Frequently asked questions
The Festival of Lights is a traditional local festival dating back to 1852, when the people of Lyon first placed lighted candles on their windowsills in celebration of the Virgin Mary.
For the past 25 years, the City of Lyon’s teams have been organising a free large-scale community event taking place on four evenings around December 8. The event has grown in popularity, extending far beyond the Rhône and Saone and, every year, some 2 million French and international tourists flock to the streets of Lyon.
What is on the agenda? Every year, public spaces - from the city centre right out to the suburbs - become the playground for mapping and light art specialists producing around thirty different installations on show during the four-day event.
The Fête des Lumières is a free festival, with no admission charge. It is financed by the City of Lyon, with the support of local businesses, who become sponsors of the festival in various ways: by contributing cash, by making a donation in kind or by directly financing a light project. Public partners also help to co-produce and finance certain works of art.
The Festival of Lights runs for four nights around December 8.
In 2024, the light art will on display from Thursday, December 5 to Sunday, December 8 at the following times:
• Thursday, December 5: 7 p.m. - 11 p.m.,
• Friday, December 6: 7 p.m. - 11 p.m.,
• Saturday, December 7: 7 p.m. - 11 p.m.,
• Sunday, December 8: 6 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Any variations in dates or opening times, such as extended opening in December, are directly indicated on the installations in question.
2 special food zones are installed during the festival:
- Place Bellecour (2nd district)
- Parc Blandan (7th district)
Tête d'Or park (6th district):
• General entrance is located at "Porte des enfants du Rhône", Place Général Leclerc.
Blandan park (7th district):
• General entrance is located at this address: 37 rue du Repos
You can find the location of public toilets on the lyon.fr interactive map.
3 supervised toilets (Bellecour, St Jean and République) will be open from 8am to 11.30pm throughout the Fête des Lumières (7, 8, 9 and 10 December).
During the festival, dogs are forbidden to enter Tête d'Or park and Blandan park.
In the city center, in the pedestrian zone, they're allowed except for dogs of categories 1 & 2.
You can consult the Festival of Lights program on the festival website.
Printed copies are available from the Tourist Office, the city centre festival booths, OnlyLyon information points and local shops which belong to the My Presqu'île network.
Festival opening hours of the Tourist Office on place Bellecour: December 5 to 8 from 9am to 10pm.
Festival booths:
- Place Louis Pradel (1st district)
- Place de la République (2nd district)
Opening times:
- Saturday November 30 and Wednesday December 4 from 12pm to 7pm
- From Thursday December 5 to Saturday December 7 from 12pm to 10pm
- Sunday December 8 from 2pm to 8pm
- Place Edouard Commette (Old town, 5th district)
Opening times:
- Saturday November 30 and Wednesday December 4 from 12pm to 7pm
- From Thursday December 5 to Saturday December 7 from 12pm to 6pm
- Sunday December 8: closed
Discover the 7 thematic universes of the 2023 program proposed by the Fête des Lumières team:
- A tribute to Mother Nature
- Family friendly
- Lyon's got talent
- Views from the outside
- Disgressions
- Young creators
- Silver Jubilee
Visitors with a disability can find all the information they need on our dedicated page.
For families with children, check out the Family Friendly selection, specially designed for them.
Rehearsals are intended for Festival of Lights professionals only. The Festival kicks off on Thursday, December 5 at 7 p.m.
The Lumignons du Cœur campaign supports a different charity every year. A collaborative light installation is created using the candles bought by visitors and the proceeds go to charity.
If you are a bright spark with a great idea for a festival installation, you need to submit your project during the call for projects launched every year in April on the Festival of Lights website.
The Festival of Lights is taking place in the city centre in a delimited, pedestrian zone. There are about forty pedestrian entry points, roughly one every 100 metres. Cars, motorcycles, scooters, bicycles and e-scooters are not authorised in the zone.
Travel bags or suitcases are not authorised in parks and inside the secure Festival perimeter.
The entire perimeter area is closed to traffic 2 hours before the Festival opens and an hour-and-a-half after it closes.
