Ten years after the streets of Pécs first lit up with the magic of contemporary light art, the jubilee 10th edition of the Zsolnay Light Festival returns bigger and more spectacular than ever before: from 2 to 5 July, for four nights, more than thirty artworks will flood the city with light. As part of the Vasarely Memorial Year, this year’s festival will also pay tribute to world-famous native artist of Pécs, Victor Vasarely. 

By now, the event has grown into one of Europe’s most spectacular urban festivals, attracting more than 100,000 visitors every year. The 2026 jubilee edition coincides with two exceptional anniversaries: we commemorate the 120th anniversary of the birth of Victor Vasarely, the Pécs-born father of Op Art, while the Vasarely Museum celebrates the 50th anniversary of its founding this year. 

The central theme of this year’s Light Festival is therefore Vasarely’s PLASTI-CITÉ // CITY IN COLOUR concept – an invitation into the world of optical illusion, and into the sensory experience of movement, space, and light. 

The Cathedral Façade as the Festival’s Largest Canvas 

The festival’s most anticipated event, the Zsolnay Light Art Video Mapping Competition, is going to transform the façade of the Pécs Cathedral into a monumental light canvas every evening. This year, artists from Italy, China, and Bulgaria compete for the audience’s votes, with works deeply inspired by the visual language of Vasarely’s Op Art legacy. Alongside the competition, a special premiere will also take place: as part of the Irish focus programme, the renown Hungarian light-art team, Glowing Bulbs will present a homage projection dedicated to the legacy of Ferenc Martyn. 

The Route of Light: More Than 30 Stops at the Boundary of Imagination 

At the heart of the festival lies the Route of Light, guiding visitors through 15 downtown locations and 19 venues around the Zsolnay Cultural Quarter, where they can discover the works of both Hungarian and international light artists. 

This year, the Zsolnay Quarter and the Kodály Centre will serve as the festival’s main experience hub, as the entire area is going to be part of the Light Festival Max programme. These venues, which can be visited with a pre-purchased wristband, host the festival’s most exciting installations, where interactive and immersive artworks offer such depth of experience that they can easily fill an entire evening. Let us offer you a teaser: 

A Meeting of Soul and Light at the Kodály Centre: The Latvian team, Those Guys Lighting brings Divine Geometry to Pécs – an installation built around 24 lasers and accompanied by a unique 30-minute sound experience. This essential light journey is so deeply moving that apparently, at previous presentations, many visitors were brought to tears by its overwhelming emotional impact. 

In the Lab building of the Zsolnay Cultural Quarter, visitors can walk through a waterfall woven from light by means of Spanish artist Marc Vilanova’s installation, while in the E78 Concert Hall, the Playmodes collective team creates dynamic, floating light sculptures using laser beams and robotic mirrors. In the Pyrogranite Courtyard of the Zsolnay Quarter, a large-scale installation transforms Vasarely’s Op Art legacy into three-dimensional installations. This constantly shifting geometric illusion changes with the viewer’s movement, inviting active participation through motion and discovery.

A unique exhibition makes its debut within the walls of the m21 Gallery: Hommage à Vasarely by Light, a light art exhibition that marks a milestone in the festival’s history. For the first time, the festival expands beyond its four-day programme into a full summer exhibition, allowing visitors to experience this extraordinary visual journey at any time until the end of August. Besides, the young emerging artists of the Light Art Colony will also present their works in the Zsolnay Quarter.  

The iconic downtown venues of Pécs are also going to be transformed. At the Cella Septichora Visitor Centre, a pulsating creature of light trapped inside a glass cube will struggle to escape, like a digital organism fighting for freedom. Széchenyi Square will be surrounded by a monumental circular panoramic light projection, while the festival’s beloved totem creature, the Pixel Bug, will return to Jókai Square. Inside ÁRKÁD Pécs Shopping Centre, technology and nature meet as the memory of water comes to life on a giant LED wall. 

At Színház Square, New York-style visual psychedelia will come to life: the American Liquid Light Lab revives the world of 1970s analogue light shows, combining Kandinsky’s visual musicality with the atmosphere of concerts by Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, and early Pink Floyd. The "Route of Light" station at Színház Square is part of the USA250 commemorations.

“According to Vasarely’s artistic credo, art is a shared language that must leave exhibition halls behind and become part of everyday life. The concept of the Route of Light reflects the same idea: it transforms urban space into an open gallery, where visitors themselves become part of both the creative process and the shared community experience through interactive installations,” said Márk Hummel, Managing Director of Zsolnay Heritage Management Nonprofit Ltd., organiser of the festival. 

More Than Light: Street Theatre and Festival 

Beyond the light projections, the four-day-ling festival will also fill the streets with fire jugglers, acrobats, and street theatre performances. Families can enjoy interactive children’s programmes and light-themed craft workshops, while concerts and electronic music parties will keep the city’s pulse alive late into the night. 

This year’s programme is further enriched by a special Irish focus: alongside the Ferenc Martyn homage projection at the Cathedral, visitors can also discover Irish light installations and an Irish gastronomic courtyard in Káptalan Street. The spirit of the festival will be made even more vibrant by the music and dance culture of the Emerald Isle. 

Public-space programmes and light installations in the city centre can be visited free of charge. Access to indoor venues, as well as the special installations in the Zsolnay Cultural Quarter and the Kodály Centre, is available with the Light Festival MAX wristband, which can be purchased from 7 May. 

Pécs is the highlight of the summer!

The event is implemented with the support of the National Cultural Fund of Hungary.

Applications are now open for participation in the programme of Hungary’s only light festival. The jubilee edition of the Zsolnay Light Festival, to be held for the 10th time on 2–5 July 2026, will engage more closely with the legacy of Victor Vasarely, one of the most iconic sons of Pécs, more prominently than ever before. The international call seeks light installations, digital and analogue light-based works, as well as interactive and experimental creations.

Over the past decade, the Zsolnay Light Festival has grown into one of the most influential light festivals of Central Europe, attracting over 100,000 visitors annually from Hungary and abroad. Selected works will be showcased in the historic streets and squares of Pécs during the summer of 2026. 

2026: Vasarely 120 × Zsolnay Light Festival 10 – A Vision of the “City in Colour” 

This jubilee year unfolds in a unique artistic context: 2026 marks the 120th anniversary of Victor Vasarely’s birth, making it a commemorative year in Pécs. The world-renowned artist, born in Pécs, remains a vital source of inspiration for contemporary light and digital art. This year’s festival theme – PLASTI-CITÉ // CITY IN COLOUR – encourages artists to revisit and reinterpret Vasarely’s ideas of visual perception, geometry, and optical illusion through a contemporary lens. 

For Victor Vasarely, art was always an act of social responsibility. He believed that art must break out of the closed world of elite galleries and become an organic part of everyday environments. In his view, art was not a privilege but a communal experience and shared value that should be accessible to everyone. The concept of the “city in colour” embodied one of his most powerful artistic visions: a human and inspiring urban landscape where art is not mere ornament, but an inseparable part of daily life. 

