The final preparations are underway for a spectacular light show and bell-ringing event to mark the launch of Cambridge University’s 800th Anniversary year, tomorrow (January 17).

A specially-commissioned piece of light art will be projected on to the Senate House and Old Schools from January 17-19 featuring iconic images from Cambridge’s history and stunning illustrations by Quentin Blake.

And on Saturday evening, the light display will coincide with a worldwide bell-ringing event.
Four churches in central Cambridge: Great St Mary’s, St Bene’t’s, St Edward King and Martyr and St Andrew the Great, will all ring a new work for bells composed for the occasion by Clare College alumnus Phil Earis.

The sound of bells celebrating the University's octocentenary will also reverberate across the world as churches from the United States of America to Australia mark the occasion.

Meanwhile, the light show has been produced by world-renowned light artist Ross Ashton.
He said: “I am very excited to be involved with this opening event for the year of celebrations surrounding the 800th Anniversary of the University of Cambridge” said Ashton.

“The ideas, concepts and inventions that have flowed from Cambridge have changed the world. I intend to give the viewer a glimpse of the depth and breadth of this incredible body of work and to show that this same innovative genius will continue to shape our world in the future.”

Ashton has worked on large-scale projections across enormous surfaces. These have included a mountain in Oman and New Year’s Eve celebrations in London, as well as The Queen’s Golden Jubilee at Buckingham Palace and the Edinburgh Tattoo.

A special feature of the light show will be the work of renowned illustrator and Downing College alumnus Quentin Blake. Mr Blake has produced brand new drawings of two of the University’s most famous alumni, Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin.

Blake, one of Britain’s best-loved illustrators, has illustrated more than 300 books by writers including Michael Rosen, John Yeoman (another Downing alumnus) and, most famously, Roald Dahl. He has also written and illustrated his own children’s books, creating characters such as Mr Magnolia, Mrs Armitage and Clown, as well as illustrating classic books for adults.

The celebrations on Saturday will begin at 7.15pm in Senate House Yard, when Mr Blake and Susie Fowler-Watt, BBC Look East presenter and Cambridge alumna, will help launch the worldwide bell ringing event.

All Church of England bishops have been asked to have churches in their diocese ring their bells along with the University. A number of churches and bell-ringing groups in England have already agreed to take part, including groups in Cheshire, York, Hexham, and even Lincoln College, Oxford.

The Anniversary has also garnered interest from the ringing community worldwide. St Paul’s Cathedral in Melbourne and Trinity Church on Wall Street in New York City will both be ringing their bells on Saturday.

Meanwhile, a Judge Business School applicant in Costa Rica has offered to clatter kitchen utensils in his neighbourhood if he cannot find a suitable substitute.

The Vice-Chancellor, on her second visit to India, has received expressions of interest from St Paul's Cathedral, Kolkata, Sacred Heart Cathedral and St James' Church in New Delhi, St Mark’s Cathedral in Bangalore and a bell ringing group in Hong Kong.

Churches, college chapels and alumni groups worldwide are invited to participate. Encourage your local bell-ringing community to get involved and help celebrate this landmark occasion.
 

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