooming.
You can checkout all my travel post on the Pinmapple here or click on Mr Pinmapple below
Very, very cool.
Indeed. One thing Britain does well is community events to keep everyone connected. And LIGHT at this time of year is sooo lovely. Bloody hell it's cold and muddy though. I couldn't even face going out to the community wassail..
I literally had to drag myself out for this, been staying indoors for too long and it's making me too comfortable. It's getting to the stage when I go to anywhere other than the supermarkets, I feel a bit uneasy. The other week I went to Bristol for dinner (any Wai Yee Hong before that 🙂 ) and it felt like such a big deal, but it's only 20 miles away. Not a good sign
This festival seems really original, I've never seen anything like this. Colors and designs are very nice, and super suggestive in the darkness. I wish I could see that in person!
I really like the colour scheme they choose, it certainly makes the whole festival so happy and energetic
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Congratulations, a very beautiful and different festival. PP But that last photo was great. Congratulations.
Thanks, it was a nice night out to do something different
That is really cool. It makes me think a bit of Christmas time. I wish more parks would do cool things like this, but I would imagine it takes a lot of money and hours to make it all work.
Now you mention it, it does look a bit Chrstmassy minus the tree. I saw from the local FB group they had been planning it for quite a while, and pulled in lots of volunteers to help out, but overall I imagine it still costs quite a bit especially for insurance as it was quite pitch dark inside. Our nation has become a little over-obsessed with health and safety nowadays, great to see common sense has prevailed at last
It is definitely beautiful!
Wow those are cool displays and like you said so neat that so many were created by locals and that it was in your neighborhood park. Wonderful!
We're a small town, and apart from the carnival which is our biggest annual event, this is quite a big one, so it's great to see so many people being involved.
That was indeed a long queue, but it is cool as it shows that people are interested in this event. And how nice it is - with those magical mushrooms which are awesome and the UV garden too! 😍
Be inspired (as the light says) and go for the cherry blossom during day time 🌸
It's been nearly 2 weeks and I still haven't been back yet, must do it by next week (so she says.... 😅)
Great looking display, the world wide wood reminds me of the avatar movie, all connected underground.
I hadn't thought of that before, now I remember seeing that in the movie as well.
It’s one of my favorite movies, the story of all being connected is something that I like, can you do me a favor and send me a witness vote, I would appreciate it a lot.
This is so cool. I would love to wander around and check out all the cool lights.
There were more exhibits but the photos didn't come out very well, still it was nice to see them in person, definitely the best part, for me at least!
I am glad that you enjoyed it. It looks like it was a great time.
The lights join the people - This concept is captivating.
Roosie, the magic mushrooms and the UV Garden caught my attention and I didn't know about the BBC journalist, how sad. :(
I like how you can instantly recognise Roosie as a cow even though there weren't many lights on it, very clever in deed. UV Garden was very nice to walk around, so much going on there.
😅 Hey, the cow can be seen very clearly. Maybe you were dazzled with so many lights and here as I don't have many, everything seems bright to me hahaha.... joke. 🤣
That's a cool version of illumination, like the events in Japan. I like the idea of all the different kinds of illumination, especially the swings. Although I think they could have lit them up a bit better.
Why are we so fascinated by night lights like this?
maybe coz its so surreal and creative, and it can be turned into anything we want, we're always fascinated by the unknown and unlimited possibilities 😀
The view of the lights in Glow Park is very beautiful, I like seeing the lights decorated on the trees.
We are a small town, and I was pleasantly surprised they did such a good job of it.
wow, this is a greta little adventure, good to see events like this still drawing in the crowds.
mycelial is an amazing phenomenon, and we humans think we are the superior living organisms on the earth... think again, no one will ever beat Mother Nature.
Our little seaside town doesn't have the best rep, so we're doing our best to pull together some nice events, glad this one turned out ok.
I wasn't aware of mycelial (but then I'm pretty ignorant of most things 😅), there's so much more going on in this world to keep this place alive, really fascinating if you think about it
round of applause for the organisers, sometimes ignorance is bliss, we really know nothing about anything, there is no reason for us to even be here.
So cool, I love the GLOW festivals. When I know one is in the area I go.
Always so great to see. Perfect timing too.
Great captures. Thanks for sharing 😊
Hope you settled down very soon Jackie and can start to integrate into your local community
Thank you so much Pauline 😊 lets hope.
Belongings are due to arrive tomorrow 📦🚛🤞🏻🍀 weather permitting.
Once i have my tools 🧰 i can fix the internet connection 🛜
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She looks so cool and fun, Pauline. I wish there were events like this here so I could attend. Maybe it's time to move to a bigger city.
We're a very small town as well, but the local community try their best to organise events all the time. That side, you can never beat big cities, they have a lot more resources and participants to attend events.
I definitely love the magical mushrooms, and the colorful cow is very cute!! What a great experience! I agree with you, these events cost price to create, and it’s also good to contribute, since the money goes back to the community!
Thanks a lot for sharing this experience!
That's what I was thinking, if no one contributes, where's the money coming from? We should all contribute something, no matter how more or less it is.
I personally loved magical mushrooms and Lightopia the most, the old lamps of Lightopia would be nice as a garden lamp or indoor lamp. The concept and story of UV Garden is very touching and meaningful. What a great light show... These small community projects need more support and exposure I think... Thanks for sharing such a beautiful event with us Pauline...
Have a great week...
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