Grant Anderson lights up GlasGLOW with Astera & Ayrton

18th December 2025

Home 5 Astera News 5 Grant Anderson lights up GlasGLOW with Astera & Ayrton

Produced by Itison Events, GlasGLOW has quickly become the UK’s biggest and most exciting Halloween event since its inception in 2018. The trail takes visitors down a beautifully illuminated trail through Glasgow’s Botanic Gardens, complete with a gourmet street food village. We spoke to Grant Anderson, the lighting designer behind the magic…

Can you give an introduction to yourself and your career?

I’ve been with Woodroffe Bassett Design now for over a year and very much enjoying it. I’ve worked on a wide range of projects – some highlights from my portfolio include the Vanity Fair Oscars Party and the Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary. GlasGLOW 2025 was my 6th time lighting this event!

What was your inspiration when lighting this event?

The theme this year was GlasGLOW’s Miles Better, which is a play on an 80s marketing campaign by Glasgow to promote the city as a tourist destination. We drew inspiration from this and all things that make Glasgow great.

What did you enjoy the most about this project?

The project is a 2km walk with 20 zones that are packed with content. I love how dynamic and rich with the whole experience is for guests.

How many NYX Bulbs did you use for this project?

54.

What made the Astera NYX Bulbs the right choice for this project, especially compared to other LED or practical lighting options? How did you use the NYX Bulbs?

We have a huge amount of practical elements made for GlasGLOW. However, it’s great when we can recycle something we’ve used before in a new way, and so we had 50 varying sizes opaque spheres at Black Light and a NYX was the clear choice. In the main show, they acted as subway station stops and in the prologue show they had smiley face vinyls added. Their colour rendering is excellent, and of course the ability to control them wireless is a big plus.

How many Ayrton Perseos and Cobras did you use?

16 Cobra and 24 Perseo.

What made you specify these particular fixtures, and how are these fixtures used within the design? Was there anything about the fixtures that stood out to you?

I spec’d the Cobra for the parallel white beams that act as a calling card across Glasgow that GlasGLOW is back each year. This, combined with the ability to switch into multiple prisms, offers great flexibility. The Perseo spot fixture we selected for its ease to load custom gobos (which we do a lot on GlasGLOW), and the crisp output they produce. Naturally, it goes without saying that their IP rating and reliability in the harsh Scottish climate are a major factor.

GlasGLOW takes place outdoors in challenging Scottish weather, how important was fixture durability and IP rating in your choice of equipment?

Again, the fixture reliability in the Scottish weather is of the utmost importance. We can’t have the team wasting time having to troubleshoot fixtures in the rain! The Perseo and Cobra have always held up well.