Te Ramaroa 2021 - Cathedral by Candlelight - Video

Te Ramaroa 2021 – Nelson Light Festival – ran from 9-13 July and was centred around Nelson’s historic Church Hill/Piki Mai.

The Cathedral was illuminated from the outside by also featured its own well-attended display inside: ‘Cathedral by Candlelight’.

This is a short virtual tour starting on the north end of the Cathedral, heading to the southern entrance via the western side and into the interior.

Te Ramaroa images here. More Te Ramaroa videos.

Those running the Cathedral display counted around 2500 people per hour throughout most of the Festival – that’s around 10,000 per night!

While in line, I overheard one person saying something to the effect that they ‘weren’t religious but felt a real peacefulness in the building’ – which is saying something considering the place was busy like a train station when I was there!

It seems to be a common experience with buildings like Cathedrals and other places of religious devotion across the globe. Often the older the building, the more ‘atmosphere’.

There was organ music playing in the Cathedral during ‘Cathedral by Candlelight’. From what I am able to gather, some of that was live, some was recorded. In order to capture a bit of that atmosphere in the video, I used some rather spiffing organ music played by Albert Schweitzer, recorded in 1935: Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in C Major, BWV 545.