I know what you’re thinking, what is Illuminabbey, it’s a spectacle of light and music that the Abbey gardens, in Bury St Edmunds held over 4 evenings as a run-up to Christmas 2021, the event was in place of the Christmas market which was cancelled because of covid, Illumunabbey is an event that I would hope the gardens will run every year.
The abbey gardens are a wonderful area that the townspeople have to enjoy family picnics, open area cinemas or other events, Illuminabbey was something new for the town and spoiler it was a massive success selling out in 2 days. I went on the last evening and I had the honour of being shown around by Chris and Martina and I can’t thank them enough for their time and hospitality.
The event happened over the weekend of 2nd - 5th of December, the route took people on a walk through the gardens which were just over 1km in length, I’ve never seen the abbey gardens like this before, the experience of lights, music was wonderful and it brought the gardens alive, the event wasn’t easy to photograph as I kept getting lost in the show. Not only was the architecture of the old abbey lit up there were performers, these included Juggling inferno, Corvus Angelicus and Spark!
The ruins of the old abbey have never looked so good and as I spent longer in the event I kept thinking of the shows that Jean Michel Jarre did in the ’80s and ’90s with lasers, lights and music there was a light show on some of the ruins which were wonderful to watch, they had also picked the perfect music to accompany the light show, it was the final piece of music used in the Christmas film the polar express.
All of the events were wonderful to experience, but the highlight for me was Spark! they are an amazing high impact drumming troupe with amazing kaleidoscope lighting and smoke, Spark! are a photographers dream and nightmare mixed in one. They move so fast that trying to get them in focus was hell, but fun and I know that I got some great photos. Just as I was saying goodbye to Chris and thanking him for his time I noticed that Corvus had crossed over with Spark! and she had been handed the drum sticks and started playing with Spark!, I’m so glad I didn’t miss this wonderful moment.
I’ve posted the photos below and if you missed the show this year make sure you keep an eye open for 2022’s dates and trust me you don’t want to miss it.
