Lyon Fete des Lumieries [Festival of Lights] 2014

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Every year on the 8th of December and the nearest weekend Lyon, France hosts a very special and totally amazing light festival.  
It's formally known as the Fete des Lumeries and it is in celebration of the Virgin Mary.  It dates back to 1643 and the plague hit Lyon, as the town was saved they thank Mary for it every year.  
lyon fete des lumieries festival of light liquidgrain liquid grain france

It's super busy and exciting, where 4 million visitors descend on Lyon for the lights.  This means that the city is busy and can be a bit hectic so be warned!  

My friends had warned me about how busy it can get so we tactically planned our visit to the light on Sunday at 8pm.  This way we managed to miss most of the crowds, it was busy but not crazily packed which was good. So I would definitely check it out on a Sunday if you can. 

lyon fete des lumieries festival of light liquidgrain liquid grain france

The 8th is always the busiest night because that's when everyone puts candles on their windowsills, which gave it a really special and festive feeling! 

Be warned this is a picture heavy post and apologies if you have already suffered my Instagram and Twitter spam!
 
lyon fete des lumieries festival of light liquidgrain liquid grain france

We started the night by going on the Lyon City Boat, which cost 10EUR.  The boat trip lasted for about 45 minutes and took us up the River Saone to see some of the lights in Old Lyon and along the river.  This was really fun to be on a boat and see what we did see BUT you don't get to see that much - be warned.  But for 10EUR I think it was good fun and worth it. 
lyon fete des lumieries festival of light liquidgrain liquid grain france

After that we headed into town and walked up towards Bellecour where a lovely story was told on the massive Ferris Wheel and surrounding buildings.  It was such a well produced story, taking us all around the world with music to match. 
lyon fete des lumieries festival of light liquidgrain liquid grain france
lyon fete des lumieries festival of light liquidgrain liquid grain france

Then we wandered up Rue de la Republique  and happened upon a giant baby's nursery- which was a really chill and cool concept. 
lyon fete des lumieries festival of light liquidgrain liquid grain france
lyon fete des lumieries festival of light liquidgrain liquid grain france
Then Place des Terreaux where very impressive dance routines and animations were projected around the square - seriously amazing! 
lyon fete des lumieries festival of light liquidgrain liquid grain france
lyon fete des lumieries festival of light liquidgrain liquid grain france
lyon fete des lumieries festival of light liquidgrain liquid grain france
lyon fete des lumieries festival of light liquidgrain liquid grain france
lyon fete des lumieries festival of light liquidgrain liquid grain france
lyon fete des lumieries festival of light liquidgrain liquid grain france

Then we walked through a building to get to the Opera House and we found was my favourite exhibition- loads of glass pillars filled with white feathers and blue lights.  Air was fed through the pillars to make them dance and spin to music and lights- amazing! 


lyon fete des lumieries festival of light liquidgrain liquid grain france
Next up was the Opera House at Hotel de Ville where an amazing animation was played out- very kid friendly and it had everyone laughing and clapping along with the cosy eskimos!
lyon fete des lumieries festival of light liquidgrain liquid grain france

Last but not least we hit up Parc de la Tete d'Or, which is the biggest park in the city- I've done a whole post on it here.  This wasn't a light show but more of an installation- giant plastic spheres full of lights and massive flying dragon flies and butterflies!

Overall the Fete des Lumieries was a really special and very Lyonnaise occasion and so much fun!  I would really recommend it! 

In case you hadn't noticed I have started up my Youtube channel again- I'm still finding my feet so be warned.  And I put up a little video about the Fete des Lunieries, let me know if you like it!



The Details:
  • It's super busy be warned! 
  • This means hotels and transport are more expensive so plan well in advance. 
  • BUT public transport around the city tends to be free every evening which means it's really easy to scoot around and see all you want. 

Comments

  1. Cool! Berlin has one too, but I missed it because it was during my midterms :/ I love the little balloons... I bet it was even more beautiful in person!

    belle + compass

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aaw that sucks, Berlin is such a cool city! Yeah it was so nice to walk around!

      Delete

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