I always enjoy looking round Selby Abbey and this Friday evening I had the opportunity to visit again; on this occasion the Abbey was hosting ‘Selby Light 26’ with free admission.

It was a cold, dark, and wet evening with rain in the air as I arrived and joined the large crowd of spectators gathered behind the safety barriers on the Market place in front of the abbey, all eagerly awaiting the start of the sound and light show which started at 6.00pm.  As I joined the other visitors the event had attracted a complete mixture of spectators, lone parents, couples, families with excitable young children some waving their glow sticks, grandparents, and inquisitive tourists, even people with their four-legged friends all patiently awaiting the start of the show.

This was a large-scale light and sound display by the British touring theatre company called ‘imitating the dog’ founded in 1998.  Their work has been seen across the world, and they have made work for countless outdoor festivals and events, seen by hundreds of thousands of people. This new light show called ‘Homeward’ features the stories of the diverse communities of Selby, and tells a huge human tale of imagination, belief and personal history that sparks off from one very simple question: How Did You Get Here? It features characters inspired by local residents and projects them on to the front wall of the iconic abbey, it was accompanied with an equally dramatic sound narration. The experience continued inside with a special trail around the abbey quarter with work from Jazmin Morris whose series of visual code illustrations were inspired by the Abbey and the stories of vibrant local community members.

The light and sound show was excellent and told a fascinating story about Selby, all displayed on the front of the abbey. The light show lasted approximately ten minutes after which the illuminations directed you inside the abbey for a tour around the inside of the building, again very careful lighting highlighted several aspects of the building which you wouldn’t normally see, to great effect. After following the trail inside I headed back outside and joined the crowd of visitors to watch the show again! A really good event and I would certainly recommend it if and when it returns to Selby.

The light show runs from Thursday 26^th February for three nights ending on Saturday 28^th February. 6.00pm – 9.00pm, and it is free.