Trip The Light Fantastic: A Festival of Sound and Vision
Something rather extraordinary is bubbling up beneath the hull of our beloved club. Under the collective stewardship of the committee, the club members and several creative wizards, the John Sebastian is being transformed into a vessel of light, sound, and a little bit of time travel for the upcoming Bristol Light Festival 2026.
We are delighted to announce that artists Kathy Hinde and Lia Mazzari are coming aboard to install a state-of-the-art hydrophone (a listening device for the deep) beneath the keel. Alongside them, we have a marvellous collaboration between Adrian Price and Maff Scott. Together, this array of installations promises to turn the dockside into a sort of scientific séance.
A Translator for an Alien Universe
From the safety of our 141-year-old wooden light vessel, a suspended hydrophone will drift below the surface of the Bathurst Basin. It acts as a permanent ear, continuously transmitting the underwater soundscape in real-time.
It reveals a “living archive” of the basin’s sonic life. You will hear the industrial drones of passing boats and the rhythmic sediment flows inside the water. But if you listen closely, you will catch the stranger sounds, too: the song of freshwater invertebrates and the delicate impact of rain stroking the microphone. It is a translation of an alien acoustic universe right under our feet.
The 10-Second Echo
Here is where it becomes genuinely magical. The sounds from the deep are broadcast around the world via the Locus Sonus Soundmap server with a deliberate 10-second latency. This delay creates a loop in time. When you speak into the ocean, the ocean waits before whispering your own words back to you. You are effectively communicating with a ghost version of yourself from the immediate past.
Beams of Sound and Towers of Light
Above the water, we are joined by Adrian Price of Bristol’s Soundbeam project and the artist Maff Scott (The Egg). They are bringing something quite peculiar to the proceedings. Adrian’s contraption allows one to create music simply by interrupting an ultrasonic beam (an invisible string of sound, if you will).
Meanwhile, Maff captures these vibrations and translates them into dancing LED lights that will scramble up the lightship’s tower. It is ambient music with a pulse of pure light, synchronised to the movement of the evening.
Trip the Light Fantastic
To accompany this sonic ritual, we are unveiling a spectacular Mirror Ball installation. These glittering orbs will scatter light across the dock, turning the area into a luminous playground as we “Trip the Light Fantastic.” It is a chance to see the vessel not just as a club, but as a beacon of light and hidden sound.
The Grand Finale: End of Festival Party
To cap off these illuminations, we are throwing a proper knees-up to close the festival. On Saturday, 28th February, we invite you to “Trip The Light Fantastic”.
From 8pm till late, the vessel will be aglow with mirror balls and multi-sensory installations. We shall have dancefloor delights provided by DJ LEXXI, turning the club into a luminous playground. It is a chance to see the vessel not just as a club, but as a beacon of light and hidden sound. Do come along.
Tune In and Visit
The installations are being set up now. Once the switch is thrown, you can listen to the basin wake up from anywhere in the world (or right here on the dockside) via the link below.
Listen to the Live Stream Here (Please Note: The line is currently silent. The stream goes live this coming Monday. Do check back then.)
For full details on the event, please visit the event website.
Important Club Dates: While we prepare to become ecological witnesses to these shifting waterscapes, please note that the club will be closed on the 21st and the 24th.
Come down to the harbour. Speak into the water, admire the lights, and see if the ship remembers what you said.