Absorb…

Scotland’s favorite outdoor sound and light show

The Enchanted Forest Event Photo by Christa Thompson

Picture yourself in a dream, in a forest with towering trees. The cool damp air embraces your skin..and just as your eyes begin to focus on the dancing colors upon the woods, the music begins. You’re in the Enchanted Forest. It is the staple of all fairytales. It is that magical place where flowers sing, green grass grows, and where darkness lurks behind every tree. Anything goes.

Sounds like a place for The Fairytale Traveler…wouldn’t you think? Yeah me too, so I hopped on a plane and made my way over to these magical woods all the way in Pitlochry, Scotland, one of the most magical places on earth!

The Enchanted Forest is renowned to be Scotland’s premier sound and light experience and attracted over 40,000 visitors in 2013.” -EnchantedForest.org

Photo by Christa Thompson

The Enchanted Forest is a marvel of symphony and light held each year during the month of October in the Faskally Woods. This year’s theme ‘Absorb’ was beautifully arranged by the creative talents of Kate Bonney and Simon Hayes (lighting designers) and RJ McConnell (sound designer). Rated again as the best event in Scotlanad, it is a playground for your eyes.

Photo by Christa Thompson

The Enchanted Forest has been named for the second time, Best Cultural Event at the 2013 Scottish Event Awards.

The Enchanted Forest has been named Best Cultural Event at the Regional Final of the Scottish Thistle Awards.

Druid in the darkness Photo by Christa Thompson

The Fairytale Traveler Experience:

It was a rainy day, much like many of the days in the UK. I had managed to make my way to the Fisher’s Hotel in downtown Pitlochry, where I would be spending the night and catching the coach to the Faskally Wood (they haul people up there in intervals because it is so desolate). It was the last showing for the night, so I was among very few people.

I jumped off the bus, camera in tow, and there it was like a mad canvas of light, the Enchanted Forest. Guided by only a Druidess and a softly lit path, I was on my way through the visual magic of the the forest. The vivid colors danced to the music and brought the forest to life. It was as if I were in a lucid dream. Dark and ominous druids guarded the path and added a mythological element to the soft almost hypnotic state of the woods. The rain formed a mist that glared before the lights, only adding to the dream-like state of the forest. The experience was unforgettable.