“Our tenth anniversary is not about looking back – it’s an invitation to collectively envisage and create the visual city of the future. Vasarely’s legacy is closely tied to both Pécs and innovation, and we are striving to explore this duality in collaboration with the artists of the Light Festival,” said Márk Hummel, Managing Director of Zsolnay Heritage Management Nonprofit Ltd., the organiser of the festival. 

The organisers are seeking projects that bring light, space, movement, and the viewer into dynamic interplay, while resonating with the city’s architectural fabric and Vasarely’s intellectual legacy. Ideal works will challenge and transform visual perception, reshape urban structures, and subvert the familiar. Proposals with algorithmic, modular, or generative design approaches are particularly welcome – including all experimental techniques – even those not traditionally associated with light art. 

Applications can be submitted solely online until 1 February 2026 at the following link:
https://zsolnayfenyfesztival.hu/en/open-call-2026-invitation

In the summer of 2026, Pécs will once again become the capital of light, as the 10th Zsolnay Light Festival, Hungary’s largest celebration of light art, will take place from 2 to 5 July. Over four days, the Mediterranean-style city centre will be transformed by spectacular events: breathtaking building mappings and an international competition, dazzling light installations along the Route of Light, fire-juggling performances, and a diverse range of street performances and musical programs await festivalgoers. 

As Márk Hummel, managing director of the festival organiser Zsolnay Heritage Management Non-profit Ltd. pointed out: “This jubilee year is a major milestone for us. Over the past decade, the Zsolnay Light Festival has become a key event not only in Hungary, but on the international festival scene as well. For 2026, we are planning a number of special surprises.” 

Once Again at the World’s Largest Mapping Competition! 

The international presence of the Zsolnay Light Festival continues to grow: on 20 September 2025, the festival will once again be represented at iMapp Bucharest, the world’s largest video mapping competition. At this prestigious event, the world’s leading light artists compete with one another — meaning that Pécs will once again feature international light festival map. 

The 2025 Competitions Have been Closed – We are happy to present the Winners! 

As in previous years, the Zsolnay Light Festival announced two joint competitions in collaboration with Fotoplus and Sony Hungary.

The winner of the photo competition is Márta Molnár, who received a HUF 100,000 Fotoplus X Sony voucher.

The Mini YouTube Film Contest was won by Gábor Csapó for his short film: “When Light Tells Stories – Zsolnay Light Festival 2025”. His prize is a Sony ZV-E10 + 16-50mm vlog camera kit.

Congratulations to the winners!

The winning YouTube video:

On the first weekend of July, the historic city centre of Pécs once again lit up in a spectacular blaze of colour: the visitors of the 2025 Zsolnay Light Festival could immerse themselves in the boundless experiences of light art, music, and street performance over the course of four unforgettable days. More than 100,000 people attended the festival to witness world-class light artworks together. 

Between 3 and 6 July, light artists from around the globe filled the historic streets, squares, and buildings of Pécs with dazzling installations. Each evening, the 28 locations along the Route of Light awaited the curious, enthusiastic, and awe-struck audiences, all eager to experience the artistic power and collective wonder that light can bring.
By day, the city buzzed with concerts, street-art performances, and family-friendly events that kept the festival atmosphere alive throughout Pécs. 

Spaces clad in light, moving moments, shared amazement – this is how the 2025 Zsolnay Light Festival bids farewell. Once again, the event has made the beginning of summer in Pécs unforgettable. “This is more than just a festival – it's a shared experience that reveals the beauty and creativity within and around us each year,” said Márk Hummel, Managing Director of Zsolnay Heritage Management Ltd., organiser of the festival. 

Winner of the Mapping Contest 

The breathtaking mapping entries of the Zsolnay Light Art Mapping Competition once again transformed the façade of the Pécs Cathedral into a living canvas. This year, artists from Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria competed for the audience’s votes – and it was the Bulgarian team Elektrick.me who took home the win. 

A Strong Debut for the Festival’s New Axis 

In addition the well-known downtown venues, this year, for the first time, the Zsolnay Cultural Quarter – Balokány Grove – Kodály Centre axis became an integral part of the festival, offering a full evening’s worth of immersive light experiences. Visitors eagerly explored this new direction, discovering unique installations and artistic atmospheres, confirming that these new venues have earned their place on the festival map. 

The Power of a Shared Light Experience 

The organisers of the festival would like to extend their heartfelt thanks – especially in light of the programme changes on Friday – to the audience for their cooperation and trust, to the partners for their support, and to the performers, artists and volunteers for their dedication, all of which contributed once again to the special atmosphere of the Zsolnay Light Festival. 

See you again next year!  

Pécs is the highlight of the summer!

Zsolnay Light Festival 2025 - first day:

Zsolnay Light Festival 2025 - second day:

Light-painted historic buildings, creatures of light floating on a sea of tulles, interaction with artificial intelligence – the Zsolnay Light Festival will enchant all your senses in 2025 as well. This is not just a festival – it is one of the most spectacular urban events in Europe, which will illuminate Pécs for the ninth time between 3-6 July, attracting more than one hundred thousand visitors to the city.

The Cathedral as a Living Work of Art: International Competition

The Zsolnay Light Art Video Mapping Competition is the biggest attraction of the four-day festival, which conjures up stunning light creations on the monumental façade of the Cathedral of Pécs every night. This year, Hungarian, Czech, Polish and Bulgarian artists will compete for the favor of the audience. The theme of the competition is in line with the central theme of the festival, which is the buzzword NO//BODY.

Highlights of the city centre – spectacular stops on the historic streets

This year, we can get to know the sights created for the downtown of Pécs by walking the Path of Light. On the façade of the city's oldest residential building, a love story comes  to life in the animation of the Italian video mapping artist Francesca Macció. On Színház Square, an installation by the Swiss Encor Studio transforms a shipping container into an extravagant light box.

Fényszórók will create a grandiose panoramic projection on Széchenyi Square, and this year's creator of the Light Carpet will be the Budapest-based graphic and design studio Anuri. The Spanish Javier Riera invites you to immerse yourself in the Cella Septichora by projecting geometric shapes, and his work promises a hypnotic experience of light.

In the Nádor Gallery, it is as if we were stepping into a sci-fi film: Koros Design's huge head installation explores the question of how robots will be able to imitate human facial expressions with the help of artificial intelligence – a shocking encounter with the future. 

During your adventures in the city center, don't miss the giant LED display set up in the ÁRKÁD Pécs Shopping Center, where Filip Roca's and Zarko Komar's (ME-RS) installation Stardust takes us into an immersive universe both during the day and at night. The film focuses on the basic questions of human existence – where we came from, how we connect – as an endless story made of stardust, which we can also become part of by walking into the projection.

What happens when a cultural district meets one of Europe's most exciting light festivals?

As the biggest innovation of this year's Zsolnay Light Festival, the event will be enriched with a new dimension: in addition to the usual downtown venues, the Zsolnay Cultural Quarter will become an independent, all-night attraction of the festival. Visitors can walk the secret paths of an enchanted garden of light, where a new light experience awaits them at every corner.

In the E78 concert hall, Balázs Varga  will create  his audiovisual installation „Center Point”  with the help of laser beams and robot lights, where the precisely choreographed play of light, sound and smoke completely draws the viewer in. The light installations of the young talents of the University of Pécs and MOME, a spectacular light carpet, a video mapping location, a dome projection, and sculptures brought to life with light  make the quarter one of the most magical venues of the festival.

