If you were passing by Turku harbour, close to the river and the railway station, on December 15 night, you might have noticed something weird going on. You would see couples with children, friends and dogs gathering in the small park in front of the Turku castle. You get curious and follow the crowd — something interesting must be happening if Turku citizens went out in this freezing weather.

In the park, you see a line for a cup of glögi and gingerbread, so you get your portion and wait for action to begin. So are a couple of hundred people. Shortly a light show on the castle facade starts: giant snowflakes and abstract objects appear on the walls of the medieval fortress. Accompanied by dynamic beat, the show made you forget about freezing off the tips of your toes, didn’t it?

The show was an early New Year gift to the shifters from our crew. We wanted to say thank you for being with us during the first year when  SHIFT happened and invite you to stay with us in 2017 — and that’s how we did it. We arranged the show at this time of the year to embrace the darkness and bring the light! VJ Artturi “Turun villi kortti” Elovirta and Rajupaja Oy prepared the projection art for you. We also held a contest in social media: among all people who posted a picture or a video of the lightened castle, we chose a winner who already got her pass to SHIFT 2017!! Ain’t that a good way to celebrate the beginning of a new year?

Have a happy New Year, everyone, and let’s keep SHIFTing together!