Deep Time - EIF Opening Event 2016

Deep Time, the Standard Life opening event for the 2016 Edinburgh International Festival welcomed the world to Edinburgh.

It was a spectacular public art performance that took place on the evening of Sunday 7th August and was watched by an estimated 27,000 people. The performance used 42 projectors to combine animation, lighting and music and delved deep into 350 million years of Edinburgh's history.

The light show was choreographed to a specially compiled soundtrack by Scottish rock band Mogwai and was produced by 59 Productions, creators of the Harmonium Project which launched the 2015 Edinburgh International Festival.

The crowds were taken back to the origins of time as Edinburgh Castle and Castle Rock were transformed to erupt with volcanic lava and walk with dinosaurs. The face of James Hutton, the Scottish geologist, peered out from the rock before a kaleidoscope of contemporary Edinburgh faces provided a vivid finale.