Lyon Festival of Lights 2025
The Festival of Lights is almost here! Souvenirs de Lyon.Com, the souvenir shop in Vieux-Lyon (Old Lyon), invites you to discover this traditional event that is so typical of Lyon. Here is our top 6 of the 2025 illuminations.
A bit of history:
It all began in 1852, with the planned inauguration of the new golden statue of the Virgin Mary on Fourvière Hill on 8 September.
Suddenly, the Saône river flooded and the ceremony was postponed to 8 December. When the day came, bad weather once again threatened the celebrations, and the church authorities were about to cancel the inauguration.
In the end, the sky cleared... To thank the Virgin Mary, the people of Lyon lit candles in their windows, and as night fell, the whole city lit up. The church authorities followed suit, and the Fourvière chapel appeared in the darkness. That evening, a true festival was born!
Ever since, every year on 8 December, the people of Lyon place small candles (lumignons) in their windows... and stroll through the city streets to admire extraordinary light installations and, above all, the traditional lumignons glowing on the windowsills of every home.
What's on the 2025 Festival of Lights programme?
1- Gare Saint-Paul: Nouvelle vague
2- Cathédrale Saint-Jean: Lumina
3- Colline de Fourvière: Les Malles Persanes
4- Fondation Bullukian: BLOBmorphose
5- Place Antonin Poncet: Le Jardin de Lumière
6- Place des Jacobins: L'Île des Jacobins
7- Place de la République: Astralys
8- Quartier Grôlée: Héliotrope
9- Rue de la République: Paseo d'hiver
10- Place de la Bourse: Insight
11- Place d'Albon: Onion Skin
12- Place des Terreaux: Le lundi c'est raviolis !
13- Place Sathonay: La dernière aventure à Lyon
14- Lyon Opera House foyer: Row
15- Place Louis Pradel: HDV – 40 ans de skate à Lyon
16- Parc de la Tête d'Or: Post Idols
17- Parc de la Tête d'Or: Journey of a Lamp Post
18- Parc de la Tête d'Or: L'Éveil des Lumières
19- Parc de la Tête d'Or: Déambulez avec le Chat
20- Manufacture des Tabacs: Fenêtre sur cour(s)
21- Basilique de Fourvière: Région des Lumières à Fourvière
Our Festival of Lights top 6
If you don't have time to see everything, here are our picks for the most beautiful illuminations of 2025:
- Gare Saint-Paul
- Cathédrale Saint-Jean
- Place des Terreaux
- Fondation Bullukian
- Colline de Fourvière
- Basilique de Fourvière
The most beautiful part of the Festival of Lights is still the thousands of candlelit windows across Lyon!
To find out more, here is the full programme for 8 December.
Happy Festival of Lights!