You are advised to use eco-friendly modes of transport - e-scooters, bicycles (including Vélo'v bikes) - to reach the Festival perimeter but these must be parked outside. They are not authorized inside the perimeter or in Parc de la Tête d’Or or Parc Sergent Blandan.
Lyon offers a 24/7 self-service bike-sharing scheme (Vélo’v) with docking stations located throughout the city centre and surrounding area. Please note that Vélo'v bikes like all other individual modes of transport (e-scooters, bikes etc.) are not authorized in the pedestrian zone.
Parking bays for coaches can be found on:
Quai Sarrail and Quai Augagneur (7 to 10 December)
Quai Victor Augagneur on the west side, between Pont Wilson and Pont de la Guillotière.
Quai Rambaud (6 & 7 December)
On the Saône side between Cours Bayard and Rue Dugas Montbel.
The Festival of Lights has been integrating energy efficiency for many years, which is also one of the pillars of the City's lighting plan. The amount of electricity consumption linked to the Festival of Lights is very low.
For example, a classic mapping (projection) on a building facade consumes 12 kWh. This corresponds to a hundred televisions on for an hour.
The main purpose of ISO 20121 is to factor sustainable development into events organisation.
The City of Lyon has carefully controlled the energy consumption of the Festival of Lights for many years. Based on the findings of a study conducted in 2019, the energy consumption of the Festival of Lights only accounts for 0.1% of the total annual lighting bill, i.e., 0.36 day of annual energy consumption. This figure can be explained as follows:
- the light installations mainly use LEDs which are highly energy-efficient,
- the equipment used offers good energy performance,
- the permanent lighting of a number of heritage sites (Saint-Jean Cathedral, the Law Courts, Fourvière Basilica, Les Célestins theatre) is switched off during the Festival.
In line with the City’s sustainability and energy transition policy, the Festival of Lights is preparing for ISO 20121 Events Sustainability certification which will induce adaptations to the event from 2023.
In parallel, an environmental impact criterion will be included in the selection of artworks.
Les livraisons peuvent avoir lieu chaque jour en dehors des horaires de fermeture du périmètre (périmètre fermé 2h environ avant le début des illuminations, 1h30 après leur fermeture). Aucune livraison ou accès aux commerces en véhicules motorisés ne sont autorisés pendant les horaires d'exploitation de la Fête.
La circulation pouvant être très chargée à l'approche de l'ouverture de la Fête, nous vous conseillons de prévoir dans la mesure du possible vos livraisons le matin et d'anticiper vos déplacements.
Les rues Pizay et Puits Gaillot sont interdites aux piétons dans les horaires de fermeture du périmètre. Un accès aux commerces est néanmoins possible sur demande du public.
Pour rappel, les ventes à l’étalage sont interdites. En dehors de l'appel à candidature de restaurations éphémères pour la Place Bellecour et le Parc Blandan, aucune nouvelle installation d'ambulants ne sera autorisée à l'intérieur du périmètre.
Si vous souhaitez tenir un stand pendant la Fête des Lumières, vous pouvez contacter les services de la Ville de Lyon selon que vous soyez :
• Une association : pour une installation en dehors du périmètre de sécurité, une demande d’Occupation Temporaire de l’Espace Public (OTEP) est à réaliser sur la plateforme dématérialisée de la Ville de Lyon,
• Les professionnels : une demande est à adresser à la Direction du Commerce et de l’Artisanat.
La vente d’alcool à emporter, l'installation de terrasses et l'utilisation de contenants en verre sont interdits dans l’ensemble du périmètre. Nous vous invitons à prévoir des contenants en cartons ou dans d'autres matières recyclables.
Pour le bon déroulé de l'exploitation des œuvres et du respect du public, nous vous invitons à éteindre la lumière de vos vitrines durant les heures d'ouverture de la Fête des Lumières, entre 18h et minuit.
Les professionnels lyonnais (commerçants, restaurateurs, hôteliers…) qui le souhaitent peuvent acheter et/ou commercialiser des produits officiels Fête des Lumières. Pour plus d'informations sur les produits disponibles et les conditions tarifaires, votre contact : label.licence@mairie-lyon.fr
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