Lichtfestival, Ghent’s Festival of Light

Last updated: 25 June 2023

Ghent, Belgium’s third largest city, plays host to Lichtfestival every three years.  Similar to Lumiere in London or Vivid Sydney, this festival of light sees installations erected across the city, encouraging locals and visitors alike to explore and experience everything.

The best bit? Lichtfestival is happening right now in Ghent!

The 6.6km circular route throughout the city has 35 installations spanning from Baudelohof to Sint Pietersplein.

Once medieval Europe’s second largest city, Ghent has a strong artistic vibe. The architecture is elegant and imposing and the perfect canvas for the painting of light and motion.

It’s hard to choose one favourite from the festival so these are my top picks for it.

Time Paradox, by Limelight

This 3D mapping projection illuminated the front of the impressive Saint Peter’s Abbey in the large city square of Sint-Pietersplein. With an impressive display, it takes the audience on a journey where architecture, music and storytelling gets together and explores the paradox of travelling in time.

To the Rescue, by Create

Administratief Centrum Zuid is the canvas for this almost video-game-like installation.  The multi-level installation sees projections of fire engulfing this circular government building. The level of creativity goes one step further with water cannon from the fire engine extinguishing the “fire”.   

Museum of The Moon, by Luke Jerram

As something static, lacking movement, sound and palpability, on paper it’s certainly not the most interesting installation. So you can imagine my surprise when we came around the corner to see this imposing 7m diameter moon suspended over the pedestrian walkway, Kalandeberg, in the city centre.

Incredibly lifelike, the level of detail was absolutely astounding.  I, along with numerous others, had a great time playing with the installation attempting to hold it, reach for it, balance it on your head.  There’s plenty of creative photography possibilities with this one!

Forgotten, by Create

In Ghent, there’s a legend that a dragon lives in the cellar of the Belfry which protected the city. 

Forgotten tells a slightly different tale.  One where the dragon is locked in the cellar of the belfry by the city’s inhabitants for centuries.  After nearly 500 years, the dragon regains its strength, ready to take revenge and to spit fire on the city it once held dear.

Forgotten is a combination of light and sound with projections onto another Government building, the Provinciebestuur Oost-Vlaanderen: Departement Logistiek.

Expect lots of ooo’s and ahhh’s with this one, and maybe the odd squeal.

Keys of Light, by Mr Beam

This installation is my favourite by far. I love interactivity, being able to control the lights at the touch of a … key. Thought I was going to say button, didn’t you?

A piano key no less!

With each note being played on the piano, light is cast onto numerous adjoining buildings along Reep, Bisdomplein.  The more complex or dramatic the piece, the bolder and more frequent is the colour.   At the launch of the Lichtfestival, an extremely talented local child played an incredible classic piece which saw the area brought to life, saturated with colour.   

I only wish I could play the piano because that would have been something very special!

Pattern 5.0, by Milosh Luczynski

Situated at the far end of the route, across the river in Zonder-Naampark lies the thermal power plant Luminus.

In an industrial area with loads of texture and character about it, where many former factory buildings remain, I just know this is going to be the next hip area of Ghent.

For Lichtfestival, the silo tower and the walls are brought to life with images and sounds in a live DJ session by the artist.  Every day Luczynski improvises five hours of audio and video mapping so each experience is unique.  

CTRL+ALT+ESC, by Willem Mertens

Haunting and hypnotic are the best words to describe this installation after the artist won his place at Lichtfestival.

In ctrl+alt+esc, Mertens experiments with the combination of modern dance and lighting for a monochrome display like no other.

Large fire tornado, by Ivo Schoofs

Upon reflection, the name pretty much gives this one away.  

Situated on the water the river Leie, this installation resembles scaffolding wrapped in Cling Wrap. At first we had no idea what to expect until a man in a fire proximity suit started a turbine to create a tornado, add some fire and ta-da! Suddenly a 16m high fire tornado is unfolding right before your very eyes.

De Maanfluisteraars, by Kopergietery

Take a walk under an illuminated sky lined with lamps and bulbs. The air is filled with whispers of dreams, the aspirations of young school aged children which were recorded during workshops at the Kopergietery creative center.

Final Thoughts

Lichtfestival is a fabulous way to explore aspects of Ghent visitors might otherwise overlook.

Spreading out the installations throughout the city is a brilliant idea as well as the suggested one-way route. Managing the crowds by encouraging everyone to go in the same direction keeps the crowds moving and prevents injury and bottlenecks.  The addition of signage and using lights projected onto buildings with directional information is brilliant. Simple yet brilliant.  

Unlike Vivid Sydney which uses iconic landmarks like the Sydney Opera House, I’d have loved to see some of the city’s best known landmarks like Gravensteen castle, the Belfry, St Bavo’s and Saint Nicolas’ used as locations for Lichtfestival. Perhaps that’s something for the next festival in 2021. 

The Essentials |Lichtfestival

• The route and for more information.
• Lichtfestival is a free event in the city of Ghent. No tickets or registration required but due to numerous road closures, public transport is recommended.
• Dates: 31 January 2018 – 04 February 2018
• Cost: Free!