FETE DES LUMIERES – The 21st edition of the Fête des Lumières is in full swing until Saturday 11 December 2021. 21 grandiose installations illuminate the sites of the city of Lyon. Discover the best in photos and in our selection, as well as the health protocol, map, transport and timetables.
[Mis à jour le 10 décembre 2021 à 13h42] The Festival of Lights offers light and magical installations, distributed in the streets and squares of the city of Lyon, but also on the quays of the Saône. 21 intimate, grandiose and all surprising works are revealed in the open. We must not ignore the giant wave of Place Bellecour, the colorful phoenix of Place Pradel, the immense snake and ricochet waves on the surface of the lake at Parc de la Tête d’Or … Discover them in pictures:
The cultural event, which brings together more than a million people, must respect a health protocol decided by the prefect of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and the Rhône department. Wearing a mask is compulsory on public roads, “especially in a context of a dense crowd”, inside a “sanitary perimeter”, of which the peninsula is mainly part, detailed the prefect Pascal Mailhos in press conference. The sale and itinerant consumption of food and drink are prohibited within this perimeter.
In this context, a “barrier-free” restaurant area on the left bank of the Rhône square, which can accommodate up to 1,500 people, is accessible via a sanitary pass. A thousand police and gendarmes, 470 security agents, sound messages, certain signage and mediators all over the city of Lyon are responsible for ensuring that sanitary conditions are respected. Thursday evening, according to the police headquarters, the authorities issued 5 formal notices and an administrative closure.
Among the novelties of this year 2021, two new places are participating in the event: the Sergent Blandan park, entirely dedicated to families, and the artistic creation laboratory of the SUBS, where 20 Watts is set up, a participatory project. The Festival of Lights finds this year an extension in time, with works that last throughout the month of December, but also with meetings and activities after it. Open to everyone, the Festival of Lights is broadcast in virtual reality in 200 nursing homes and retirement homes in France. During this 2021 edition, do not ignore these 6 key places:
- Phoenix : on Place Pradel, a neon phoenix vibrates with multiple bright and changing colors, evoking the magnificent plumages of tropical birds. The sound environment, made up of birdsong recorded in Guyana, transports visitors from the city center to the heart of a tropical forest. Discover the installation creation process.
- The wave : on Place Bellecour at At nightfall, hundreds of scales rise, made up of more than 350 kakemonos in spinnaker canvas, undulating under the breath of a light breeze, rocked by the melodious sound of a flute. Like a wave 80 meters long and 20 meters high, the wave emerges from the ground, floating in a monochrome of luminous hues. A poetic parenthesis.
- IRIS : the installation questions the complexity and the multiplicity of looks and visual translations of the world visible by light in 7 graphic paintings that enhance the facade and the rose window of Saint-Jean Cathedral.
IRIS: creation and conception of the mapping show: AV EXTENDED / Musical creation: Ena Eno & Stéphane Clor (double bass) / Production: Tetro + A © Rights reserved to the City of Lyon, to the designers and producers of the 2021 works - Visions : in the style of the Symbolist painters of the 19th century, a drawing of light projected on the facades represents phantasmagorical flora and fauna which interact with the symbols of the monuments of the historic district of the Fourvière hill. The drawing was done manually on glass slides.
- At Tête d’Or Park, three works pay homage to nature and the elements, to be discovered during a peaceful stroll in the twilight: River (on the tree-lined edge of the banks of the Rhône, large carps swim peacefully above the heads of visitors. The fish, luminous and translucent, come alive to the rhythm of the silvery reflections of their scales), The creature of the lake (Like a gigantic sea serpent, Hydra, a mythical creature living in the park’s lake for millennia, comes out at night to stroll among visitors, her body twisting in the middle of a field of lotus flowers, symbols of sweetness of soul and gentleness) and Ricochets (Visitors are surprised by the appearance of light waves, lines of majestic ricochets that form on its surface. The luminous vibrations unfold with magnitude, reaching up to the treetops of the large trees on the opposite bank. , letting the rich and imposing nature of the park emerge from the darkness).
- The Rabbit in the Moon, a graphic transposition of an Aztec tale on the facades of Place des Terreaux: emerging from the cosmos, the feathered serpent god Quetzalcóalt arrives on Earth, dressed in a human appearance. Hungry and weakened after his exploration, he meets a rabbit, which sacrifices itself so that it can feed. Grateful, Quetzalcóalt donates the rabbit an eternal place in the moon for men to admire and remember his sacrifice and kindness, giving hope to humanity. Since then, every moonlight evening, the rabbit appears on the surface of the night star. This parable, conceived as a true tale, teaches the importance of solidarity and altruism and exalts empathy and compassion between individuals, countries and cultures.
Prime Minister Jean Castex announced Tuesday, December 6 that he wanted “extremely strict rules” for places “where we gather to consume”. The consumption of food products must be able to be done only in a sector where the sanitary pass is required.
Several routes make it easy to observe a maximum of installations, thanks to a map prepared for the occasion. To facilitate your visit and prepare your trips, you can consult the Festival of Lights card available on the official website of the event.
The 2021 edition of the Festival of Lights is taking place from Wednesday 8 to Saturday 11 December 2021. The Festival of Lights traditionally lasts four days.
The Festival of Lights 2021 takes place Wednesday and Thursday from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., then Friday and Saturday from 8 p.m. to midnight.
Lyon is just 2 hours from Paris by TGV. Use this means of transport to get to the Festival of Lights! Simple and fast, you will avoid having to deal with traffic jams on the outskirts of the city. If you absolutely want to come by car, give up the idea of driving in the city center. Car parks are set up on the outskirts of Lyon.
To get to La Fête des Lumières in Lyon, it is advisable to park in the 21 park-and-ride facilities located outside the security perimeter, and open until 1 a.m., since parking will be prohibited from midday in the following streets: rue Edouard Herriot, rue Paul Chenavard, rue de Brest, rue Gasparin, rue Emile Zola, rue des Archers, rue Childebert (from Place des Jacobins to rue de la République), rue Jean de Tournes (from Place des Jacobins to rue de la République), rue Jean Fabre and rue Président Carnot. The peninsula is closed to vehicular traffic on December 8 and 9 from 5:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. and December 10 and 11 from 6:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. The city center of Lyon is affordable on foot. Prefer walking to discover the spectacular activities.
LThe metro runs until 2 a.m. the 4 nights, then the night network (the “Full Moon” lines) takes over until 4 hours. We cannot recommend that you get a ticket enough TCL in celebration, specially designed for the occasion by the Lyonnais Public Transport network. For 3.20 euros a ticket per evening, you can travel freely from 4 p.m. until the end of the service (midnight Thursday, 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday). In addition, on Wednesday December 8, 2021, TCLs are free from 4 p.m. until the end of the service.
Established in 1989, the Festival of Lights has a European scope and brings together more than three million visitors to Lyon. Ask the people of Lyon, most of them feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of their Festival of Lights, which has its origins in the 17th century. In 1643, Lyon, affected by the plague, placed itself under the protection of the Virgin Mary and paid homage to her every September 8. In 1852, the representation of the Virgin Mary from the chapel located on the Fourvière was installed and the date of its celebration moved to December 8, the day of the Immaculate Conception. On the day of the inauguration, a thunderstorm hit Lyon endangering the planned celebrations. Finally, the rain stops and the delighted Lyonnais place candles in their windows. It is this tradition that will last for centuries. Even today, as you walk through the city, you will notice that candles illuminate the facades of Lyon. In 1989, the municipality, under the sponsorship of EDF, added ephemeral light events to this traditional celebration. The Festival of Lights as we know it is launched …