WINCHESTER Cathedral recently threw a silent disco as part of its 'Festival of the Moon', and I was lucky enough to receive an invite.

On Saturday, February 17, the cathedral held two silent discos, one for families, and one for adults. Myself and fellow reporter Mark Paine were given invites to the family event, held from 6pm-7.30pm, and this is what we thought.

What is the Festival of the Moon?

Firstly, a little bit of context for anyone wondering "Why on Earth is there a giant sculpture of the Moon hanging from the ceiling in our cathedral?" - the 'Museum of the Moon' is a national event which has seen a massive sculpture of the Moon travel from place to place to gather new musical compositions and an ongoing collection of personal responses, stories and mythologies as well as highlighting the latest moon science.

Measuring seven metres in diameter, the moon features detailed NASA imagery of the lunar surface. At an approximate scale of 1:500,000 each centimetre of the internal lit spherical sculpture represents 5km of the moon's surface.

@hampshire_chronicle Dancing in the moonlight #winchestercathedral #silentdisco #moon ♬ Dancing in the Moonlight - Toploader

What did I think of it?

Right, now that's out of the way, this is what we made of it.

I'll admit that I had never been to a silent disco prior to this one. As a student, I spent many a night in the club, mingling with the ladies and staggering home after drinking one too many.

I can safely say this event was nothing like that.

In fact, it was arguably better.

After confirming our identities and checking into the venue, we were handed our snazzy hi-vis jackets and brightly lit headphones, offered a drink and got to work.

This night's 'work' consisted of cutting some serious shapes to an hour and a half of old-school garage hits, cheesy tunes and modern anthems in what I would describe as a night of innocent fun.

With three channels of music to choose from, there was something for everyone. My personal favourites were 'Levels' by Avicii, 'Smooth' by Santana and 'Sugar' by Francesco Yates and Robin Schulz.

If you had told me this time last year that I would be in the cathedral, with a beer in my hand while belting out the chorus of 'Rolling in the Deep' by Adele (not to be confused with fellow Chronicle reporter of the same name) then I would have thought you were mad.

It sounds like something out of a fever dream, but it was incredibly fun.

The visuals were beautiful. The moon sculpture hanging from the ceiling was surreal. Vivid disco lights combined with gorgeous Gothic architecture made for one of the most unique experiences of my life. We were quite literally, dancing in the moon light.

Everywhere I looked, there were happy faces, and despite some questionable dance moves, everybody was visibly enjoying themselves.

What about the criticisms?

There will of course be the naysayers, keen to call out an event like this being held in a historic, religious building. In recent weeks, a lot of people have criticised Canterbury Cathedral for hosting a similar event. However, as a Christian myself, I see nothing wrong with this sort of thing.

This was a genuinely fun, and unique event, held in good faith. A sellout event that gave exposure to the place of worship, bringing people in who wouldn't necessarily visit.

I caught up with John Blake, commercial director of Winchester Cathedral, who told the Chronicle: "It's been wonderful to be able to broaden the audience for the local and regional community who wouldn't ordinarily come down and visit the Cathedral.

"The clergy are very happy that we're getting more people to visit, and everything we have done for the moon has sold out."

To summarise, I loved this event.

This was a very well-organised party, with great music, beautiful visuals and such a positive atmosphere. It is no surprise that it was sold out.

Proper innocent fun, and home before bedtime. What's not to love?