Aberdeen’s winter light festival mixes flames with inflatable wildlife and digital portraits.
Spectra’s first confirmed artworks for 2026 span mechanical fire sculptures, giant illuminated animals, and an interactive screen that turns passers-by into a collective portrait. The installations go up 5–8 February across Union Terrace Gardens, Marischal Square, and Broad Street.
Walk the Plank is bringing a fire garden to Union Terrace Gardens. Mechanical sculptures made by UK blacksmiths pulse with actual flame. Lotus flowers bloom along pathways, towering floral chimneys shimmer in the heat, and kinetic pieces grind and hiss as you walk past. There’s a balancing installation that uses thermal convection to create movement.
It sound like a setup that either mesmerises you or sends you backing away from the heat. Maybe even both? Either way, we can’t wait!
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Inflatable creatures in Marischal Square
Marischal Square gets giant nocturnal animals from Lincolnshire-based Glow Art Creations. A fox, hedgehog, and owl, all lit from within and covered in black-and-white mandala patterns.
The patterns create shifting shadows and reflections as you move around the inflatables. It’s a gentler approach than fire and metal, playing with the idea of creatures that only emerge after dark.
WERC's Mofingu creates shifting digital portraits from viewers, while Walk the Plank's Fire Garden features illuminated metal sculptures.
Digital portraits on Broad Street
Dutch collective WERC is installing Mofingu on Broad Street. It’s an interactive screen using depth-camera technology. As you approach, particles scatter and reform. Faces from previous visitors emerge, dissolve, then merge with yours. You become part of a constantly evolving portrait that’s always changing, never complete.
WERC’s work explores where the physical world ends and the digital begins. Fire, inflatables, and digital tech don’t obviously belong together, but the festival’s “Be Curious” theme seems to be leaning into that disconnect.
Now in its 12th year, Spectra drew over 100,000 visits last time round. The full programme gets announced in early 2026. These first three installations suggest the festival is prioritising variety, picking artworks that feel like questions rather than statements. The rest of the lineup will either reinforce that or take it somewhere else entirely.
