Despite a rising wind and a scattering of rain, around 27,000 people took in the spectacular official opening event of the Edinburgh International Festival last night, a festive feast of coruscating light and sound.
Deep Time, which was sponsored by Standard Life, illuminated the rock and castle of Edinburgh Castle from 10.30pm with a scintillating light and graphics by 59 Productions and a pounding score by leading Scottish rock band Mogwai.
The completion of the 20 minute epic of colour and sound was greeted with warm applause, as the festival's slogan this year, Welcome World, was displayed as a final statement for the crowds around Castle Terrace.
Hundreds of Edinburgh residents past and present feature in the digital artwork’s final scenes.
The UK’s largest free, ticketed event of its kind, the digital artwork charted 350 million years of Edinburgh’s history with images projected onto the landscape.
Viewers saw the rock bubbling as magma, under an ancient sea, inhabited by dinosaurs of land and water that became fossils before their eyes, galactic perspectives of the creation of the world, and words from James Hutton, Shakespeare and Ted Hughes were emblazoned on the constantly morphing landscape.
One of the most spectacular effects saw huge boulders tumbling down the sides of the rock, a vision which elicited some expressions of audible appreciation from the crowds.
The theory of Deep Time, which explains the Earth’s age in terms of billions of years rather, was pioneered by Edinburgh resident and Enlightenment thinker Hutton, who based his ideas on study of the landscape and geology of the city and surrounding area.
59 Productions created The Harmonium Project which opened the 2015 International Festival to much acclaim.
They worked with University of Edinburgh academics make sure the scientific and geological aspects of the show were accurate, including the kinds of dinosaurs that once could have lived on the rock and surrounding land.
Deep Time was three times the scale of The Harmonium Project.
Fergus Linehan, director of the EIF, said: "We have witnessed a wonderful celebration of Edinburgh.
"There is no doubt that those who watched it will remember the Standard Life Opening Event: Deep Time for years to come.
"I hope that in the coming weeks, residents and visitors alike will be able to enjoy all that the Edinburgh International Festival – and the festival city of Edinburgh - has to offer."
Keith Skeoch, Chief Executive, Standard Life, said: “We're delighted that the Standard Life Opening Event has got the Edinburgh International Festival 2016 off to such a memorable start.
" Time has been truly inspirational in many ways, for its creativity, its innovation and the great collaborative effort between the many partners who made this world-class event happen."
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