By Laine Priestley of 
Iona Church in Port Chalmers has had blue LED lights installed, giving a haunting effect for Matariki. Photo: ODT / Gregor Richardson
High above Port Chalmers, a historic church is turning the night sky bright blue to celebrate Matariki.
Historic Iona Church Restoration Trust committee member Bruce Clark was in the church for about five hours on Monday setting up the lights.
The trust decided to light up the church to celebrate Matariki this Friday.
"We wanted to show how the church can be used in different ways and also give back to the community a bit."
He said it took 30 LED lights to fully illuminate the church.
"When you walk around the church, it's actually glowing on the pathways around the church - some people are saying it looks eerie ... but it's just a blue glow on the windows."
Project leader Bruce Clark tests the effect of the blue lights. Photo: ODT / Gregor Richardson
Last year, the trust illuminated the clock tower and, after the great reception, decided to take it a step further and light the whole church.
Money raised by the cruise ship passengers who visited the church paid for the display, Clark said.
The church would glow blue until Sunday and he hoped it would draw some late-night visitors to Port Chalmers.
People would be able to walk around the church grounds and take photos from outside. However, visitors would not be able to enter the church because of the amount of cabling used for the display.
Any high point around the town was also a great vantage point, he said.
The church lights run on a self-timer and would be on from 5pm to midnight. The clock, however, would stay blue day and night.
This story was first published by the Otago Daily Times.
