The City of Light Festival
City of Light Festival on Fri-Sat 25.9-3.10.2026
City of light -festival
The next festival will be held 25.9.-3.10.2026. The City of Light -festival also celebrates its 20th anniversary! The application period for light installations starts 8.1.2026.
Last autumn, the event featured 22 light installations. In addition to Finnish installations, light art arrived from seven different countries. The end points of the light route were Tourujoki and Mattilanniemi, between them installations at Are Square, Kompassi at City Centre, Church park, P-Paraati parking hall, along Kauppakatu, Lounaispuisto and Ruusupuisto. See the event brochure here and plan your own festival route!
In addition, an extensive light-themed side program offers plenty to experience and admire throughout the event. See the side program here.
Light installations on the route
Light works will be on view Thu-Sat 25.9.-27.9. from 19:00 to 24:00 (exceptions regarding the program)
1. Connection IV – Unknown Senses -Marko Häkkinen
Location: Tourujoki
Light artist Marko Häkkinen's The Connection – Unknown Senses - part 4 is a continuation of the series of works, the first part of which was seen in Tourujoki in 2023. Unknown Senses is a gateway to the unseen, where the vibrations of nature’s connections entwine us with one another. From beneath the layers of silence emerges a resonance that travels through the trees, brushes the skin with its tremor, and moves on – as if to remind us that we are part of something immeasurable. Duration 15 min.
2. Spot On – Marieke van der Burg
Location: Are square
Dutch light artist Marieke Van der Burg's projection work draws the audience into the creation of a visual world. As visitors shine the interactive spotlight on the façade, elements of the architecture light up, transforming the visual landscape of different façades into a unique experience. Suddenly, a firefly flies by—a tiny creature that carries its own light. Yet, every light also casts shadows. Shadows in the form of obstacles, fears, and challenges that try to dim our light. Sometimes, our own light is not enough, and we need the light of others to break through the darkness and continue to grow. So, grab the spotlight and help the fly defeat its shadows!
3. FunFun – Mr.Beam
Location: Sokkari shopping mall
The artwork is sponsored by Keskimaa
Mr.Beam Studio from the Netherlands is a multidisciplinary collective of artists united by a passion for digital art and storytelling. In recent years, Mr.Beam has exhibited his work internationally, won several awards and worked with several prestigious brands. FunFun is a fast-paced, audiovisual video-projected animation performance. It is eclectic and diverse, very fresh and fun (fun!). The performance promises many surprising twists in music and visual styles. Duration 3 minutes.
4. Dialogue 2.0 – Niko Tiainen
Location: Kirkkopuisto
The artwork is sponsored by Alva
Dialogue 2.0 by internationally renowned Finnish media artist Niko Tiainen is an immersive media artwork suitable for the whole family, tailored for Kirkkopuisto and the City Church. Its striking visuals, composed soundscape and interactive space create an immersive experience. Lights, lasers and multi-channel sound bring the entire Central Park to life, intertwining into a fascinating dramatic arc, where the dialogue between nature and technology takes on a unique form. The dialogue is expressed in the work on many different levels – both on the level of music and through a hypothetical conversation between artificial intelligence and the forest. Between performances, the work lives a life of its own, observing the presence of the audience by reacting to it interactively using various sensors. Duration 10 min.
The work continues inside the church, where the hectic outside world is transformed into a multi-channel whole based on video, sound and light.
5. Zone Submersible – Nathalie Maufroy
Location: P-Paraati parking hall, entrance from the Kirkkopuisto staircase
The artwork is sponsored by Jyväs-Parkki
Belgian multidisciplinary artist Nathalie Maufroy’s immersive in-car installation parks in the new P-Paraati parking garage. The installation explores the relationship between humans and their ever-changing environment. In the work, the alternation of rising and falling water inside the car reflects floods and tides, as well as the societal and personal changes we experience, which are often uncontrollable. In a world where change is both a necessity and a source of anxiety, Zone Submercible presents a powerful visual metaphor for this eternal change. The renewing and destructive water symbolizes the transition between two states - stability and change.
6. Ultraviolet reality – Rami Saarikorpi
Location: P-Paraati parking hall, entrance from the Kirkkopuisto staircase
The artwork is sponsored by Jyväs-Parkki
Photographer Rami Saarikorpi's Ultraviolet Reality invites us to reflect on the disappearance of meadows and pollinators, climate change and human impact on nature. Ultraviolet Reality combines nature and technology by showing how the color and light properties of flowers affect their interaction with their environment. The series presents plants from two different perspectives: as seen by the human eye and under ultraviolet light, which pollinators perceive. In normal light, flowers look familiar and beautiful to us, but ultraviolet light reveals hidden patterns, markings and attractive colors that help insects find the flowers and fulfill their important role as pollinators.
