discover the six returning works to attract the crowd

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One month before the Festival of Lights, the City of Lyon unveiled this Tuesday, November 5, 2024 the complete program of what is planned for the event for which millions of visitors are expected from Thursday December 5 to Sunday December 8, 2024.

A 25th edition which will offer 32 illuminationsspread over 28 sites.

Among the works, six have already been presented in recent years. Here are the ones.

The snowball at Place Bellecour

Among the works not to be missed, some will bring back memories to the Lyonnais, with the return of certain successes which made the reputation of the festival.

The first notable return is the new transformation of the statue of Louis XIV, in the middle of Place Bellecour, into a snow globe. In 2006 and then in 2007, the Lyon artist Jacques Rival had already imagined this very successful experience.

“The Sun King, whose statue has been restored, is under his snow dome, directly connected to our time, and in a monumental way! A totem site for tourists and the people of Lyon, Place Bellecour comes alive in magenta and cyan thanks to this bubble of poetry,” notes the City of Lyon, which impatiently awaits the “dance of the snowflakes.”

The evidence of Anookis

These characters, representing Inuit, became the mascots of the Festival of Lights in Lyon. We remember them, in particular, on Place Bellecour in 2018.

But for this 2024 edition, the Anookis leave the Presqu’île to join the Tête d’Or park, “in this natural setting very different from the urban architecture that they love to divert so much! We bet that all generations will come together to share their desire for nature, in this gentle and unifying atmosphere which contributes to their charm,” promises the municipality.

An explosion of colors at Place des Terreaux

In 2008, Place des Terreaux discovered The little giant : “this sleeping child who enjoys projecting his mischievous dreams onto the facades of the Museum of Fine Arts and the Town Hall. Colorful, monumental, swirling, surprising, this fresco captivated the public! », assures the City.

This year 2024, the character of this illumination is “ready to reopen the toy trunk and to take us away again along his wanderings to question us, also, about the place, our place, in this crazy world that poetry and beauty could save” notes the creators: Spectaculaires, les Allumeurs d’Images.

Another new feature at Terreaux this year, the show will only last 9 minutescompared to 12 usually, to allow a better flow of spectators.

The cosmos of Place Antonin-Poncet

Ten years after its presentation in the capital of Gaul, the Laniakea horizon24 installation will be mounted again in Lyon, on Place Antonin-Poncet in the 2nd arrondissement.

A project, led by the Lyon urban lighting department, which should dive into the cosmos. “Its title, as enigmatic as it is enchanting, is borrowed from the Hawaiian language and means “celestial horizon,” explains the municipality, which indicates that it was inspired by the work of the Lyon astrophysicist Hélène Courtois, who mapped the universe.

Concretely, visitors will discover a star map both on the ground, with a Milky Way in suspension made up of 1,000 luminous spheresbut also on the facade of the building on which images of mega-galaxies will be projected.

The Jacobins fountain passes the fourth

The 2024 edition of the FDL will, for a fourth time, invite French artist Patrice Warrener to enhance the monument in the center of Place des Jacobins.

“Jacobins act 4 celebrates one of the historic favorites of the Festival of Lights, which has enchanted generations of spectators. His key word: color, nothing but color! The static work gives time to linger on the magical palette which transforms the whole. The four statues are adorned with rainbow shades. The music is discreet to leave room for beauty,” notes the City.

Enough to do as well, or even better than last year when the illumination was a success?

The traditional stroll rue de la Ré’

Finally, the sixth work which pays homage to the 25th anniversary of the Festival of Lights, it will be possible to rediscover a illuminated route in the rue de la République, still on the Lyon Peninsula.

Named “Winter Paseo”, the illumination is offered in the form of a stroll “marveled under the luminous net staged by the Italians of Faniulo, from Cordeliers to Bellecour”.

The idea is to exploit the perspective of Rue de la République with two settings: » A polychrome crystal sky from Place des Cordeliers to Place de la République; then a gallery of gold, azure and silver arabesques between the Places de la République and Bellecour.”

Find the complete program in our dedicated article.

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