Copenhagen Light Festival Defies Ice and Bitter Cold

Copenhagen Light Festival Defies Ice and Bitter Cold

Copenhagen

Denmark
1.1. 2026
Length: 07:40
Credit: Copenhagen Light Festival
Free copyright on all platforms

STORY

Copenhagen is being illuminated in temperatures as low as minus 3°C as Copenhagen Light Festival presents more than 45 artistic light installations across the city during its three-week winter programme – to light up the hard, cold and dark month of February.

There is no other known light festival in the world that presents 45+ curated light art installations, outdoors, in mid-winter conditions, over a continuous three-week period.

Even the Danish Parliament is taking part, hosting World Curtain Fall II as one of the festival’s works. Several installations are open not only in the evening but also during the early morning hours. Between 6:30 and 8:00 a.m., commuters on their way to work are offered a brief pause from routine, surrounded by light and art.

One of the most striking works is Waterfall by artist Arthur van der Zaag (Netherlands/Denmark), installed across the canal from Parliament. Water is pumped upward to form a vertical wall onto which shifting colours of light are projected.
Sub-zero temperatures have gradually turned the surrounding pavement into ice, creating large icicles that have become a popular social-media attraction.

The festival can be experienced on foot, by running, cycling, boat in the city – but this year also by Metro, with routes connecting installations across the city. Many works are placed in local communities, which have embraced the lights- where they live – during the cold, dark winter.

This year’s programme is united through several works under the theme of peace in Europe, presented under the working title Imagine Peace.

Several major projectors light up the sky and winterclouds. At Vester Churchyard, a cemetery with soldiers lost in past wars from all religions are a 400-metre-long installation depicting walking refugees from many wars by Alexander Reichstein (Finland).
On Pallets are projected powerful personal words about peace collected from people of all ages around Europa – made by Visualia from Croatia.

A major installation is also featured at Mariakirken by Germany Claudia Reh. The church’s priest, Lise Rasmussen, says the light complements the church and symbolises light overcoming darkness, both in wintertime and in life.

Further works addressing peace appear as projections at the National Museum of Denmark and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, as well as inside Maria Church.
These works focus on personal stories and reflections, including workshops involving refugees, people affected by war, and participants both young and old.

Large-scale projections also appear on prominent buildings, including Maersk’s waterfront headquarters, the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters opposite Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Eigtveds Pakhus, which hosts a work addressing the war in Ukraine.

The festival includes guided tours that encourage social interaction, which 26-year-old Camilla Daugaard said help create a sense of social community. It also features a family- and friends-oriented treasure hunt, encouraging visitors to find 10 light installations and receive a warm drink. Organisers also say the festival will host the world’s largest art light run, with participants dressed in illuminated chains linking installations across the city.

The festival runs until February 22 and marks its ninth edition.

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SHOTLIST

CURTAIN CALL II by Båll & Brand (dk)
TETRA WITH CURTAIN CALL II IN BACKGROUND
THE WAVE, by Vertigo (DK)
Sideview of THE WAVE, by Vertigo (DK)
Walking through THE WAVE, by Vertigo (DK)
CLOSE UP OF BÅD, BY HANS E. MADSEN (DK)
BÅD, BY HANS E. MADSEN (DK)
WATERFALL, by Arthur van der Zaag (NL)
WATERFALL, by Arthur van der Zaag (NL)
SOUNDBITE Arthur van der zaag:
“Because we used the water it gets into a kind of water spray. You get a very three dimensional effect, and the wind also plays part in installation in that way, that the installation looks different every time. But I think it’s the colors and the depth that gives this kind of magnificence feeling about the installation.”
WATERFALL, by Arthur van der Zaag (NL) cont
waterfall, by Arthur van der Zaag (NL)
WATERFALL, by Arthur van der Zaag (NL)
SOUNDBITE Arthur van der zaag soundbites end
“It’s difficult to work in the cold. It’s too cold. It’s really, really cold in Copenhagen. Oh, you’re standing here and programming at the people working there. So every now and then I’m just running back and forth.”
CURTAIN CALL II
CURTAIN CALL II
BRO MED LYS, mangler titel
TALE OF TWISTED TAILS, by Mads Vegas (DK)
DISPLACED, by Alexander Reichstein (FIN)
DISPLACED, by Alexander Reichstein (FIN)
PALLETS by Visualia Group. Imagine Peace
Church of Maria illunition Fractions by Claudia Reh
SOUNDBITE Lise Rasmussen, Priest (Protestant):
“It’s you have to get used to it because it’s a little bit darker than normal, but it’s actually really, really nice because it gives such a special atmosphere. And to me, we are in the dark times, during the winter time. And also it’s the time where we wait for, Easter. So, in that sense there’s a lot of theology that we can preach into this light festival.”
Church of Maria illunition Fractions by Claudia Reh
SOUNDBITE Lise Rasmussen, Priest (Protestant)
“The light shines and the darkness doesn’t. It doesn’t, overtake it. But the lights maintain and stay. Stay is a strong energy and power. That’s, that’s, lights us up so that, the darkness would never be the last word. And in that sense, it makes. It’s very nice to have this work here.”
IDLE TIME, by Marcus Lyall (UK) on Maersk Headquarters
IDLE TIME, by Marcus Lyall (UK) on Maersk Headquarters
CANAL BOAT TOUR WITH GREEN BEAM IN THE DISTANCE
SENTINEL, Studio Vertigo (UK)
TETRA, MANI NIKDEL (IRAN)
OVERGROWN (NL)
WALKING TOWARDS PEACE by Eva Esmann Behrens. (DK). Imagine Peace lightwork

OUT OF TOWN by Jacob Tue Larsen – Denmark
ReFLECT byArthur Steijn & co. (DK& NL).
Creative Development: Frederik Lauenborg (DK)
LOOP TROPE by Calidos – Catalonia
VOX-POP Camilla Daugaard, 26. Visitor – physical training
“I think this was very fun and very pretty. And you get to walk and see the live. But also the whole community. You are with other people who know you speak with other people and get a social life and can you really connect to social media and just have a good time together to, watch a light and maybe meet again in the future? So I think it was a very first year experience at this, and it’s definitely not going to be the last. So I’m happy to be be joining the light festival again.”
People dancing inside LOOP TROPE by Calidos – Catalonia
GETTIN’ LOST IN BLUESCAPES (estland)
Brocken, Yasuhiro Chida (JAP) / ARTshifters
THE FRAGMENTS by Sedemminut – Slovakiet
VAULTS OF SILENCE – IN PURSUIT OF LIGHT by Eliska Kovacikova – Slovakiet
OPLYSNING by Kerneydelsen (dk)
Lost and found in times of war by akob Fälling & Ole Samsøe – Denmark on
Ministry of Foriegn Affairs – About Ukraine
BEAM REACH by Pavla Beranová (czech republic)
THE SCIENTIFIC COLLECTIONS (The Carlsberg Foundation) by MAGNUS PIND (DK)
THE SCIENTIFIC COLLECTIONS (The Carlsberg Foundation) by MAGNUS PIND (DK)
TETRA by Mani Nikdel (Iran)
THE WAVE, by Vertigo (DK)
THE WAVE, by Vertigo (DK)

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Links
Website Copenhagen Light Festival
https://copenhagenlightfestival.org/en/