Festival of Lights (Lyon)
8 December 2026 — One candle in the window, and the whole city glows like a constellation!
The Fête des Lumières (Festival of Lights) is held in Lyon, France, every year around 8 December. Its roots go back to 1852, when a statue of the Virgin Mary was to be inaugurated on the bell tower of the chapel on Fourvière hill. The inauguration, first planned for 8 September, was postponed to 8 December – the Catholic feast of the Immaculate Conception – because the river Saône had flooded. That evening bad weather led to the official illuminations being cancelled, but when the sky cleared, residents spontaneously lit candles in their windows. The custom has lasted ever since: Lyon's people place candles in coloured glass cups on their window sills, and the streets glow. Today the festival lasts several days and turns the city into a vast stage of light installations, facade projections and artistic shows that draw millions of visitors. The date falls at the start of winter, when nights are among the longest of the year and the solstice is only about two weeks away. That is why the small flames on window sills look like an earthly reflection of the starry sky.
Flying across the sky: An ethereal, bluish-silver figure made of luminous dots and thin lines: a row of small candles in cups, forming a constellation that glides across the night sky
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