The sanctuary of light and sound – a mythical journey and a meditative spatial experience at the Kodály Centre

This year, the Kodály Centre will host two monumental installations. In Vince Varga and his team's work The Torches Are Already Burning, the mythical story of the boys who have become deer comes to life in a grandiose, immersive installation. During  the virtual journey taking place in the tulle forest growing on the stage of the Concert Hall,  we find ourselves in the thick of the Mecsek Mountains and in the familiar squares of Pécs, the visually captivating and emotionally moving experience places the plot of the centuries-old Bartók myth and its questions that are still valid today in a contemporary context.

Another sensation of the Kodály Centre is the site-specific  installation Analemma by Japanese Yasuhiro Chida, which builds a calm, meditative space from fine threads and light. The Kodály Centre thus becomes one of the most intimate and profound experiences of the Zsolnay Light Festival.

Acrobatics, laughter and spectacle: street theatre and contemporary circus in the heart of the city centre

The Zsolnay Light Festival offers visitors magical experiences not only at night, but also during the day. In the squares of the city center, colorful street theater and contemporary circus performances await the audience. The Octopus Mama show  is about those super mothers for whom eight hands would not be enough to meet all the challenges. In Muruya's performance, we can see an entertaining yet profound presentation about the chaos, joys and pains of becoming a mother. The Spanish Brincadeira team will take the stage in front of the Mosque on two nights of the festival,  making their percussion performances special with rhythmic lights and choreographed movement. The atmosphere in the Embers Nest will always be fiery:  fire jugglers and acrobats will amaze the audience  in the Barbican moat.

The Zsolnay Light Festival attracts more than a hundred thousand visitors every year  , and as the largest light-themed event in Hungary,  it has deservedly earned its place among Europe's prestigious light festivals.

The programs of the festival and the attractions of the Way of Light presented in public spaces can be visited free of charge, while those in closed spaces can be viewed by purchasing a wristband, these are the Route of Light Extra locations. Discounted, early bird tickets are available from 20 May to 30 June.

Pécs is the highlight of summer!

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Save the date: The date of the next year's Zsolnay Light Festival has become official: in 2025 Pécs will be flooded with light between July 3-6. But, in addition to the official date, there are some other developments regarding the festival, so we are sharing the latest news below!

The 2024 aftermovie debuts

If you feel like recalling the brightest moments of this summer, make sure to click on the short summary video of the Zsolnay Light Festival 2024 presented here:

Nomination for Music Hungary Award

We have received recognition from an unexpected source! This year's nominees for the Music Hungary Award include the Zsolnay Light Festival! The award, established two years ago, recognizes outstanding achievements in all parts of the Hungarian music industry.

Zsolnay Light Festival has been nominated for the Visual Award, and it is a special pleasure that Re:member by Rozina Pátkai, one of the creators of the Light Art Colony, was nominated for an innovation award.

The award ceremony will be held on November 19 as part of the XII. Music Hungary Conference & Showcase in Hangvilla in Veszprém.

Between 3-6 July 2025, Pécs is going to be the highlight of the summer again!

The historical downtown of Pécs was once again flooded with light! The 2024 Zsolnay Light Festival between 4 and 7 July clad the squares and buildings of the city in new clothes through magical light creations. The country's first and still only light festival attracted more than 100,000 visitors from both Hungary and abroad, strengthening Pécs' position on the map of cultural tourism.

The central attraction of the Zsolnay Light Festival was the Zsolnay Light Art Video Mapping Competition. Within this confines of this contest, five world-famous light artists presented their 3D mapping artworks focusing on the theme of the Rubik's cube. The colourful light animations accompanied by music coming to life on the façade of the Cathedral provided a stunning visual experience. Based on public votes, the winner was the artwork Chromatic Fusion by German artist Jonas Denzel.

Along  the Route of Light, visitors could wander under the spell of state-of-the-art lighting wonders and art installations, admiring a total of 20 works of light.

Festival-goers could encounter interactive attractions at several locations, getting the opportunity to become active participants in the experience themselves: at the Mosque, they could send their own light energy up to the golden light planet of the dome, while at the Cella Septichora Visitor Center they could conjure light onto a holographic canvas with their hand gestures. The Light Carpet continued to be a big crowd favourite, covering two streets so charmingly that festival-goers often took photos lying in the middle of the road. This year, the Route of Light went beyond the city centre and the Zsolnay Cultural Quarter and its surroundings successfully debuted among the new venues.

International and domestic light artists had a chance to introduce themselves at the event, thus creating a real cultural buzz in the heart of Pécs. A Japanese artist conjured a laser show in the Kodály Center, while the works by a Spanish artist and another by French artist in the city center and in the Zsolnay Quarter respectively transported visitors to the world of science fiction films. 

The festival offered not only light experiences. Street theatre and contemporary circus productions, as well as light workshops awaited visitors during the day, while concerts and DJ sets entertained them in the evenings.

At the weekend, the city was completely full; there were no accommodations available, and visitors arrived from as faraway places as Morocco, Japan and Colombia, just to name a few.

It has been proven once again: Pécs is the highlight of summer!

The event was implemented with the subsidy of the National Cultural Fund.

The essence of Zsolnay Light Festival is that After nightfall, the mappings and site-specific light creations by Hungarian and foreign artists will amaze visitors in the cozy streets and squares of Pécs, in the  galleries of the city and in some exceptional locations that only open their doors to the public during the event. These, altogether 20 locations make up the Route of Light. During the festival taking place from 4th to 7th July, those interested can encounter light creations based on analogue and digital technology alike, as well as static and interactively controllable light installations.

The grandiose work entitled Intangible #form will be presented in the concert hall of the Kodály Center. The first of the works presented in Hungary by the young Japanese artist, SHOHEI FUJIMOTO will feature hundreds of moving 3D structures created by red-hot laser beams, filling the vast space available, which can seem real and intangible at the same time. In addition to Japanese refine purity, the artwork creates a visceral sensual experience in the viewers.

The Balokány Park near Kodály Center turns into an enchanted forest of light. The team of Lucid Collective is going to transform the park into a vibrant and tranquil sanctuary of light, sound and fog, using energy-efficient and sustainable materials.

In the Zsolnay Quarter, on the open-air stage of the Bóbita Puppet Theatre, a five-part generative laser projection can be seen that can be interpreted as a live painting performance. On a circular canvas, living memory comes to life with its pulsation, vitality, loss and what is left of it.

This year's creator of the Light Carpet covering Janus Pannonius Street will be IMRE FORK. The urban designer, boasting with a strong graffiti background, has been painting for 25 years. Several of his works can be seen at the international urban art exhibition STREET UP displayed at m21 Gallery during the festival. This year, the festival favourite venue will also have a smaller-scale version debuting in Szepesy Street, where visitors can set out to a fabulous journey without changing places, as the entire pavement surface starts moving under their feet.

The Mosque at Széchenyi Square rises into the gravity of an interactive projection, while the central element of the projection is a Sun-like celestial body, of which visitors themselves can become a part of.

