This year, the Illuminating York supporting programme is huge!  There are nearly 40 venues, shops and guided tours for people to enjoy during the festival

Aimee Richardson at Visit York tells us more……

Aimee, what sort of events are included in the programme this year?
Wow, what a question! There are a fantastic range of supporting events this year, everything from torchlit tours and gazing at the night sky at Yorkshire’s oldest working Observatory, to spooky stories by candlelight at many of York’s iconic attractions and a twilight trip up the Minster Tower. Too many to list here, so check the brochure and web listings for full details, but there’s certainly plenty to choose from and more than enough to fill a nights entertainment.

Why do you think so many people have got involved this year?
I think city centre businesses and attractions can see how much the Festival has grown over the last 7 years and with this growth the profile of the Festival has also been raised.  Last year the Festival received coverage from across the globe and attracted over 60,000 visitors.  So I think this encourages more businesses to get involved each year making the Festival bigger and better from one year to the next.

Are there any brand new events people should look out for?
Yes lots, including a candlelit tour of the Merchant Taylors Hall, spooky Stories at Bettys Cafe Tearooms in St Helen’s Square and four new events taking place at york Minster.  I should also mention that many of the attractions who have run a supporting event at previous years Festivals which are involved again this year, have introduced new elements to their events, so visitors might like to return again this year, the National Trust Treasurer’s House would be a good one to return to.  As well as this we are also very pleased to introduce the first DIY which will give visitors the chance to tinker with technology and try their hand at making animated light pictures or an illuminated gadget.

What other treats are in store?
As well as the supporting programme and main commissions there are a whole host of restaurant deals to take advantage, 19 restaurants and cafes across the city have offer meal deals – see the website or brochure for further details.  As well as this many of the city centre shops will be extending their opening hours, so you can do a bit of late night shopping as well as visit the festival! 

Finally, will you get chance to visit any of them?!
Yes I hope so!  I’ll be stewarding for three nights of the Festival, but on Saturday night I’m hoping to get around a few of the supporting events.  I missed out last year, so I’m really looking forward to experiencing the Festival as a visitor this year! 

For more information on all the 2011 supporting events, download the Festival brochure.  We hope you enjoy this years fringe programme – don’t forget, if you photograph your visit, you can enter the Illuminating York photography competition.

As we gear up to the first night of the festival, we’re looking forward to seeing and hearing about all the fantastic fringe events that are part of Illuminating York this year.

Lots of York’s attractions are holding special events and late night openings, which we think will really bring the city to life after dark, but there are some smaller events taking place too that also deserve a mention.

If you’re into York tonight for instance, why not download Nightwalk York – a sound walk produced by The Arts Collective which explores the light and dark of York? You can find out more here, and join the guided walk tonight or on Saturday at 7pm, or simply form your own walk as and when you come down to Illuminating York!

In a world full of questions, Impossible is inviting members of the public to take part in a new interactive artwork, in which their questions will be broadcast into the night sky at Illuminating York from 27-30 October 2010. Using Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, Impossible is gathering all sorts of everyday, weird and wonderful questions and invite the online crowd to answer them. Recordings of the questions will be broadcast via Impossible’s projections, live at Illuminating York, from 27-30 October in Dean’s Park (next to York Minster).

You can pretty much ask the All Seeing Eye whatever you want, whether it’s ‘What should I eat for tea tonight?’, or ‘What should I get my mum for her birthday’, to the more surreal ‘Can fish laugh?’ or ‘What is the first thing you would say to an alien?’!

If you fancy taking part, you can post a question via twitter, facebook or YouTube, as written questions, or as audio or video clips made on home-web cameras, or mobile phones. Follow @allseeing_eye on twitter, or visit All Seeing Eye on facebook or YouTube to take part in posting questions, and offering answers.

Over 2 billion people every day ask questions using search engines. Impossible aims to give you a brand new take on the answers…!

Local groups ranging from York Art Gallery, schools and students are going to be working with the tagtools over the next few weeks.

There are also some great images, which show what Tagtool is capable of on Flikr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dasgnu/sets/72157606220136482/

http://www.mikecoopercreative.co.uk/blog/2009/09/23/illuminating-york-new-tagtool-technologies-coming-for-2009

Local lad, Mike Cooper got to grips with the tag tool this week, under the direction of Ben from GaiaNova and Markus from OMA International. Mike has written a great Blog post (see link above) and his enthusiasm is truly infectious.

For more information on Tag Tools and how to build your own visit: www.tagtool.org

Welcome to the Illuminating York Blog. We are busy gearing up for the 2009 festival, which runs from 23 Oct – 1 Nov. We have a very exciting programme lined up, including three fantastic commissioned works. Check out our website www.illuminatingyork.org which will go live this week to find out more.