7. Mirror – Marcin Molendowski ja Izabella Nowak
Location: Lounaispuisto
Polish light artists Marcin Molendowski and Izabella Nowak have created a large-scale sculpture of a human figure made of wire and countless strings. The light installation "Mirror" is a profound reflection on the human desire to distance ourselves from nature, even though we are inseparably connected to it. Countless threads envelop a figure who is desperately trying to escape the clutches of a tree. This striking image symbolizes man's struggle against his own nature. The installation takes up a current and global theme and invites us to reflect on our own relationship with the environment.
8. Divine Geometry – Those Guys Lighting
Location: Lounaispuisto
Those Guys Lighting is a Latvian collective of light artists. Divine Geometry depicts the complexity and harmony of nature. The ring symbolizes the relationship between nature, life and the mathematical beauty of the universe, the interconnectedness of all living things. The installation features 24 lasers attached to the ring, creating a psychedelic visual experience combined with a soundscape. Duration 30 min.
9. Fantastic Planet – Amanda Parer
Location: Ruusupuisto
The artwork is sponsored by Cefmof -foundation
Australian light artist Amanda Parer’s Fantastic Planet consists of three giant light figures called “Poke”, “What’s that?” and “Over”. These giant humanoids have conquered the Earth after traveling here from afar. They want to give the audience the impression that they have just landed and are gently exploring our “Fantastic Planet”.
“Scale is a very important factor in this work in that the artist is allowing the audience to hopefully experience a moment of humility and reflection amongst these large but peaceful giants, a sense that we as a species rarely get to feel.” - Amanda Parer
10. Hermetic Gate – Tuukka Toijanniemi
Location: Mattilanniemi, MaA-building
Hermetic Gate projection work by Jyväskylä light artist Tuukka Toijanniemi, which is built from recorded and accelerated drawing events. The whole creates a symbolic structure: a gate that is not physical, but experiential. The visual material entices the viewer to step onto the edge of the gate – not to cross it, but to stop by it.
The gate does not open outwards, but inwards. It is a boundary that is not walked over but crossed in silence and light. The work refers to Hermetic ideas about closed systems, esoteric knowledge and inner change. The gate is at the same time a boundary and a connection, a secret and an invitation. The gate being built in Mattilanniemi has a counterpart somewhere in Jyväskylä, can you find it?
11. OCULUCIS – Hermes H.E.M. Mangialardo
Location: Mattilanniemi park, near the entrance to Kielon
OCULUCIS by Italian light artist Hermes Mangialardo, two giant spheres, whose textures represent two eyes, capture the viewer's attention and invite them to reflect on universal themes related to observation, introspection and connection to the world. OCULUCIS invites viewers to question what it truly means to "see." Is it a superficial glance tied to appearances, or a deeper exploration that transcends what is immediately visible? The two spheres, as giant eyes, become metaphors for this eternal question, a bridge between exteriority and interiority.
12. Twilight Magic – Dancing Fountains
Location: Mattilanniemi ( Lake Jyväsjärvi, in front of Kielo)
The artwork is sponsored by Kielo Office Solutions ja Sol
The Dancing Fountains, water and light installation is a combination of a music-synchronized performance and video projection. This creates a stunning multimedia installation. The video projection is adapted to the music and theme of the installation. The installation is approximately fifteen meters wide, and the water jets rise ten meters high. Duration 8 minutes.
13. CETUS – Loomaland
Location: Ylistö Bridge (Lake Jyväsjärvi)
The artwork is sponsored by University of Jyväskylä
Loomaland is a German artist collective. Their creation, CETUS, is a spectacle that transforms Lake Jyväsjärvi into an unusual whale-watching experience. Two glowing whales – one a 6-meter-long adult and the other a smaller 4-meter-long calf – gracefully roam the waters. The glowing creatures shimmer in the colors of the deep sea. But beware: If you get too close, they might spook you with a splash of water! For millennia, sailors and explorers have told stories of strange creatures lurking in the depths of the sea. Today, myth is being replaced by technology. In the age of artificial intelligence and robots, we are on the verge of creating complex artificial life forms that could one day even outlast humanity. Is CETUS a glimpse into the future?
