A light and sound show depicting the history of New Lanark on its own buildings makes its return to the town next month

A spectacular immersive sound and large-scale light installation will be taking place next month in New Lanark.

Named Shining Lives: Fortunes of Fate, the exhibition will be illuminating New Lanark’s impressive building facades with images portraying the town’s history.

The light and sound show tells the tale of a crew of Highlanders who set off on a voyage from Skye to North Carolina – and nearly didn’t live to tell the tale.

The story starts in 1791, with a ship called The Fortune, which sailed from the Isle of Skye to America. The Highlanders aboard The Fortune had been planning to emigrate to America, but their ship was driven back to Greenock by a dreadful storm which damaged the mast, and so the passengers were put back ashore.

Many of them ended up in New Lanark, looking for work. Though it was initially difficult to find workers for the mill, eventually, with the promise of new jobs and homes in New Lanark, many Highlanders came to settle there.

These Highlanders’ adventure will be projected onto the towering 18th century mill buildings, and viewers will follow the story of the crew from the beginning of the voyage all the way to their new life in the famous mill village of New Lanark.

The exhibition is being sponsored by Border Biscuits’ community fund. Tina Cunningham, Border Biscuits’ community support director, commented: “We are delighted to be sponsoring the New Lanark Trust’s innovative Shining Lives project which will bring to life the storied history of the New Lanark World Heritage Site in a way many people may not have seen before. We are committed to funding projects that benefit the people of Lanark or the town as a whole and this is a great example of one that fits into both categories.”

Tickets for the event can be purchased online or at New Lanark, in person. The event runs from 11 until 20 October.