The stories of Selby are set to be projected onto the Abbey in spectacular light installation next year.
Selby Light will return next year from Thursday 26 to Saturday 28 February 2026.
The inaugural Selby Light last year saw over 2,000 people attend the free event. It featured light installation ‘Ancient Futures’ created by Heinrich and Palmer, The Matter of the Heart by idontloveyouanymore that used people’s heartbeats to make art, and a showcase of artwork from Selby College Art and Design students.
The lead artist for the 2026 event has been revealed by organisers today (Friday) to be digital arts company imitating the dog.
Renowned for fusing live performance with digital technology, imitating the dog have been making ground-breaking work for theatres and other spaces for 25 years. The company was selected by a panel featuring organisers and members of the local community following a competitive open-call.
From touring productions to immersive installations, imitating the dog’s work has been seen across the world by hundreds of thousands of people.
The company are producing a brand-new work for Selby Light 2026, which will see a story projected onto the front of the 955-year-old Abbey featuring characters inspired by local residents. Audiences will then be invited inside to continue the experience throughout the building, set to an original music score.
In order to create characters based on people local to Selby, imitating the dog will be running a series of free, fun and creative workshops where people can share their stories of how they, their families or their ancestors arrived in Selby.
They will then be invited to let their imaginations run wild and turn those stories into unique and inventive characters, part-cartoon and part-mythological, which will be animated and projected inside and outside the Abbey.
Ben Mellor, imitating the dog’s creative engagement manager, said: “The workshops will be exciting, creative and very inclusive. They’ll involve a mix of storytelling, creative writing, drawing, collage, digital art and green-screen film-making.
“You don’t need any previous artistic skills to take part though, all you need is yourself, and your story.”
To find out more about the workshops, including details of how to sign up, visit the imitating the dog website or email [email protected].
Selby Light is a co-production between Now Then!, Mediale, and Selby Abbey.
Now Then!, which launched in June 2024, is a creative programme bringing free events and workshops to Selby, Sherburn and Tadcaster, with a particular focus on providing experiences for families and young people.
Funded by Arts Council England, North Yorkshire Council and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, it gives local people more chances to experience the arts, celebrate heritage and come together in shared spaces. The programme is one of the few in the country to have been given a Place Partnership Award from Arts Council England through the National Lottery.
Now Then! creative programme lead, Tess Farley, said: “We are delighted that representatives from our communities and local organisations have chosen imitating the dog for Selby Light 2026. It’s an exciting project that we hope will appeal to people from all walks of life.
“A large-scale event like this not only provides a spectacular experience for communities, but brings in visitors to the area which in turn positively impacts businesses.
“We hope the whole community will get behind this ambitious event and get involved in the workshops too. We can’t wait to see local people and their stories light up Selby.”