14. In Relation to Colour – Alexander Salvesen ja Quisquiliae – Jere Suontausta
Location: Gallery Hoppa window, Kauppakatu 8
Alexander Salvesen is a visual artist from Turku living in Helsinki who works in a multidisciplinary field of art. In Relation to Colour is a study on the relationship between colour and form. In the work, the way colours affect each other teases our perception and brings forth the question of what is actually in front of us and what we merely imagine to be there. The artwork examines the relationships between colours, in which complementary colours and afterimages expand our vision to also perceive what is no longer present before us. In the real world, nothing happens in a vacuum; every decision, every thing, and every opinion exists in relation to what already is. How are you in relation to the world?
Jere Suontausta is an artist and lighting designer from Helsinki and Jyväskylä. Quisquiliae (from Latin: debris, trash, sediment) is an artwork drawing from the flows of materials and commodities of this world. Our ever-accelerating society and species produce incomprehensible amounts of, as such, wondrous things, which in increasingly shorter periods of time turn into waste – trash and junk. Quisquiliae is a series of backward steps on this path: dead matter is transcending its redundancy. The piece is a visual poem born through a haphazard process, written by the junk itself.
15. Hiljainen metsä – Antti Kulmala & Niko Tiainen
Location: Taulumäki Church, Lohikoskentie 2
Opening hours: thu-fri 25.–26.9. 6-11 pm
sat 27.9. 5-11 pm
The comprehensive spatial artwork by light artist Antti Kulmala, media artist Niko Tiainen and AistiSiimes creates a hazy forest atmosphere in Taulumäki Church. The work lives and slowly transforms generatively in the church space's light, video and soundscape, unique art fabrics and natural elements. It never appears exactly the same, but creates a unique art experience for each experiencer. Step into the forest church, sit by the evening campfire, quiet down to a slightly different prayer, music or the crackling of the campfire.
16. Light murals
Light artist Ari Tiilikainen has designed a series of light murals for the event, the works of which can be seen in four different places along the light route:
• Tourukatu 2 facade: Light whispers underground
• Aaltosali wall: Light paints time on the facade
• Kauppakau 5 facade: Here light meets another light
• Ruusupuisto underpass: Light that takes root, bursts into wisdom
The series of works conveys the idea that every place carries light with it – not only as a physical phenomenon, but as an essence shaped by history, people, culture, nature and community. Light is like a city dweller itself: it lives here, walks the streets, meets another light in the market square, lingers for a moment behind the windows, plays in the wind, dances in puddles of rain or just accompanies us in everyday life.
17. Flowers -Elisa Hillgén
Venue: Hämeenkatu 8, KOAS Ruusupuisto
KOAS turns 50 this year, and in honor of the anniversary, lighting designer Elisa Hillgén has designed a flower-themed light mural that will delight festival-goers along the light trail.
18. Special lighting
Venue: Kauppakatu 23, Bank of Finland building
The facade of the building will receive special lighting during the light event. Lighting is sponsored by Sp-Koti Jyväskylä & Säästöpankki Optia.
Check out the aftermovie 2025 below
City of Light Festival
More information about the autumn 2025 event will be available during August.
The City of Light event will feature Finnish and international light works spread across Mattilanniemi, Ruusupuisto, Lounaispuisto, Kirkkopuisto, Kompassi, Arenaukio and Tourujoki.
Side programs offer fun light-themed experiences throughout the festival days!
City of Light Seminar on Thursday 25.9.2025
The City of Light Festival traditionally organizes a seminar for lighting professionals. This year, the seminar is organized in cooperation with the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) of Finland.
The seminar has been organized in Jyväskylä since 2008 and is attended by experts and creators from urban planning and municipal engineering, architecture, electrical and lighting design, and light art.
There will once again be a comprehensive selection of interesting lectures, company project and product presentations, introductions to lighting and light event works - not forgetting, of course, inspiring discussions during a joint evening. In addition to the seminar day, the program includes dinner and a guided walking tour of the light event sites. The seminar has been organized in Jyväskylä since 2008 and is attended by, among others, experts and creators from urban planning and municipal engineering, architecture, electrical and lighting design, and light art.
Registration is open until 14.9., but please note that places are limited.
For more information:
Elisa Hillgen
Phone: 050 364 4737
[email protected]
City of Light Seminar 2025, Thursday 25.9.
Venue: Aalto Hall, Väinönkatu 7