At the ÁRKÁD Pécs Shopping Centre, for this year's Light Festival, LIMELIGHT team is preparing a 5-minute immersive 3D projection that explores the scientific theory of the origin of life.

The focus of the installation displayed in the small hall of Nádor Gallery is fire brought to life by means of augmented reality. The artwork, Stolen fire is a romantic digital attempt to replace feelings of alienation with illusion.

The grand hall of the same venue will feature a project using artificial intelligence: A robotic arm used in an industrial environment moves a projector this time, and the projected can be shaped by the spectators using an intelligent program. By means of LuminAI, visitors can not only illuminate the spaces around them, but also visualize their ideas.

Sci-fi fans must definitely pay a visit at the Ceremonial Hall of the General Assembly of Baranya County, where the artwork of Studio Joanie Lemercier from France is on display. French light artist Joanie LEMERCIER is considered one of the most influential artists of digital art of the twenty-first century, and his popularity is shown by the fact that she has collaborated with Jay Z and Flying Lotus. Lemercier, who is also an environmental activist, is intensely concerned with climate change and environmental destruction. His audiovisual installation in Pécs offers a journey between the past, present and future.

COSMOS.1999 explores the profound contrast between the hugely popular and seductive visual aesthetics of the science fiction genre and the dystopian vision it embodies. The project offers a critical review to our general optimism associated with the advancement of modern technology.

Yakovali Hassan's mosque is a mesmerising venue that will host audio-visual performances every afternoon, while two dome screenings will be arranged in the evening. One of them is presented by the winner of last year's fan-favourite award winner of the Zsolnay Light Art Video Mapping Competition, the work of Thailand's DecideKit, and the other by the team of the German ruestungsschmie.de, the winner of the 2021 first prize of Zsolnay Light Art.

It is also worth visiting the usual locations: laser dance show can be seen at Theatre Square, the cylindrical building of the Barbican transforms into an axis connecting hell and heaven, in the House of NGO Communities a group exhibition of the works of the Light Art Museum Budapest will be on display, while in the Cella Septichora Visitor Center visitors can bring a holographic canvas to life. The Light Art Colony in the courtyard of the Ferenc Martyn Museum continues to offer university students and young creative artists the opportunity to present their works, while visitors can make various lighting objects at several locations in the Light Workshop.

The programs of the festival and the attractions of the Route of Light presented in public spaces can be visited free of charge, while those displayed in enclosed spaces can be viewed by purchasing a wristband. These are the Route of Light Extra venues. Discounted early bird tickets are available until June 30 at the following link: https://www.zsolnayfenyfesztival.hu/en/tickets

Opening hours of the Route of Light: Thursday, Friday, Saturday: 21.30–01.00. Sunday: 21.30–00.00

The following venues can also be visited during the day: the Kodály Center, the House of NGO Communities and the Yakovali Hassan Mosque are open to visitors from Friday to Sunday from 12:00 am.

Pécs is the highlight of the summer!

Naughty delusions deceiving the senses, dazzling light installations and alternative light dimensions – Zsolnay Light Festival offers irresistible programs in Pécs once again between 4-7 July! The event will feature Artificial intelligence, an enchanted forest of light, and visitors can enter a world of dystopian sci-fi! Light will still act as a brush, while the canvas will be the entire city center, including some 30 locations.

Festivalgoers can find more and more similar types of events in many parts of the country, but the Zsolnay Light Festival launched in 2016 continues to make a unique attempt to transform a downtown-size space by means of light.

Zsolnay Light Festival, held for the 8th time, is already ranked among the top European light festivals by the international profession, and the number of visitors is expected to exceed 100,000 this year as well.

“Those who have not experienced something like this cannot even fathom what seemingly incomprehensible visual experiences can be brought to life by means of light”, says Márk Hummel, managing director of the festival organiser Zsolnay Heritage Management Non-profit Ltd.

Zsolnay Light Art Video Mapping Competition, the main attraction of the festival, features five works of three-dimensional, sound-accompanied, animated visual-art pieces, composed specifically for the façade of the Cathedral. This year's theme of the competition is the Rubik’s cube. In 2024, designer Ernő Rubik’s iconic 3D puzzle, the Rubik's cube, which has built a worldwide community, is going to be fifty years old.

Just like every year, the Route of Light will offer an exceptional experience once again this year. Each of the captivating artworks of this special light route encompassing downtown Pécs will win visitors' hearts. Its 20 stations involve iconic buildings of the city center, but due to the ever-increasing interest, it had to be expanded to an even larger area. Thus, beyond the concert hall of the Kodály Centre, which debuted last year successfully, the universe of light stretches all the way to the Zsolnay Quarter.

The artists of The Route of Light reflect on today's topical subjects. Using artificial intelligence, the interiors of an exhibition venue can be transformed in an interactive way, while another work examines the current role of fire as an ancient element defining our civilization through augmented reality. Visitors will be able to admire the choreographed movement of hundreds of red-hot giant laser beams in the concert hall of Kodály Centre, while in the Árkád Pécs shopping mall, the story of the origin of life is going to be transformed into a virtual fantasy world on a 100 square meter LED wall, at the same time, Balokány Park is going to be converted into an enchanted forest of light.

Visitors to the festival will be able to travel without moving in the street where the entire pavement surface is set in motion beneath their feet, as an audiovisual projection through the aesthetics of the science fiction genre will offers a critical review to our general optimism associated with the advancement of modern technology.

The festival will bring not only digital artworks to downtown Pécs, but also exciting street theatre and contemporary circus performances during the day. The public squares of the city centre will feature really entertaining performances thanks to Argentinian, Australian, Catalan, Israeli, Czech and Hungarian artists, as well as skilful jugglers and acrobats.

The events of the festival and the attractions of the Route of Light presented in public spaces can be visited free of charge, while those presented in enclosed spaces, i.e., the Route of Light Extra venues can be viewed by purchasing a wristband. Early bird ticket sales will start May 9 at the following link: https://www.zsolnayfenyfesztival.hu/en/tickets

 Pécs is the highlight of summer!

The ”Master of Light” Lighting Design Award of Excellence was established by Sándor Böröcz, head of Lisys-Project Ltd. in 2015 to recognize outstanding professionalism, creative vision and innovative solutions. The main goal of the initiative is to provide an opportunity for creativity to come to light, to provide a platform for discussion, exchange of views and celebrate exceptional works together.

Since its foundation, the award has been constantly evolving, and 2023 is no different in this respect. The professional jury is expecting applications in 2 categories until 24:00 on 15 March 2024: entries presenting the value-adding connection between built space and light/  lighting are expected in the architectural lighting category, while light solutions with artistic value and creating experiences  are expected in the light art category. Another change is that from 2023 applicants can enter without an entry fee. The competition is open to everyone working permanently in Hungary or to creative teams of up to 3 people, but a maximum of 3 entries can be uploaded per applicant. The announcer of the tender is seeking to receive works that will be realized between 1 January 2022 and 31 December 2023. In addition to the glory, a certificate and a trophy, the winners of the two categories will also receive a cash prize of HUF 1,000,000 for each category.

