Global Rainbow

There is a splash of colour over the Edinburgh skies this week!

Multicolour laser beams are projected from Edinburgh Castle, creating a night rainbow passing over Calton Hill and shining bright over the city. The best spot to enjoy this light display is Calton Hill, where the National Monument has also been illuminated in rainbow colours. The display premiered on March 24th, but is still running for a limited time after (that cannot be made clear in advance for some reason). But the rainbow made an appearance again on the 25th, and is bound to return today as well (26th).

This art installation was originally created by artist Yvette Mattern some years ago, and has been brought to Edinburgh and presented by Burns & Beyond with Johnnie Walker. Find out more about the event here.

The installation has lit up the skies of many cities around the world over the years, including New York, Berlin, Sao Paulo, and Toronto. Now, the rainbow has more significance than ever before. The event marks the one year anniversary since lockdown restrictions began in the UK. It stands as a symbol of hope, love and kindness, a positive message from Edinburgh to the rest of the world for 2021, and also a sign of gratitude towards NHS and all key workers.

Since lockdown restrictions are still in place all over Scotland, the rainbow is only physically visible to those that live within the city of Edinburgh, but hopefully the message can spread further through the online medium. On a normal day, this kind of display would draw in big crowds. There weren’t many people at all around Calton Hill. We missed the night rainbow on its launch day - to be honest, I feel this isn’t advertised well at all, though perhaps for the better - but we made in on the second day!