Prepare to be dazzled

SU CARROLL shines a light on an event which will kickstart a year of celebrations for Mayflower 400

- Su Carroll

Plymouth has been staging an Illuminate Festival for several years – coinciding with the November Thanksgiving events in America and marking the voyage of the Mayflower.

The dazzling light shows and art installations that form Illuminate take their inspiration from the words of Governor William Bradford who sailed on the Mayflower which left Plymouth in September 1620 destined for the original “Plimoth Plantation”. In his history of the establishment of the colony in Massachusetts by the Pilgrims who made the perilous Atlantic crossing, he wrote: “Just as one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shone unto many.”

Illuminate was originally held on Plymouth’s Barbican and Hoe but moved to the city’s Royal William Yard in 2017 where last year it ran for three days. This November Illuminate takes on a special significance as it launches a year of commemorations in Mayflower 400 to mark the anniversary of the Pilgrims’ departure.

There will also be a number of Illuminate events at destinations around the world which have their part to play in the Mayflower story.

There will be festivals in Plymouth, Massachusetts, Holland and a number of cities in the UK including Dartmouth where the Mayflower and sister ship Speedwell put in for repairs.