The image of the award has also been updated; the new logo and website have been inspired by the unmistakable pattern of the award handed over from 2021. The application call and the conditions of submission  can be found on the recently renewed website, on the www.afenymestere.hu page. It only takes a few minutes to submit your application. The submission deadline for entries is March 15, 2024 at 24:00. Public voting will take place between 22 and 30 March, and the shortlisted entries will be selected by the jury at the beginning of April. The submitters of the selected entries will have the opportunity to present their entry to the jury and the professional audience participating in the award ceremony at the award ceremony, scheduled to be held at the end of April, followed by an informal professional Q&A. After the presentations, the jury will decide at the award ceremony the winners of The Master of Light 2024 – Architectural Lighting Award of Excellence and the Master of Light 2024 – Light Art Award of Excellence.

Professionalism is guaranteed by and independent jury, including Krisztina Somogyi (visual intelligence researcher, architectural critic), Bálint Botzheim  (architect), János Farkas (lighting designer), András Göde (interior designer), András Kertész DLA (architect), András Nagy (member of the creative team of the 2021 winning entry), and László Szász (architect).

There is also going to be a student award this time; the aim of the Junior Master of Light student competition is to provide an opportunity for future talents to introduce themselves and prove their talent. Through the Junior Master of Light Award, ERCO, the sponsor of the award, wishes to recognize the creative work of the applicants. In addition to the Junior Award, several organizations and companies have joined the initiative by sponsoring special awards. A special award is sponsored by Provim Ltd., a member of the KÉSZ Group, the Electrotechnical Section of the Hungarian Chamber of Engineers, new-old Hungarian Architectural Arts, and the Hungarian Interior Design Association also joined the initiative by means of sponsoring two special prizes. The fans’ favourite award is sponsored by Építészfórum (Architects' Forum).

The first and only light festival of Hungary is the Zsolnay Light Festival. Visitors to Pécs can enjoy not only exciting visual-art works, such as mappings and light projections, but also special art productions (street theatre, new circus, concerts, slam poetry, etc.) accompanying the world-class event. For the first time ever, this year, The Master of Light and the Zsolnay Light Festival signed a cooperation agreement aimed at supporting Hungarian light art endeavours.

Those interested in participating in the Master of Light initiative in some form – either as an applicant or as a guest at the award ceremony – are advised  to follow the FB site of the award (https://www.facebook.com/afenymestere.masteroflight) and subscribe to the newsletter on the afenymestere.hu site.

In recent years, Zsolnay Light Festival, attracting hundreds of thousands of people, has become the highlight of the program offer of Pécs, and this is expected to be the case in 2024 as well. In addition, we already have the date of the country's first and only light festival: between July 4 and 7, the streets and iconic buildings of Pécs will be flooded with light – for the 8th time.

The staff of Zsolnay Heritage Management Ltd., the organizer of the festival, is already working hard on the preparations for next year's festival. Meanwhile, it's worth revisiting the most beautiful moments of this year’s festival and the unmistakable festival atmosphere by means of the after-movie debuting right now.

See the brand-new video:

The past few months has been eventful as well: in September, Zsolnay Light Festival received the Diamond Award of City Marketing. This appreciation was awarded at the Marketing Summit Hungary event, which is considered the largest event of the marketing profession, and the Light Festival received it due to the fact that it performed successful urban-marketing activities meeting the evaluation criteria and according to the professional jury, the work they carried out was of high quality.

On October 16, the festival's "winter little sister", the Advent Mapping Children's Drawing Competition, was launched, whereby children's drawings are going to come to life as mapping art works on the façade of the Mosque.

Between July 4-7, 2024, Pécs is going to be the highlight of summer again!

Some visitors found the attractions the 7th Zsolnay Light Festival fairytale-like, while others deemed them thought-provoking or euphoric, but there was no doubt about that fact that it was a highly spectacular event full of dazzling sights and experiences. The country's first and only light festival attracted more than a hundred thousand visitors to Pécs between 6 and 9 July.

At the light festival, unique in Hungary, the audience thirsty for new impulses could participate in as many as 100 events, see world-class light installations, an international mapping competition, admire more than 10,000 square meters of mapping, and attend concerts, contemporary circus and street art performances. One of the most captivating sights was the seven-meter-diameter, realistic, brilliant globe, the installation called Gaia, which enchanted the audience with hypnotic power in the imposing concert hall of the Kodály Centre.

The biggest attraction of the festival is the Zsolnay Light Art international mapping competition, which took place on the facade of the Cathedral. Of the five works made it to the finals, the team MultiScalar from Germany proved to be the winning entry on Sunday following the decision of the professional jury. The audience award was granted to the DecideKit, a team from Thailand.

"The uniqueness of the festival lies in the fact that it combines the 2,000-year history of Pécs with cutting-edge technologies. Thanks to the light installations, the iconic buildings of the city gain completely new, dreamlike appearance", said Márk Hummel, the executive director of Zsolnay Heritage Management non-profit Ltd., the organised of the festival.

The city was bustling at full speed during the weekend: all accommodations were fully booked as early as weeks before the event, the restaurants and events were full of guests and visitors, while social media and the press were also buzzing with the reports and audio-video contents of the light festival. The number of people committed to the festival shows a remarkable increase, as compared to last year; more than twice as many people bought The Route of Light wristbands allowing them to view the more special indoor light installations as in 2002.

The festival lit up the hearts of everyone: children made light-emitting toys in the arts-and-crafts light workshop (Fénybütykölde), young people took photos while lying on the light carpet, and the older age group comfortably strolled through along the stations of the Route of Light featuring some 20 light attractions.

The amazing success of the festival proved once again that "Pécs is the highlight of the summer!"

See you again next year!

This is the seventh time The Zsolnay Light Festival has been awaiting the audience thirsting for world-class light experiences in Pécs, between July 6-9. Visitors will be able to observe our planet from the perspective of astronauts, the fairy-tale world of the forests of Mecsek comes alive through mapping, and they can enjoy a four-dimensional experience as music appears in front of them visually. More than 100 programs await those interested: during the day, giant are going to dodos run around the Mediterranean streets of Pécs, and in the evening, the world's best light artists compare their skills at the Zsolnay Light Art international mapping competition.

The most eagerly awaited program of the festival, attracting as many as 100,000 visitors last year, is the Zsolnay Light Art international mapping competition, whereby three-dimensional building-specific mapping works come to life on the facade of the Cathedral. Entries for the competition were received from 31 countries this year, and the best 5 of these works gets the chance to be presented at the festival. The theme of this year's competition is coexistence.

Every year, the creations of the Route of Light offer a unique experience, and visitors can expect the same this year. At the stations of the light tour that weaves throughout the city center of Pécs, you can enjoy special experiences, and can also experience the joy of active participation and the freedom of creation at many locations.

The outdoor locations of the Route of Light can be visited free of charge, while the indoor ones will require a Route of Light Extra wristband. The focal point of the festival includes works of art that, by means of the electrifying power of the arts, consciously respond to the environmental and social problems of our time, such as climate change, the energy crisis and sustainability.

Susan Kosti and Kati Katona aregoing to compose a hypnotic projection on the facade of the Mosque at Széchenyi Square using data collected by NASA over 20 years to draw attention to an ecosystem that needs a lot of help and intervention to survive the destruction caused by climate change.

