The Castle of Light officially opened to the public on Saturday night with locals and visitors from across the country helping start celebrations.
The Castle of Light is helping to mark the city’s 900th anniversary with a celebration that is suitable for all ages.
Pupils from the local Royal Mile Primary School helped officially switch on the lights for this year’s event ahead of its seven week wrong.
It’s the fifth year the Castle of Light has lit up Edinburgh’s skyline and it has an immersive after-dark trail this year.
It will transform the historic castle grounds with all-new light and sound displays celebrating 900 years of history ahead of the festive season.
The creators are also taking the opportunity to highlight lesser-known stories of Edinburgh’s trailblazing women, inspired by Sara Sheridan’s book ‘Where are the Women?’.
The lava wall is illuminated with stories of the women that history has forgotten. Guests come face to face with figures spanning from the 12th to the 21st century including Scottish science pioneer Mary Sommerville, explorer and photographer Isabella Bird and one of the ‘Edinburgh Seven’, Sophia Jex-Blake.
Emma Bowie, regional visitor & community manager at Edinburgh Castle, said: "Castle of Light has truly become a jewel in Edinburgh's bustling winter schedule, and this year’s celebration is particularly special as we mark the city’s 900th anniversary.
“This year’s event is all about bringing people together to revel in the capital’s incredible history as it comes to life on the castle walls. From uncovering the inspiring stories of Edinburgh’s trailblazing women to soaking in the vibrant energy in Crown Square, Castle of Light showcases the incredible depth of Scotland’s past while creating unforgettable memories for the present. It’s a spectacular way to celebrate this milestone year with family and friends this festive season."
The Castle of Light will run for seven weeks on select dates until Saturday January 4, 2025.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here