ESSEN LIGHT FESTIVAL – opens as 2nd biggest in Germany

ESSEN LIGHT FESTIVAL - opens as 2nd biggest in Germany

Essen Light Festival celebrates its 10th anniversary and has become
Germany’s second-largest light festival.

More than 400,000 visitors are expected to experience 16 international light installations across the city center.

Highlights include Fractions by artist Claudia Reh under the theme Imagine Peace, the installation House of Cards, and a large club party at Kennedyplatz.
The festival connects art, culture, and the industrial heritage of the Ruhr region — and runs until October 12, 2025.

Essen
Germany

October 2, 2025

Length: 5.45 
(+ German soundbites in links after shotlist)
Producer: Anders Kongshaug+45 23103058

Source: Essen Light festival & Imagine Peace
All access – free copyright on all platforms

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STORY

Essen Light Festival is now the second-largest light festival in Germany with more than 400.000 people attending over the next week until it ends the 12th.of October.
This year, the festival marks its 10th anniversary and centering on the theme peace in Europe.
To celebrate these milestones, some of the best installations from past editions has returned.

Among them is Evanescent — the soap-bubble-like installation by Sydney-based Atelier Sisu, reminding us of the fragility of life.
Another favorite, House of Cards, first presented in 2009, is also back.
Its 127 oversized playing cards are stacked into a house of cards — a playful but fragile structure chosen by audiences to return.
The work is designed by Israeli duo Merav Eitan and Gaston Zahr, who describe it as a metaphor for the constant risk of collapse.

Florian Hecker, Head of Communications for the City of Essen, says the festival is proud to host an international group of artists whose works carry strong messages of peace.

This year also sees a world premiere by Claudia Reh: Fractions, created under the theme “Imagine Peace.”
The installation projects fragments left behind by war, drawn from archival teaching materials.
 During the festival, visitors can add their own seleted fragments — expressing what peace means to them — to form a collective projection on the city walls.

For Claudia Reh, peace means: “to have children, to play, to be in love with my boyfriend. Peace is a kiss.”
 And for the festival as a whole, it is a chance to create art about peace in Europe.
 “Everybody can come and create their own kind of art as well. It all mixes together. And for me, this is a beautiful thing,” says Florian Hecker.

The city of Essen itself carries layers of history. Once a steel and weapons production center in the Ruhr district, several important buildings still stand — and are woven into the light festival.
At Essen Cathedral, artist Hannes Neumann projects collapsing and reappearing stones and vaults.
At the old Colosseum steel factory from 1900, light installations echo the sounds of machinery, the applause of theater, and the fresh ideas of the new generation.

Another highlight is Pallets with Words of Peace.
 The words were collected through schools with young people and workshops with older generations, who were asked: “What is peace for you?”
 Five European cities work together gathering 25 words each. Artist Marko Bolković from Pula, Croatia, selected words like “harmony,” “quietness,” and “trust” — displayed in the languages of each country.
 The pallets will now tour the five cities, that are Copenhagen, Brixen, Pula, and Oslo.

The Pallet installation is also designed to be sustainable, with minimal waste during its tour.
The pallets are sourced and set up locally in each city — eliminating the need for transportation.

In total, 17 installations have been placed in the both the city center and hidden corners of the city such as metro stations and shops — bringing art into of the city, which is warmly welcomed by visitors.

The Essen Light Festival began ten years ago with only a handful of installations.
 Today, it features large-scale projections and major artworks — making Essen, with just 600,000 inhabitants, one of the ten largest light festivals in Europe.

Essen lies in the heart of Germany’s Ruhr district — once the industrial core of the nation.
 The city was known for steel, coal, and weapons production throughout much of the 20th century.
 Today, Essen has transformed into a city of culture and light — yet it remains home to some of Europe’s leading companies in steel, chemicals, and energy.