This work was initially made for Vivid Sydney 2023 and commissioned by Destination NSW.

The mapping composition coming to life on Színház Square is going to invite visitors to a journey through the forest. In addition to the animals, plants and mushrooms of the domestic forests, the creation of Laluz Visuals elaborates the world of fairy tales and legends the Mecsek forests through sound and light.

Kodály Központ, one of the most beautiful concert halls in Hungary boasting one of the best acoustics as well, is going to make its debut as a new venue for The Route of Light. The most captivating, monumental attraction of the festival, Gaia, will be on display in the concert hall. The installation, which is seven meters in diameter and hovers above visitors’ heads, depicts the Earth. The artwork of the Luke Jerram (UK) evokes a feeling similar to what astronauts report: a common feature of the experiences is a deep understanding of the connections of life, care for the planet and a renewed sense of responsibility for our environment.  The work is 1.8 million times smaller than the real Earth, each centimetre of the installation illuminated from the inside depicts 18 km of the Earth's surface. Standing 211 meters from the artwork, the audience could see the planet as it appears from the moon. The experience is completed by the surround sound composition of Dan Jones, a BAFTA award-winning composer.

In conjunction with the Gaia launch, UNICEF Hungary Climate Heroes programme will also be present at the festival, offering lectures and interactive discussions for young people, where they can meet prominent Hungarian experts and decision-makers. The world's largest child protection organisation is raising awareness that the climate crisis is also a children's rights crisis. Among other things, the event will provide a space for dialogue and joint planning to ensure that our only planet remains a livable place for today's children.

The building of the Árkád Pécs Shopping Mall is going to be overrun by giant fairy-tale monsters: the English Filthy Luker team is driven by passion for innovative design, public art and amazement.

In the early Christian burial chambers of the Cella Septichora Visitor Center, the mystical atmosphere of the ceremonies of ancient times is going to come to life: Márk Bartha's immersive audiovisual installation creates a spectacular light choreography following the dimensions of the ruins.

The winner of the 2022 Zsolnay Light Art International mapping competition, the Spanish team Los Romeras will project the dome of the Hasan Jami in Jakovala, while the Spanish artist Marc Vilanova will present his work Limen in the ceremonial hall of the County General Assembly, which aims to reveal and present the invisible sounds of our daily lives.

Mïus band and Attaray Visual are going to present their sound-light-space installation at the Nádor Gallery, which creates an audiovisual four-dimensional spatial experience whereby sound becomes visible. This time, the project, which until now has only been implemented as a concert, is going to appear as a fine art installation in the atmosphere of the gallery.

This year, the festival is also going to launch an inventive experimental program that focuses on the creators of the future, that is young people currently participating in higher education and actively involved in light art.

In the coming years, a site functioning as a "light artist colony" is going to be be created in Káptalan Street, which, in addition to the transfer of knowledge, professional technical background and mentoring support, will provide an opportunity for young artists to present their works and to build a community for themselves. Students from the University of Pécs, the University of Kaposvár and the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts are going to participate in this first year.

Zsolnay Light Festival is the largest summer outdoor event in Southern Transdanubia, which offers events not only for the nights. During the day, street-art theatre performances, audio-visual and lighting programs are going to await those interested. A Belgian circus troupe is coming to Széchenyi Square, whose artists from 12 countries represent the new voice of contemporary circus. The eccentric artists of the French Les Dodos, Professor Jean and his assistant are going to conduct a city safari on the streets of Pécs riding dodos.

This year, the program of the festival is enriched with a brand-new fire juggling venue, the Embers. Every afternoon during the festival, the Barbakan moat is going to host a fire juggling play-house, where participants can get an insight into the secrets of the knacks of fire jugglers' and test their skills in, while in the evenings visitors can watch spectacular performances and fire will dominate the place to such an extent that even the cocktails will catch fire!

In the summer of 2023, the Zsolnay Light Festival, in cooperation with the Dutch Embassy in Hungary, hosts the Netherlands in its international focus program. In the House of Civil Communities, visitors can see works by several contemporary Dutch light artists, and the street-art program is also going to include some surprise events form the Netherlands.

Pécs is the highlight of the summer!

Last year, with the exception of Africa and Antarctica, entries were received from all continents for the Zsolnay Light Art mapping competition in Pécs. You can apply for this year's round of the now world-famous competition from February 24. As usual, the best mapping artists can present their works during the Zsolnay Light Festival, cladding the facade of the Cathedral in bright light-robes.

Zsolnay Light Festival awaits lovers of light experiences in Pécs from 6 to 9 July. The most significant element of the festival is the Zsolnay Light Art international mapping competition with prize money. In the process, the world's best light-artists bring the monumental facade of the Cathedral to life with three-dimensional, moving light-art works.

The theme of this year's competition is coexistence. Simultaneous existence is a system in which completely different elements exist in the same space and time. Acceptance and understanding are an important element in interactions based on the principle of "live and let live". All this leads to various interactions and ultimately results in a complex, long-term sustainable system. This phenomenon can be seen in action in all areas of life, whether it is about relationships between individuals or social groups, culture, our built and natural environment, or even machines and neural networks.

The deadline for submitting applications is April 3, 2023. After the pre-screening, the 5 best works qualifying to the final can be presented at the festival.

 The curatorial staff of Zsolnay Light Art considers it important to strengthen the public-art nature of building mapping and the conscious exploitation of its potential. When the tender applications are assessed, in addition to visuality, a particular importance is attributed to the presentation of artistically demanding, cliché-free, original content.

The competition takes place in one category, and the jury is going to be made up of a a five-member international professional committee again. In addition to the main prize of 5,000 euros awarded by the jury, there will also be a fans’ favourite award this year. The professional partner of Zsolnay Light Art as well as the host of the competition is Glowing Bulbs.

For more details, see: https://www.zsolnayfenyfesztival.hu/en/zsolnay-light-art

**

In addition to the call for Zsolnay Light Art, another tender is also in the active stage, as the organizers are also awaiting applications for the creations presented along the Route of Light. Tender applications for the implementation of various light-art works and installations covering the city centre are expected to be submitted until March 10.

https://www.zsolnayfenyfesztival.hu/en/route-of-light-open-call-2023-foreword

www.fenyfesztival.hu

Zsolnay Heriatage Management Non-profit Ltd., the organizer of the Zsolnay Light Festival, received the 2022 accreditation certificate of the Hungarian Festival Association's registration and certification program. We are already in full swing preparing for the 2023 festival, and we are announcing the date of next year’s festival now.

During a conference organized by the Hungarian Festival Association, the Zsolnay Light Festival of Pécs was awarded a recognition of accreditation from the president of the association, Kata Borsa. Only 6 festivals received the recognition this year.

Zsolnay Light Festival is the country's first and only light festival, boasting approximately 100,000 visitors at the event displaying the artworks of the world's best mapping artists in July.

- We are really glad about the recognition, and, despite the current economic conditions, we will do our best to offer visitors experiences they will never forget in 2023, said Márk Hummel, managing director for Zsolnay Heritage Management Ltd.

