This year, due to the Covid situation, the Festival of Lights is canceled. A solidarity event for healthcare workers is taking place instead and will be displayed live, on Tuesday 8th December from 5.30pm. To watch it please click on this link
What is the Festival of Lights?
Combining popular traditions with technological innovations, the Festival of Lights (Fête des Lumières) is a major event in Lyon!
Each year, in the creative hub that is Lyon, young lighting designers are invited to create their installations, which are then exported around the world. A totally unique concept!
Immerse yourself in this major celebration that is free and open to all!
It promises strong emotions, poetry and spectacular magic, with a number of routes to take you across the city.
How did it start?
The origins of the Fête des Lumières go back to the inauguration of the gilded statue of the Virgin Mary on Fourvière hill. The inauguration was initially scheduled to take place on the 8th of September 1852, but was delayed until the 8th of December when the Saône river broke its banks and flooded the workshop of the sculptor Joseph-Hugues Fabisch.
When the big day arrived, heavy rains threatened the planned illuminations, but as evening came the skies cleared and the locals spontaneously placed small lanterns (known as ‘lumignons’) on their window sills – the ‘Fête des Illuminations’ was born!
This tradition has lived on and every 8th of December, the people of Lyon light up their windows and walk in the streets to admire their beautifully lit up city.
In 1999, the 8th of December became the ‘Fête des Lumières’ that we know and love. It now lasts for four days and attracts visitors from all over the world.
Did you know ?
If you see little candles lit up on your neighbors’ windows on the 8th of December, they might be from Lyon!
It is a bit like our local Diwali 
Check out the previous light festivals on this website: https://www.fetedeslumieres.lyon.fr/fr