In operation since 2014, and with arts-led production company Curated Place at the helm since 2015, Spectra in Aberdeen is described by the latter organisation's director Andy Brydon as 'Scotland's festival of light'. It's a bold claim, considering how much winter illumination festivals have begun to rapidly spread through cities and forests across the land, but Spectra's remit is more specifically artist-driven.

'We've run light events in Reykjavik in Iceland, Torshavn in the Faroe Islands and Manchester,' says Brydon. 'Our brief when we took over was to create new light works for Aberdeen, and also to connect the city to the international light festival networks and to Nordic partners. We have a lot of connections to these nations' art scenes, my wife is Icelandic; we describe ourselves as an arts-led production company, because everybody involved has an arts background, either as makers or curators.'

In 2015, Spectra's centrally located event welcomed 8,000 people; in 2017 that number had grown to 63,000 people, and by the last event in 2018 there were 93,000 visitors. 'This year is a bit different, because Union Terrace Gardens is undergoing a facelift, so we're shifting things around quite significantly,' says Brydon. Sites where work can be found include around Marischal College and Greyfriar's Church, and on the facades of Aberdeen Art Gallery and Marks & Spencer.

Talking inspiration from the fact that 2020 is Scotland's Year of Coasts and Waters, the many international artists showing strikingly eye-catching works this year will include Seb Lee-Delisle's 'Rainbow Laser Flares', which seeks to create a socially and environmentally acceptable alternative to fireworks, and Dodda Maggy's video work, which explores myths of the sea from Britain and Iceland. Mark Anderson will also present an ambitious work featuring flying sound and light units, while the Catalyst Conference 2020 is intended to bring together ideas of how culture can be used in cities across Scotland, the UK and the Nordic Region.

'What makes Spectra work is the drive and willingness for every aspect to be a success,' says Brydon. 'We're not coming in and running it like a commercial event, where we're trying to deliver something 'on' the city. It's very much rooted in the city, it's a festival for Aberdeen. We've run schools programmes and tried to get families along to see their own work alongside those of artists; we've brought artists in to respond to the city itself; and we've got residency projects running, including one with Sara Stroud – who's a filmmaker, and Aberdeen born-and-bred – who is making a collaborative European project in the city of Stavanger, which looks at both cities.'

As of this year, Spectra is beginning a new five-year contract with Aberdeen Council, and this long-term, strategic thinking is what they intend to lay out more of in that time. With a new office – and full-time creative producer Callum Hogg – in the city, the Spectra Festival will become just the eye-catching tip of the iceberg. 'It's about creating skills development opportunities, employment, and really getting embedded in the development of the city,' says Brydon. 'It's not just about creating entertainment, it's about pushing the cultural sector to have more year-round impact. It's ambitious, but we're really looking to change things up.'

Spectra, various venues, Aberdeen, Thu 13 to Sun 16 Feb.