AN ENLIGHTENING new event for the Ilkley Summer Festival attracted crowds and was a great success, say organisers.

The Edwardian Splendour Son et Lumiere on Saturday evening lit up Mill Ghyll with a computer-controlled light show and illuminations which had been in place at the leafy parkland all week.

But the finale on Saturday also featured performers in spectacular dress, 'living statue' mime artists and an accompaniment from a clarinet trio, a strong quartet and a harpist.

Visitors were invited to don costume or a carnival mask to immerse themselves in the atmosphere. The event succeeded in its aim to bring alive the wooded ravine, which is part-way through a major revamp by Bradford Council, taking a nostalgic look back to the spectacle of the Ghyll's early days as a public park. Mill Ghyll was a major focal point for the Ilkley community and was decorated with lanterns to celebrate special occasions.

Festival director, Councillor Anne Hawkesworth, said she met with queues of people waiting to get into Mill Ghyll as she left the talk by RHS Harlow Carr curator Matthew Wilson at the Winter Garden, shortly before the Son et Lumiere began.

"It was absolutely phenomenal," she said. "The rest of the Ghyll was completely full as well, we're talking about big numbers."

She said she hopes future events will be possible in Mill Ghyll again, although this year's spectacular received a large external grant.

Many people also enjoyed the illuminations in Mill Ghyll in the week leading up to the Son et Lumiere finale.