Across the globe, artists and visionaries arrange light to tantalize your senses. From incredible Christmas light displays to artistic year-round light exhibitions, here’s a list of 10 events and exhibitions across North America that provide a truly immersive experience.
Canada
1. Lumière YVR - Vancouver, BC
Lumière is a collection of public art installations across the City of Vancouver, that employ the use of light, pulling inspiration from the vibrant city’s coastal location.
2. Toronto Light Fest - Toronto, ON
Not all light-up experiences mean Christmas! Toronto’s Light Fest brings a spark of light to the city in the dark months of the long Canadian winter. The event has a mixture of art on display, from sculptures to live performances, all weaving light into their presentation.
3. Tonga Lumina - Mont Tremblant, Québec
Tonga Lumina is a full sensory experience that takes place in the Laurentian Mountains of Canada. The experience - created by Moment Factory - is one of a collection of events organized worldwide, held in cities and towns from Japan to France.
4. Immersive van Gogh Exhibition - Toronto, Ontario
Experience the artist’s legendary artwork in an entirely new way! This immersive experience projects van Gogh’s art in moving pictures that completely take over the room, accompanied by a moving soundtrack consisting of both found music and original compositions by Luca Longobardi.
5. Glow Downtown Winter Light Festival - Calgary, Alberta
Calgary’s annual Winter Light Festival occurs in February of every year, transforming parts of Downtown Calgary’s outdoor spaces into a mesmerizing trip through immersive structures, and past creative structures and theatrical performances.
USA
6. Anderson Ranch Arts Centre Tree Art Installation and Interactive Light Show - Snowmass Village, Colorado
This light-up gives the visitor an opportunity to create their own light show! Work with staff to configure the lights on display in any way you can imagine. Pssst: these easy to customize lights are for sale in our store!
7. Blossoms of Light, Denver Botanic Gardens - Denver, Colorado
Colorado sure knows how to bring sparkle to the winter season! While the gardens are sleeping under the snow, the landscape is transformed into a winter wonderland of light and colour. This event has been a tradition for over 3 decades!
8. Lightscape, Chicago Botanic Garden - Chicago, Illinois
Chicago’s Lightscape is another event that cleverly seizes the opportunity to transform a botanical garden in its off-season into a totally different environment of immersive light.
9. PNC Festival of Lights, Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens, Cincinnati, Ohio
Advertised as a “Wild Wonderland”, this festival transforms the Cincinnati Zoo into a compelling and dynamic scene of lights and animal sculptures, lit by over four million LED lights.
10. Portland Winter Festival of Light aka PDXWLF - Portland, Oregon
This free light experience organized by the Willamette Light Brigade illuminates and takes over downtown Portland. With over 100 art installations and numerous live performances at their 2021 festival, there’s sure to be something for everyone to enjoy for their next festival in 2022.