Art is an essential driving force that inspires urban leaders to develop their city and to deliver diversity and identity of the city.
Within LUCI, we look at both permanent and temporary creative lighting in cities. Light festivals represent a significant cultural ecosystem: 40 LUCI members organise, are involved in or host light festivals, from established to emerging ones, and every step in between.
The LUCI Light Festival Working Group has become a platform for decision-makers to discuss current topics and trends and think about the future of light festivals.
At LUCI, we believe that light festivals can be important tools to promote art and culture in cities, boosting the local economy and activating public spaces and transform the way we live and experience our cities at night.
Created in: 2021
Led by: City of Lyon and Glow
Main objectives
As light festivals continue to grow and expand worldwide, city representatives and festival organisers are attentive to the fact that these kinds of events also have major ecological repercussions with large flows of people and the environmental impacts in terms of mobility, production, catering, energy, etc. Through various conversations in working group meetings, light festival organisers have identified the next major challenge for these kinds of events: how can light festivals remain attractive, inclusive and festive moments while also being much more sustainable?
Working Group activities
The Light Festival Working Group gathers 20 light festivals to share updates on current strategies to address sustainability issues in their events as well as discuss the challenges in implementing solutions.
2025
- The Working Group met in person in December during the Lyon Creative Lighting Forum. A first-of-its-kind city-to-city dialogue opened the session with a shared call for collective action to clearly demonstrate why light festivals matter.
Participants highlighted that the value of light festivals extends far beyond direct economic returns. Light festivals strengthen community pride, reinforce a sense of place, foster cultural identity, and enhance the overall image and attractiveness of cities. At a time when light festivals and artistic interventions are increasingly questioned or constrained due to budget cuts and economic pressures at local, national, and international levels, these broader social and cultural impacts are essential to articulate.
By highlighting these dimensions, participants underlined the importance of positioning light festivals as meaningful and essential investments in community wellbeing and long-term placemaking.
In the second part of the meeting, several festivals shared insights into their activities and future ambitions, including GLOW – Eindhoven, Bright – Brussels, and the City of Seoul, which presented its approach to media art in the public realm.
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In June, the online Working Group meeting featured discussions on environmental impact assessments and exchanges between light festivals, with presentations from new LUCI members and a deep dive into the Leipzig Festival of Light. The main question explored was: “How can light festivals contribute to social and environmental change, while addressing creative and sustainability challenges?”
2024
- During the December meeting held at the Lyon Light Festival Forum, in conjunction with the world-renowned Fêtes des Lumières, discussions focused on making light festivals more meaningful and sustainable. Key topics included:
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Sustainable ways for light art to travel
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International festival collaboration: artist exchanges and minimising the impact of long-distance travel
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Supporting artists in the application and conception phases of their work
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Implementing CO₂ calculators and expanding environmental impact assessments (waste, accessibility, etc.)
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Inclusivity in festivals and ensuring gender equity
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Promoting respectful behaviour at festivals
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On-site information and help desks addressing security, racism, and gender-based harassment issues
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Staff training on security, racism, and gender harassment
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In October, during the LUCI Asia Urban Lighting Workshop 2024, themed “Fun Light, Fun City”, LUCI member GLOW — the light festival from Eindhoven — together with Vivid Sydney, shared insights into their festivals, offering a unique behind-the-scenes look at the artistry behind these major events.
Participants also discovered inspiring examples of light festivals in South Korea and Japan. In addition, LUCI visited the Seoul Hangang Bitseom Light Festival, where the city showcased how it transforms public spaces into vibrant, joyful experiences for residents.
2023
- In June and December, the Light Festival Working Group gathered 20 light festivals to share updates on current strategies to address sustainability issues in their events as well as discuss the challenges in implementing solutions
- During the Annual General Meeting in Jyväskylä (March 2023), participants were inspired with a keynote by light artist Kari Kola where participants were reminded how light art is a powerful medium to reveal the beauty and character of any site.
- During the LUCI Asia Urban Lighting Workshop 2023, art director Jinhee Choi presented about the first Seoul Hangang Bitseom light festival and how the city worked with artists to transform public spaces.
- Turin’s Luci d’artista light festival was front and centre during the LAiPS International Final Conference “Bringing Life to Public Spaces with Light Art” (November) where participants learned about Turin’s permanent light art collection and experienced the festival first-hand.
- The “Beacon of Hope” international light art co-creation launched in 2022 continued its journey in 2023 to be adapted to the local context of light festivals in Leipzig, back to Eindhoven, and Brussels.
- The Lyon Light Festival Forum 2023 featured conversations, roundtables and pecha-kucha sessions with a focus on creative angles to imagine the city of tomorrow.
