STORY

UNESCO´S World architect City is this year is Copenhagen making the Copenhagen Light Festival even bigger than before.

11 white beams shine out from the City tower pointing to unique architectural places in Copenhagen surroundings. 

Light Installations are placed along the water canal in the inner city in the historic areas. 

Copenhagen Light Festival returns with 65 creative light installations in the program for 3 weeks making it the festival with the most installations in Europe, this year.

The festival also has the record of most visitors in Denmark with more than 500.000 guests. The festival is free.

A new element this year is that many light installations are placed in areas around the city, making it necessary to discover new areas in the city that you normally do not visit in your free-time. 

A light treasure hunt has been established, so you get free cacao, coffee or beer, when you have found 25 light installations.

A new area is a cemetery Vestre Kirkegård (West Cemetery) where Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, and others all are buried under the lightwork placed called “The Sunset Garden” by Those Guys.
In an old industrial shipyard area, that now is changed  into a creative business area, you find a tetrahedron creating fire in the lights, called “Platonic” by French Julian Menzel and Francois Gauriaud (FR.

In the inner city stands the Earth made with thousand blue plastic waste items, called Blue Earth by Maj D.

“It’s really cold”, says Copenhagen City architect Camilla van Deurs, “We’re warmed by the light of the light festival in the middle of these dark months.”

Copenhagen Light festival starts in the middle of the coldest period of the winter-times, where temperatures are between 0°C/32F and -10°C/50F, and along the windy oceans down to +20C/68F.

These works can also be seen from the canal boats in Copenhagen, and special light tours are made along the water in the old shipyard. Here lightartist play with blue celestial light phenomena in a collaboration between Anger from Brixen, Italy and Danish international light light-artist Mads Vegas. 

The canal boats see 24 of the works, and are very popular during all of February. Bridged gets lighted up as the boat passes, for instance there are many small mirrors set up in the sky called “Fragments Of Reality” by Alessandro Lupi, Italy.

“Echo” was also set up by artist Julien Menzel (Fr/De) and Francois Gauriaud (FR): 

Francois Gauriaud (FR) explains: “It’s a triangular structure. So you can see on the two sides. It means that it’s a different story from where you are looking from.” says Francois Gauriaud from France and continues: “Light festival is for all the people. You are rich, you are poor, you are young, you are old. You can go and see and look and appreciate everything. And I think it’s a good way to see the arts“.

Lights is now also a study universities in Denmark offer and 6 light installations have been made by students as part of their education.

Visitor Pernille Sander a project leader from Denmark says:

“I think it’s giving a lot to the city. I love the thought that it’s for all of us” and Pernille Sander continues: “I think it’s a great opportunity for guests to experience the city in a different way and a different context.”

Special guided tours are also introduced, where you also dance, taste beer or wine, while seeing the light installations.

“It brings people closer and allows them to understand and listen to the other a bit better”, says Spanish expat and student  Anna Gallen 26 from Spain and continues: “These times can be a bit hard sometimes, to be empathetic. This is a way of, you know, sharing understanding and doubts and concerns with each other in different ways”.

Walking in the parks of Copenhagen appears “Transcending Messages” by Danish theater scenographies and “Dreamcatcher” by Spanish Calido, a creative studio in Barcelona.
Dreamcatchers originate from the Indigenous peoples of North America.

Camilla Van Deurs, City Architect Copenhagen hope light installations will become a part of the city planning all year:

“We learn about how to involve artists in urban planning, how to use lighting and effects to illuminate buildings, to create atmosphere, to create ambiance in a city space. We have to remember those lessons throughout the year.” 

In order to find the lightworks are routes made for walking, running and biking. The routes are between 2 to 9 km. 

Some light works will be on during the morning going to work. 

The festival also includes 12 lightworks, that will be kept on for a longer period of 2023, than the 3 weeks the festival is on, until February 26.

Winter break is part of February and the aim is to offer good experiences during the vacation.

Copenhagen Light Festival has been going on for 6 years, but 4 years ago a new organization made it possible to organize a bigger festival.