He also announced next year's date: Pécs will be covered in dazzling light at July 6-9, 2023 during the 7th Zsolnay Light Festival.

The amazing atmosphere is faithfully conveyed by the 2022 aftermovie debuting just recently: 

It is going to be the highlight of the summer in Pécs in 2023 again!

On September 15, the Zsolnay Light Festival won the City Marketing Diamond Award at the Marketing Summit Hungary event, which is considered the most significant event in the marketing profession!

The 6. Zsolnay Light Festival performed effective city marketing activities in the Festival – ​​event category during the 2022 application period, meeting the evaluation criteria and evaluated as high-quality by the professional jury.

The goal of the Hungarian Marketing Association and the co-hosts of the tender is to contribute to the spread of demanding, professionally correct practice by recognizing successful and effective marketing solutions and promoting them widely.

Following the jury's decision, the prize was awarded to initiatives that develop the practice and success of city marketing.

The sixth Zsolnay Light Festival held between July 7 and 10 conjured up a dazzling light fiesta in Pécs! At the country's first and only light festival, approximately 100,000 visitors enjoyed the various sights and performances offered by the event. The competition involving the world's best lighting artists brought a win to the Spanish team.

The winners of the Zsolnay Light Art international mapping competition were announced on Sunday night. The five finalists brought the facade of the Cathedral to life by means of 3D mapping. The competition was watched by tens of thousands of people on the spot, including the members of the international jury, who decided that the team Los Romeras from Spain was worthy for the first place, while the fans’ favourite award was also won by this creative group.

In addition to the mapping competition, another sensation of the festival was the 20 stations of the Route of Light, where enchanting mappings and light installations awaited the visitors. Interactivity played a central role at many locations, such as light tennis and light graffiti, but the giant luminous tulips, the light carpet and the magical creation of 5,000 light balls in the Árkád Pécs Shopping Mall were also popular attractions. The light work entitled Flowers for László was a really heart-warming experience, as it commemorated László Jandó, the always smiling florist on Kórház tér, who passed away this year.

More people were interested in the Extra locations of the Route of Light than ever before, as more than 3,000 visitors bought wristbands so that they could visit the paying sites. People were waiting in long Queues in front of the light creature that came to life in the House of NGO Communities, visitors watched the holographic light objects zigzagging in the Pécs Gallery with awe, while in the Mosque of Jakovali Hassan, they could enjoy the mapping accompanying the sound composition consisting of the vibrations of sound bowls and gongs in a meditative mood, lying on carpets.

In addition to light installations, visitors could take part in contemporary circus, street theatre, musical performances and lighting-professional events, and in the Creative Light Workshop, hundreds of people made light jewellery and illuminated souvenirs for themselves.

„It’s great to see how much this Celebration of Light suits our city, and the inhabitants of Pécs feel it as their own, and they love and support this unique event, and every year more and more people are interested in it - not only from the region, but from all over the country, an even from abroad.” said Márk Hummel Márk, the managing director of the Zsolnay Heritage Management Ltd., organising the festival.

Zsolnay Light Art 2022. / 1. price and crowd winner / Los Romeras (ES) – Balanced Expression:

Immerse yourself in the ocean of lights!

Pécs is going to become the capital of light of the world for four days once again, as the 6th Zsolnay Light Festival is coming soon to shine between July 7–10! The country’s first and only light festival is expected to attract 100,000 visitors and the organizers are expected to present some 120 peculiarities. World-renowned light artists will bring their most exciting pieces of work to visitors, who can also try such curiosities as playing tennis with light, making light graffities and diving into the ocean of light – all for free! You won't believe your eyes this year again!

The city center of Pécs will turn into fantasyland, with dazzling sights in a total of 20 locations, forming the Route of Light:

After touring the world's largest light festivals in recent years, the huge, immersive work of the English Squidsoup team, Submergence, is arriving at the Árkád Pécs Shopping Center. The audience can walk into the work while being completely surrounded by the dynamic light installation. With more than 5,000 light spots, the work evokes an illusion of immersing in the ocean.

On the 25th anniversary of his death, two works will pay tribute to the oeuvre of Victor Vasarely, the world-famous artist born in Pécs. Contemplating Vasarely's visual world, students of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Pécs "weave a carpet of light" in Janus Pannonius Street. The other work will be a Vasarely-inspired interactive mapping creation opposite the Csontváry Museum.

The reputable Zsolnay family built a tennis court in the Barbican Trench at the beginning of the 20th century, and this year it will come to life again, where visitors can play tennis matches by means of light.

Waterlight Graffiti, an interactive work by Antonin Fourneau from France, is arriving in Kossuth Square. Here, on an eight-meter-wide LED wall, visitors will be able to create light graffitis using water.

Mapping works are going to shine on the iconic squares and buildings of Pécs, such as the big Mosque on the main square, Jókai Square or the National Theatre of Pécs, but new venues such as the new Pécs Market Hall or the playground of Árkád Park are also going to get clad in a light robe shining in UV colours.

If you want even more experience at the free festival, the Route of Light Extra is awaiting you, whose special venues and exclusive programs can be visited by purchasing a HUF 1,500 wristband. They will include, for example, one of the most special light installations, the work of the international light artist collective Tundra entitled Row at the Pécs Gallery. During the holographic, audio-visual experience, objects of light zigzag around you as if some magic would have come to life in a Harry Potter movie.

The Mosque of Hassan Jakovali reopened just a couple of weeks ago, and now visitors having an extra wristband can admire the mappings on the inner dome and walls of the building, as is the House of NGO Communities, where the audience can see the works by two Hungarian light artists, Gáspár Battha and Erik Mátrai.

The prestige of the festival is enhanced by an international, cash-prize light painting competition. During the Zsolnay Light Art Mapping Competition, the monumental façade of the Cathedral will be brought to life by the best light artists in the world by means of three-dimensional, moving mapping works. The theme of this year's competition is balance. The selection is over; the shortlisting jury has selected the 5 finalists to be seen at the festival. Entries came from all over the world, including works by a Hungarian, a French, a Spanish, a German and a Thai artist.   

A special feature of Zsolnay Light Festival is that it offers experiences not only after dark, but also during the day, when visitors are entertained by charming international street-theatre shows. The program features an idiosyncratic street clown from Chile, incredibly skilled acrobats and a magician juggler from Argentina, a bubble circus from Italy and a contemporary-circus performance from France, but you can also admire a show by a Hungarain fire juggler troupe.

At Széchenyi Square, a Swiss ensemble, Panorama Kino Theatre, involving actors from Pécs and Budapest, will build a special cinema rotating 360 degrees, where the „technicolor” background scenery will be made up of the street and the film stars will be the visitors of the festival themselves. You can also see the show of mixed genre by artists from Pécs, and you are of adventurous spirit, you can test your skills in the circus school.

A peculiarity of the music programs is that at the festival, visitors can only encounter musical experiences which also include visual effects playing a dominant role. Spectacular concerts and DJ sets offer night entertainment, including Decolonize Your Mind Society, Freakin ’Disco Chamber Electronics, Zagar, Siblicity, Polish audiovisual artist Ari Dykier, Dj dork and Zsiga Bernathy.  

