Lights display at Edinburgh Castle brings myths to life
CGTN
00:58

Edinburgh Castle, the former home of Scottish royalty built on an extinct volcano, is transformed into the Castle of Light.

Stories of ancient heroes, myths and legends are projected on the castle walls to the sound of Scottish music.  

Alastair Young, the director of Warpro which is specialist audio visual company involved in creating the Castle of Light, says the light exhibition took six months to complete and his creative team worked together with Historic Environment Scotland, a public body tasked with promoting Scotland's history.

The giant dragon changes colors while it sleeps on one of the castle's inner walls, and occasionally wakes up to spew fire.

Young says the dragon is based on a myth of a dragon that flew around Edinburgh and terrorized the local community by eating their livestock, and it ate so much that it needed to sleep. When it finally dozed off it never woke up and it believed by some that the creature still sleeps underneath the city.

The statues of Robert the Bruce and William Wallace guard the entrance to Edinburgh castle and these are brought to life in the light display.

Rex Rampant, which is the lion on Scotland's coat of arms comes to life in the exhibition and Young says the team had fun creating its cheeky character.

"He is a bit of a cheeky character and he is jumping about the walls. It's the first night for me as well as for the public so it is too early to say which is my favorite part," Young says.

A projection of a Scottish queen welcomes guests to the castle before she dissolves into a colorful display of lights and dancing subjects.  

Margaret's chapel was built in the 12th Century and is one of Edinburgh's oldest buildings. The building first turns into a jewel box before the stained glass windows from inside the chapel are projected onto the outside of the building.

Young says around 20,000 tickets for the Castle of Light event have been sold so far. It opens to the public on 14 November and will run for six weeks.

Source(s): AP