Light, Music and Celebration

A busy time for celebration at this time of year as we approach Halloween, Bonfire Night and Diwali, just passed, a traditional Hindu celebration for Festival of Light.

Diwali marks the start of the Hindu New Year and the exact dates change each year and fall in line with the position of the moon between October and November.

In Sanskrit Diwali translates to 'row of lights' and traditionally people who celebrate this decorate their homes with lamps and candles.

It is also a celebration of fighting good over evil based on legends themed around the traditional gods Rama and Sita returning to the city of Ayodyha following defeat over the evil King Ravana.

In other regions Kali is worshipped - the destroyer of evil forces and others celebrate Lord Krishna's victory over the wicked King Narakaasura.

Surrounding these legends and lights it's seen as a time to celebrate with family, exchanging gifts, feasting, cleaning and freshly decorating the home, as well as firework displays as per Guy Fawkes Night on 5th November - a celebration of a failed attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament and King James back in 1605.

Of course we cannot forget Halloween, a traditional Celtic festival of Samhain - a pagan celebration where the harvest was welcomed in and the dark half of the year celebrated by lighting bonfires and people dressing up to ward off ghosts. Specifically their belief was that this was the time where the boundary between the living and the dead became blurred and the ghosts of death returned to earth, making it easier to predict future prophecies.

It was in fact a result of many Irish immigrants fleeing the potato famine back to the US back in the 1840's who influenced the Halloween tradition making it world-wide.

The annual excuse for pumpkin carving represents rebirth and fertility as well as harvest, whilst 'trick or treat' was originally when poorer families knocked on the doors of the wealthier asking for gifts. This became more common practice in 1951 after Disney produced a cartoon called 'Trick or Treat' featuring Donald Duck...

Immersive art is everywhere. Whether you're walking out into the fresh autumn air and hear the birds singing with the sun shining, displaying a glow of crispy leaves in colour on and off the trees... or you step out into a busy street with cars passing in the rain, forming a hazy colour trail behind and a moody engine tone as rain drops drop into puddles, splashes on car windscreens and dull clouds surround the sky.

Compare this to a concert hall, festival space or warehouse which has been surrounded by speakers systems pouring out music with a heavy bass and displays of sparkling light and spiralling visuals. The senses are provoked. With light and sound being an integral part of life it's great to take the opportunity to celebrate this. As we have previously introduced audio visual artist Celestial Artillery, we emphasise the importance of light, colour and sensory immersion both in and outside the rave. With a beautiful collaboration between music and light we are the first to say that these work in synergy to an audio-immersive experience.

Back in August we invited Celestial Artillery in to our Music As Medicine show, where she delved deeper into her light work and projects. To find out more you can listen back here.

The artist herself, Lillian Rose, was a key feature to our debut event earlier this month which showcased some incredible artists who we have championed over the last year. It was their opportunity to perform live surrounded by an audience with visual art. To stay in the loop with her projects you can check out her site out here and to listen back to any of the live performances from our debut event, you can find them here. Finally, a reminder - since we announced we have switched broadcasting providers we are still currently adapting to the new processes. The app is no longer available - we will update you when this feature is ready again. In the meantime you can listen via the web player on our main site. This Sunday is also the last Sunday of the month where we hold Sunday Sessions, once again. We are blessed to be joined live in the studio with arxivn - London-based soul-infused rapper... he really is a taste of something fresh. Not only will he be joining us this weekend but his latest album Gehenna Genesis was released last Friday and we selected his track 01100101 01110110 0110' as our Track of The Week. Be sure not to miss out this Sunday 30th October 11.00-13.00.

Have a great Halloween!