Already next weekend, Vilnius will become a stage for the contemporary light art. Marking the 703rd birthday of the capital city, an impressive number of light installations – as many as 25 objects – will be on display downtown. The eighth Vilnius Light Festival is set on 23-25 January. The event is free and open to everyone.
“The 2026 Light Festival dedicated to our beloved Vilnius invites to experience the Old Town buildings, unexpected spaces and other objects as stops on a continuous experiential route. This year, a dialogue of light, music and architecture that has become a unique winter tradition is created by artists from ten countries. Through their ideas and works, the capital is revealed as a modern, culturally open and creative European city worth visiting at any time of the year,” says Valdas Benkunskas, Mayor of Vilnius.
The organisers are convinced that the Old Town of Vilnius is the ideal place for the festival’s light to shine. This year, the route of the festival will stretch from the Lithuanian Theatre, Music and Cinema Museum on Vilniaus St., pass through cosy courtyards of Vilnius University, meander across the Cathedral Square, spaces of VAA Palace, K. Sirvydas Square and on to the Contemporary Art Centre.
The route of Vilnius Light Festival can be found on the official website of the festival https://lightfestival.lt/marsrutas/ and in the mobile app. This year, a new mobile app has been created for the festival visitors’ convenience containing the map of installations, descriptions of all objects and other relevant information to help you plan your visit to the festival.
IMPORTANT – if you have last year’s festival app on your phone, it will not work this year. You will have to delete the old app and download the new one from the App Store https://bit.ly/vlf_app or Google Play https://bit.ly/vlf_app1.
The programme features exclusive works and a mix of impressions
The 2026 Festival will stand out with its conceptual light art that appeals to different senses. The programme intertwines the themes of memory, time, nature, ecology, technology and the relationship between humans and the world, revealing the complexity of the world and the universe.
The installations of light will unveil diverse scales and states: the structure of mould and the life of plants, the elements of water and fire, the energy of the sun, the passage of time, the symbolism of mythological birds and the vastness of space.
Among the most prominent names in the main programme of the Festival are the world-renowned light artists. Their works reveal the bold ambition of the Vilnius Light Festival – not only to create a visually impressive cityscape, but also to present a conceptually strong content relevant to the international contemporary art scene.
One of the highlights of the programme is the internationally acclaimed light artist Boris Acket (Netherlands) renowned for his multi-layered works – the audiovisual installation “The Bird of a Thousand Voices”, which stands out for its poetic power and subtly combines light, sound, movement and mythological imagery. It will invite visitors to the Church of St. Catherine to reflect on the relationship between humans and nature, memory and imagination.
Sven Sauer (Germany) in Vilnius presents the installation “Deviation” made up of thousands of glass shards. Through his exploration of light, the artist transforms the space of the Radvilos Palace Museum of Art into an intense atmosphere that stimulates senses and invites to question the true nature of humanity. This work has been on display since 15 January. For the first time, visitors have the opportunity to explore the installation without haste before the festival begins.
The mesmerising installation “Liquid Lens” by Alessandro Lupi (Italy) exhibited in the courtyard of the Bernardine Monastery offers an experimental look at the interaction of light and water and optical illusions.
Among the most notable names of the programme is the interactive installation “Tetra” by the experiential design studio Ottomata (Canada) reflecting the direction of technological art and revealing the beauty of structures and movement in the courtyard of Vilnius Culture Centre (former Vilnius Teachers’ House).
Encor Studio (Switzerland) will present the installation “Alcove Ltd” exploring the relationship between architecture, light and space, characterised by its precise design, in the Cathedral Square.
The conceptual diversity of the programme is significantly enhanced by the installation “Physarum” created by a group of artists RaumZeitPiraten (Germany) inspired by biological self-organisation processes inviting viewers to become part of a collective organism, and Agnieszka Polska’s (Poland) video work “The New Sun” highlighting the importance of words as tools of social responsibility.
Focus on local creators and younger generation
An important part of identity of the Vilnius Light Festival enriching the context of the programme is the voice of local creators, especially the younger generation artists.
The works “Memory Garden” by Lithuanian artists Agnė Stirnė & Oskaras Stirna and “Ping-Pong” by Aleksandras Voronovič & Paulius Šaparnis reflect nostalgic memories, while “The White Hole” by Roma Salė and “Footprints” by Rūta Simutytė – contemporary artistic explorations.
The works of the younger generation creators constitute a separate part of the festival programme called “Young Light”. It features experimental, interactive and narrative-based light objects created by the second-year product design students from Vilnius Faculty of Vilnius Academy of Arts and visiting Erasmus students under the guidance of Doc. Denis Orlenok and Doc. Gintarė Černiauskaitė.
Seven different works: “Flower Garden”, “Invisible Steps”, “Moments”, “Legends of Vilnius”, “Tornado”, “The River Flow Game” and “Screaming Tubes” will be displayed near the VAA buildings, in their courtyards and on the Fluxus Bridge.
“By providing a stage for young artists, we not only encourage creativity, but also present new voices in the art of light – voices that are still evolving, searching, yet energised and distinguished by their unique perspective,” says Paulius Jurgutis, director of Vilnius Culture Centre, organiser of the Vilnius Light Festival.
The full programme and descriptions of the installations can be found here: https://lightfestival.lt/instaliacijos/
“Drakis” will invite you to warm up in Konstantinas Sirvydas Square
For the second year in a row, festival visitors will be greeted in Konstantinas Sirvydas Square by the mythological light object “Drakis” created by “Lituanica Birds” team. Last year, this work, which embodies city legends, attracted a lot of attention, and this year it promises three days of smiles and merrymaking.
Having covered a part of the festival route, visitors will be able to admire “Drakis” and also to warm up in the square. Traditionally, there will be a food truck area inviting visitors to enjoy hot drinks and snacks. The food area will be open to visitors on all three days of the festival from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
The Vilnius Light Festival 2026 is free and open to everyone on 23-25 January, from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
All information about the festival organised by Vilnius Culture Centre in cooperation with Vilnius Municipality is posted on the website lightfestival.lt and on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/VilniusLightFestival
