blog.

Ideas always seem great at the time you make them.  It's only when you have to carry them out do you feel the weight of the decision made.

I was feeling not so much the weight as the bitingly bitter cold on Monday night.  Hundreds of people came down to see Light Up Bristol kick off for another year of festive illumination on College Green.  TV crews, excitable kids, parents, corporate liggers and a fair smattering of creative types all converged on the freezing turf to see what the cream of Bristol media had come up with this year.

I don’t think anyone was disappointed – apart from the unfortunate weather presenter I managed to cover in huge gobs of fake snow (just who thought I was the best person left in charge of one of the soap-snow cannons I don’t know – it was too dark to see either them or any of the settings on the machine!).  The kids loved it all, the parents took advantage of the mulled wine and roasted chestnuts from the Watershed marquee, and those lucky enough to come clutching a VIP invite headed straight for the Glenmorangie bar for their free wee drams of whiskey.  The folk from Spike Island even turned up, hosting an art stall that became bathed in psychedelic lights that span off from the cathedral in rhythmic waves.

The main show consisted of a series of moving images projected across the entire 400ft Council House façade and set to a soundtrack loud enough to be heard at the top of Park Street.  Images from baubles to beautiful reindeer that emerged through a sparkling blizzard of individual snowflakes created a magical scene.

The finale – from world-renowned Anti VJ – left all who watched awestruck.  Lights played perfectly over brickwork, tracing every corner and angle of the façade.  Colourful maelstroms of light were played precisely over all windows, creating a dizzying feeling of watching the inside of the building bursting into flame.