I travelled back up to Glasgow on Friday 18th April ready to start back at College on Monday and thought that it would be a great idea to go along to the opening event for what will be one of Scotland’s largest pieces of Art “The Kelpies” The site in Falkirk has been redeveloped to provide a grand new tourist attraction for the area which is hoped to bring new jobs and additional development for this area of Scotland.
I was really looking forward to the event as it is not that often you get the chance to be a part of something as grand and imposing as this. I contacted some of my friends and we travelled over to Falkirk in the early evening to try and get a glimpse of the park before it went dark. Unfortunately because of the opening ceremony we could not get close enough for any decent pictures and decided to grab something to eat before we started the walk around the Helix park.
We arrived at our appointed time slot 9:30 pm, parked the car and went to join the queue. We entered the park and you could sense the excitement of the people around us. The helpful security staff made sure that we kept moving-on ensuring that we saw all of the magnificent show, which lasted around 90 minutes.
We could see strange lights on the path in front of us and as we got closer we could see the path lit by fountains of water which were constantly changing colour. It was amazing to watch the water dancing in the calm of the evening as the colours changed every couple of minutes. You just had to walk through them it was impossible to resist.
Passing the lake with a floating sign as its centre piece displaying the title of the show “ Home “ we walked towards the main sculptures. Next to the pathway there were some very warming open fires, we stumbled upon a group of performers dressed in a very outlandish costumes. They were stood perfectly still, like statues, when we first found them and I just had to take a closer look. I took my chance to get in on the act and stood behind them for a picture, just at that moment they started to move, reciting poetry as they quirkily moved along the path using jerky movements. It was both bizarre and yet mesmerizing at the same time.
We then crossed the canal and found ourselves on the path around the wonderful sculptures that we had all come to see. They were lit by projected light with pyrotechnic lights erupting all around giving a very imposing appearance of the mythical water horses “The Kelpies”. Over 30 metres tall the pair of water horses created by artist Andy Scott became the focus of our attention as the light show blazed all around us. We were so tempted to stop and film but the stewards made sure that after a couple of minutes at each vantage point we all moved along making room for the people behind us.
I thoroughly enjoyed the evening and was so glad that we made it back in time to be part of it.
Here is a little bit of video that I took which gives you a little taster of what we experienced 🙂 My Dad has added an audio track to the video with me singing “Diamonds Are Forever” as he thought that the event was very James Bond.
That was an awesome show!
It had a great atmosphere, a lovely evening with a clear sky and very mild weather for April. Glad you enjoyed it.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Waouw, very nice !! Thanks !!! This is Igone travel in Italie, Serbie, Brazil, but I really have to go to Scotland too !!!!!
All the best my dear
We had great weather all weekend for our visits in Scotland. You should start in England work your way up North taking in Wales too 🙂
Best wishes
Charlotte
Well, it’s exatly what i’ve been thinking ! I’ve been heard that Walles peoples are great!! 😉
Scotland looking great! Nice one Charlotte! 😉
It was such a treat having such good sunny weather in April. The Kelpies were a great treat, we had a good laugh.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Wow what a show. So glad you got to enjoy it. Looks amazing.
I believe it took 10 months to build. It’s opposite Falkirk football ground so plenty of parking, the only thing it needs is directions to local restaurants we nearly got lost 🙂
Best wishes
Charlotte
Spectacular, indeed! So fortunate you were back in time for that.
It was spectacular, water, fire, statues, what more could you ask for from an evening out. Other than a soprano singing, my friend Tim (baritone) and I could have done a mean set from Phantom of the Opera or some Handel lol
Best wishes
Charlotte
You should have tried to Handel some vocals set to the Fireworks Suite!
*groan*
Ha ha ha 🙂
Thank you for this mystical,magical journey. How beautiful the Kelpies are!
They really are magnificent, I believe you can go into them during daylight, just a good excuse for another visit.
Best wishes
Charlotte
So glad you share your colorful, interesting life! Beautiful.
What a lovely comment Cheryl thank you, your blog is always full of colour and ideas too 🙂
Best wishes
Charlotte
That is pretty cool!
It reminded me back when I worked at a local theme park and we brought in a much smaller scaled show with the dancing fountains and fire set to music.
The first 100 shows it was pretty magical. By the end of the year I had to watch the facial expressions of the audience to get by. Even excellent things can be taken for granted after the 1000th time with no change. Ha ha!
Anyway, that was a grand show!
I agree Steve 🙂 it’s really important they have some variety there. From maybe outdoor concerts to plays, choir competitions etc. there are lots the arts can offer to pull in different crowds to open air events.
The toilets were clean too lol 🙂 so important that!
Best wishes
Charlotte
Charlotte, That looked really exciting, very different from anything I have seen before. Hope you enjoyed your easter break.xx
The water shoots reminded me of Disney holidays but the Kelpies were very different from anything I’ve seen before, it’s so nice to see statues that represent something magical.
I had a lovely break, back to RCS yesterday afternoon with a two hour economics module – good though 🙂
Best wishes
Charlotte
What an exciting event! Thank you for sharing! XX
It’s good to do something different with friends I hadn’t seen for a couple of weeks and my family, a proper treat 🙂
Best wishes
Charlotte
A proper treat ! You are right! xx
Absolutely fantastic Charlotte. Seeing shows like this is an experience, and to see it live must have been exceptional because it was great seeing through photos and video. Loved the soundtrack too xx
Thanks Gill, if you listen at the start you can hear my Grandad humming along its one of his favourites :). You’d love the sculptures, Loch Lomond was a lovely day trip too.
All the best
Charlotte
Beautifully sung by you and the effects of the show are wonderful! Very exciting! Congrats!
Thanks Janice my Dad chose the track because the fireworks made him think about James Bond. I suggest the Laird O Cockpen of Scotsong. I’m glad you enjoyed my post.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Awesome photos! WoW!
It’s so hard to photograph light effects in the dark, I had lots of bad shots 🙂 I managed to get these off Dads camera because mine didn’t come out so good.
Best wishes
Charlotte
Very cool lighting effects.
My friend Rob is a production student and he was checking out how they did the lighting, fires, pyrotechnics – it was very cool Eric.
Best wishes
Charlotte
I love seeing what people experience in other parts of the world. It goes to show that the world over just wants to enjoy their lives and friends and families. We are all the same. I loved the video and hearing you sing.
Thanks Karen that’s what I love about blogging too 🙂
Best wishes
Charlotte