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It will look a little like the world’s biggest lightsabre.

But Emley Moor TV mast , one of Yorkshire’s most iconic features, is to get the Star Wars treatment as part of an illuminating invite to the Tour de France.

The Arqiva Tower at Emley Moor along with the Victoria Tower on Castle Hill, Huddersfield, are both to be lit up later this week.

How Emley Moor TV mast could look in the light show planned for this week
How Emley Moor TV mast could look in the light show planned for this week

When it is lit up as part of the grand finale of The Yorkshire Festival - Hypervelocity - on Friday and Saturday it will be the first time that the TV tower has been fully illuminated and it should be visible from miles around.

And organisers of the event are encouraging the public to get involved. From around 9.30pm on Friday and Saturday night, everyone can get involved by tweeting #lightthemast to @kirkleesevents with their chosen colours; if their colours are chosen then they will get a tweet back telling them when to look out for their colours appearing on the skyline.

Not only will tower spotters be able to change the colour of the mast they can also change the colour of the control room and a specially installed laser, which will be beaming from the top.

The Luke Skywalker behind the control is Huddersfield’s James Bawn from A.C. Entertainment Technologies Ltd based in Leeds.

He said: “It has been a real pleasure to be involved in this exciting project and I am looking forward to finding out just how creative the people of Yorkshire are with their colour combinations. I have a few surprise effects up my sleeve so it’s sure to be a great show.”

Click below to see our gallery of Emley Moor mast down the years.

 

The Victoria Tower at Castle Hill will also be illuminated from Wednesday to Friday.

Hypervelocity is the grand finale of the 100-Day Yorkshire Festival, and runs from Wednesday, July 2, to Sunday, July 6.

The excitement begins on Wednesday morning with the unveiling of the Yorkshire Festival’s biggest secret in St George’s Square.

St Peter’s Gardens will feature the artwork from the three ‘Plant-Life-Cycle’ artists in residence from Dewsbury Country Park and the willow cycling family created by local schools and community groups with the support of artist Carole Beavis.

The weekend will also see Huddersfield play host to some of Europe’s finest street performers as over 30 acts take to the town’s streets.

Clr Jean Calvert, of Kirklees Cabinet, said: “Hypervelocity is set to become a fantastic summer festival and lighting up the mast is a great way for people to get involved.”

“We know that it can be seen from Sheffield in South Yorkshire to Bramham in North Leeds and more locally from Slaithwaite, Batley and Heckmondwike as well as Wakefield and further afield. I would encourage everyone who can see it to stay up a bit later to experience the incredible lighting effects.”

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