Fête des Lumières 2013: Lyon, city of lights

Fête des Lumières - Lyon  - www.MyFrenchLife.orgEach year in early December, thousands flock to Lyon in southeastern France for the spectacular Fête des Lumières.

The festival has a wonderful history, which you can discover in this article posted last year. Having recently moved to Lyon, I decided to devote my weekend to the festival that attracts so many visitors each year.

Discover the Festival of Lights 2013 en images!

The best of France on show

Fête des Lumières - Lyon - www.MyFrenchLife.org

The installations were extraordinarily varied. Main streets lit up with archways of fairy lights, coloured lamps and a pond of neon roses. Buildings and long standing statues sprung to life with the aid of powerful projectors and sizable speakers. Every corner seemed to hold a new creation, from a light graffiti wall in Confluence to a psychedelic tunnel in Croix Rousse.

Fête des Lumières - Lyon - www.MyFrenchLife.org

This Francophile’s favourite moment

By the end of the weekend I was exhausted but thoroughly inspired. I visited some impressive installations, but the moment I enjoyed the most happened as each installation began. The fluid movement of the crowd would slow to a halt as thousands of eyes fixed on the same spectacle.

Fête des Lumières - Lyon  - www.MyFrenchLife.org

Fête des Lumières - Lyon  - www.MyFrenchLife.org

Jess Gregory - 08.01.14 - www.MyFrenchLife.org

Jess Gregory - 08.01.14 - www.MyFrenchLife.org

Jess Gregory - 08.01.14 - www.MyFrenchLife.org

Jess Gregory - 08.01.14 - www.MyFrenchLife.org

Jess Gregory - 08.01.14 - www.MyFrenchLife.org

Jess Gregory - 08.01.14 - www.MyFrenchLife.org

Discover more photos on The Guardianclick here to see wonderful videos, and discover the Fête des Lumières in figures!

Do you have a favourite Fête des Lumières memory? Share it with us in the comments below.

All images © Jess Gregory.

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Jess Gregory

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3 Comments

  1. Tuong-An Huynh Jan 21, 2014 at 1:27 AM - Reply

    Beautiful pictures! Makes me want to go to Lyon next year 🙂

  2. Gabrielle Dauby Jan 21, 2014 at 11:09 AM - Reply

    Indeed it’s beautiful! It reminds me of a similar event I went to last year in Rotterdam – the China Light. It was absolutely amazing!

  3. Esme Wakefield Jan 22, 2014 at 1:16 PM - Reply

    This brings back great memories of 2012’s Fête that I was in the city for. Great photos.
    Something I’d definitely return to Lyon for in a flash… c vrai, Paris isn’t the only city of lights!

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