The Essen Light Festival runs all week until October 12th.
End

SHOTLIST

  • Drone of Techno club party on Kennedyplatz,
    (Platz der Wünsche, MO2 Design, Lupixx, MOGUAI)
  • Crowd shot of tower in the middle of Kennedyplatz 
    (Platz der Wünsche, MO2 Design, Lupixx, MOGUAI)
  • Tracking shot through crowd at Kennedyplatz
    (Platz der Wünsche, MO2 Design, Lupixx, MOGUAI)
  • People in front of bubbles (Evanescent, Atelier Sisu)
  • Pictures is taken of couple in front of bubbles (Evanescent, Atelier Sisu)
  • Total of bubble sculptures  (Evanescent, Atelier Sisu)
  • Drone shot of bubbles (Evanescent, Atelier Sisu)
  • Crowd in front of House of Cards (House of Cards, OGE Design Group)
  • Close up of guests looking at House of Cards (House of Cards, OGE Design Group)
  • SOUNDBITE Florian Hecker, Head of Communications, Essen:
    “I think a good thing about the Essen light Festival is that it’s pretty international. And many cultures come together. They mix in, in the form of art. It’s about peace. It’s about harmony, light coming together. And this is what peace is all about. Coming together, not confronting each other. And I think this is a thing which the Essen light Festival does very well for ten years now.”
  • Total of House of Cards (House of Cards, OGE Design Group)
  • Sign with Essen light festival and projection in background (Fractions, Claudia Reh)
  • Total of projection on building (Fractions, Claudia Reh)
  • Artist, Cladia, working with analogue projectors (Fractions, Claudia Reh)
  • Soundbite Claudia Reh, Light work artist:
    “​​Peace for me is the freedom to make a light installation. Like this piece for me is to have children, to play. To be in love with my boyfriend. Peace is a kiss, yeah I think, a kiss. Because I think in a war, people are not kissing.. I think if you want to have one word, peace is a kiss.”
  • Shot from behind Claudia Reh working on installation (Fractions, Claudia Reh)
  • Guests try out the installation (Fractions, Claudia Reh)
  • A key is placed on the overhead projector (Fractions, Claudia Reh)
  • Projection showing the key on the building (Fractions, Claudia Reh)
  • SOUNDBITE Florian Hecker, Head of Communications, Essen:
    “She has her artwork, which is, which is an artwork made about this sort of peace in Europe. But everybody can come and create his own kind of art as well. So it mixes together. And then we have this kind of working together. And this for me is a beautiful, beautiful thing. And this for me is this kind of piece working together and not against each other.”
  • Drone showing projection mapping on building (Dom-O-Poly, Hannes Neumann)
  • People looking and filming the artwork (Dom-O-Poly, Hannes Neumann)
  • Old steel building from 1900 Colosseum with large letters projected on it (Von Schicht zu Schicht, Sigrid Sandmann)
  • Stack of Europellets with words projected on it (Pallets, Visualia Group)
  • Soundbites Marko Bolković, light artist. Pula, Croatia:
    “The idea with this project was to do some installation that you can come to any city, borrow pallets, build them up, do the installation on them, and take them down and give it back. Zero waste. No material wasted. So we managed to do that. And with these letters, the words are “what is peace” for you. So we asked people in different countries what is peace for you, And it’s written right here.”
  • Close up of words on pallets (Pallets, Visualia Group)
  • Artwork at station (Schief + Akkurat)
  • Artwork inside with candles in front (Licht & Segen – Atonitry, Holger Hagedorn)
  • Group standing in front of tree (Tree of Wishes, Richard Röhrhoff, Essen | Music: Olaf Oebels, Dortmund)
  • Soundbite Gordon Freundlieb, visitor:
    “Well it’s amazing. I mean, some of my first time, it’s like my third times, but every year it’s just, I know something new to discover. It’s the city is lit up. Music is good, people are great. And I mean, it’s just a great atmosphere.”
  • Drone of building with scaffolding with lights (Under Construction 2, Dennis Nolda, Daniel Kurniczak)
  • Person taking picture of building (Under Construction 2, Dennis Nolda, Daniel Kurniczak)
  • Soundbite Burcu Güldali, visitor
    “I really enjoyed being at the Light Festival in Essen because it’s so, so great. I took a lot of pictures and posted that online and everyone liked them. It was so great. As well as I very, very loved that I could interact with the illustrations. For example, go inside huge bubbles and take pictures with my friends. It was very, very awesome.”
  • Drone of light pillars (Super Magic Stone Circle, Daniel Kurniczak, Sebastian Preukschars, Dennis Nolda)
  • People standing close to the pillars (Super Magic Stone Circle, Daniel Kurniczak, Sebastian Preukschars, Dennis Nolda)
  • Total of crowd at pillars (Super Magic Stone Circle, Daniel Kurniczak, Sebastian Preukschars, Dennis Nolda)
  • SOUNDBITE Florian Hecker, Head of Communications, Essen:
    “The Essen Light Festival has grown pretty much. We started with just ten installations, ten years ago, and now it’s about 17 installations and 400,000 visitors. So, it’s pretty big. It’s the second biggest light festival in Germany. And, yeah, we were pretty proud of it.
  • People dancing at Kennedy Platz (Platz der Wünsche, MO2 Design, Lupixx, MOGUAI)
  • Tower in Kennedy Platz shines light at crowd (Platz der Wünsche, MO2 Design, Lupixx, MOGUAI)
  • Total shot of Kennedy Platz with lights (Platz der Wünsche, MO2 Design, Lupixx, MOGUAI)

END

GERMAN DUB SHEET & TRANSLATION :

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YPbqzl5Q-ws-qmQmiQRYwxIPNNhZKYqsuQBOh1MyI1Q/edit?usp=sharing

German soundbites/Deutsche O-Töne:

Florian Hecker, Head of Communications (DE) – https://vimeo.com/vnrtv/review/1124182185/3d4d147988

Claudia Reh (DE), artist: – https://vimeo.com/vnrtv/review/1124182136/dfadbd1e67

Vox-pop:
Gordon Freundlieb (DE), visitor – https://vimeo.com/vnrtv/review/1124183265/6dc0203cdd

Burcu Güldali (DE), visitor – https://vimeo.com/vnrtv/review/1124182059/a0fe9f721a

Links

Essen Light Festival
https://www.visitessen.de/essentourismus_veranstaltungen/essen_light_festival/
spielorte_2025/elf_fractions.en.html