Additional events offer a lot of excitement as well. In the Workshop of Light (Fénybütykölde), everyone can create glowing jewellery and memorabilia themselves.

Every year “ambassadors of light” come to the festival; this year we are hosting Poland. In this context, Polish lighting and audio-visual concerts are going to enrich the program, while professional discussions are also going to be held with representatives of Polish light art.

This year, the festival goes beyond the city centre: the Zsolnay Cultural Quarter awaits visitors with light attractions at daytime.

Pécs is going to be the highlight of summer again this year!

The horrors of the coronavirus and the war take their toll on everyone both mentally and in spirits, while the contents pouring on us push our threshold of toleration to the limits. Yet in these difficult times, we need experiences that fill our hearts with warmth and faith! An event where different nations experience a special miracle that only shines once a year. This is the aim of the mapping-art competition of the Zsolnay Light Festival in Pécs.

Is it possible to see millions of butterflies fly out of the window of the Cathedral of Pécs, or that the windows of the building become piano keys, or that the church spins around its own axis? The realm of imagination is opened by the Zsolnay Light Art International Mapping Competition, whereby the best mapping artist in the world bring the facade of the Cathedral to life and get the hearts of tens of thousands of people throbbed.

The theme of this year’s competition is equilibrium, which has been given a sad topicality. Equilibrium is a state in which different influences and forces fully balance one another, resulting in a situation that suggests security and creates a positive feeling. This is a desired state in any area of life; yet today's reality is rather characterised by situations where the usual equilibrium states are overturned one after the other, generating unknown processes and often causing unpredictable changes. The organizers are waiting works reflecting on this theme.

This year, the organizers introduced several innovations. Only the best 5 works will be included in the screening program of the 2022 festival this year, instead of the previous 10. At the same time, the maximum length of the works, which had been up to 3 minutes before, has been increased to 4.5 minutes, providing an opportunity to create more profound works.

The competition is going to be held in one category, and the jury will once again be made up of a five-member international professional committee. In addition to the grand prize of € 5,000 awarded by the jury, there will be a fan favourite award this year as well. The professional collaborating partner and the host of the Zsolnay Light Art is Glowing Bulbs. 

For more details regarding the application, see: Zsolnay Light Art Open Call

The competition is the highlight of Zsolnay Light Festival taking place from July 7-10, which was attended each time by some 80,000 people in recent years. In addition to this, the most intense experience of the festival is offered by the works along the Route of Light, which consists of some 25 stations. This year’s novelty is that, light artists can also applied for their implementation.

More than a 120 entries have been submitted to the Route of Light open call of the 2022 Zsolnay Light Festival. The call has ended on the 10th of April, all submissions are being evaluated. In case there is a need for any technical or other information missing from a proposal, the applicants will be contacted in the following weeks, the final decision will be published on the 2nd of May.

For more details, see: Route of Light Open Call

Further details: www.fenyfesztival.hu/en  

The first and only light festival of Hungary, the Zsolnay Light Festival in Pécs, is going to return to its summer date next year!

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Zsolnay Heritage Manager held the event that attracting tens of thousands of people in autumn this year. In 2022, however, the seven-time award-winning event  is scheduled for July 7-10, thus awaits visitors in summer again.

Entry to the Zsolnay Light Art International Mapping Competition is going to begin in spring. As always, the best entries will bring the façade of the Cathedral to life with their spectacular 3D light-creations during the festival. The attractions of the Pathway of Light winding through the city center, as well as street-art productions, musical delicacies and light-professional programs are also going to return.

In the meantime, it's worth viewing back the 2021 festival by means of the after movie debuting now:

This 2022 event will be the highlight of the summer in Pécs again!

As if summer had returned for four days – the Zsolnay Light Festival in Pécs took place between 30 September and 3 October. The city was engulfed by a flood of light and saw an unexpectedly great atmosphere. The festival, which was postponed to the fall due to the coronavirus pandemic, was an overwhelming success despite all the adverse circumstances and provided an unforgettable experience for tens of thousands of visitors. A German competitor proved to be victorious  at the Zsolnay Light Art International Mapping Competition.

The 5th Zsolnay Light Festival –the first and only festival of light in the country offered more than 150 events and attractions to visitors. In addition, the elite of the international lighting profession has participated in professional events and roundtable discussions, enhancing the festival’s international reputation even further.

The winners of the Zsolnay Light Art International Mapping Competition were announced on Sunday evening. The 10 finalists brought the façade of the Cathedral to life with 3-dimensional mapping works. The winner of the competition was selected by a five-member international jury, and they jusged the German work Ruestungsschmie.de: Colours of noise won to be the best and was awarded the first place. The light-art group received a cash prize of € 5,000 and was also invited to the “Winners League”, the iMapp Bucharest, a mapping competition taking place in Bucharest, Romania, involving the world’s best mapping artists.

The fan’s favourite award was won by the Hungarian team Fluid with the work Source, so they can present themselves at the next Zsolnay Light Festival with an independent light installation

- We had to make a decision about this year's Zsolnay Light Festival at the beginning of the year in an unpredictable situation. Then we decided to organize the festival this year by all means, and picked an autumn date for the event. Fortunately, the amazing success and lots of positive feedback proved that it was the best choice - reported Péter Bleszity, managing director of the festival organizer Zsolnay Heritage Management Non-profit Ltd..

In addition to the mapping competition, the 23 stations of the Pathway of Light, where the audience could see different light installations, saw a huge success. The children could slide on a playground of light, masses of visitors could take a stroll on the carpet of light, but one of the most special creations was presented in the Csontváry Museum, where a piece of art by Csontváry was “brought to life”. By means of the installation, visitors could make the painting Lonely Cedar move by the wind they generated. In addition to maintaining the high standards of previous years, this year the festival featured several works of light that provided an opportunity for greater meditation and deeper introspection than earlier.

In addition to light creations, visitors could take part in contemporary circus, street-theater, music and lighting-professional events.

The promise proved to be fulfilled: Pécs was the highlight of the autumn!

The first and only festival of light in the country, the Zsolnay Light Festival, will shine the city again in the autumn with dazzling light creations, From September 30 till October 3, the buildings will be clad in light; the streets will be carpeted with light, while the monumental façade of the Cathedral will be brought to life by the best 3D, animated light projections of the international competition. After New York, Hong Kong, Amsterdam and Toronto, the light creation "Talking Heads", will be on display for the first time in Hungary; two iconic works by Csontváry are going to come to life, while visitors might also encounter extra-terrestrial light beings!!

Walking along the Pathway of Light through the center of Pécs, you will be able to see grandiose, heart-warming and extravagant – but definitely amazing – spectacular, site-specific light installations at twenty-three sites.

After New York, Hong Kong, Amsterdam and Toronto, "Talking Heads", a work by Viktor Vicsek's and Limelight will be on display for the first time in Hungary. The installation consists of two six-and-a-half-metre heads made up of 4000 LED lights. In the dynamic sculpture composition, the heads communicate by flashing the lights, their facial expressions change according to the content of their talk, and they express emotions – nothing like this has ever been on display in Hungary before.

In Cella Septichora, featuring underground tombs inclued in the UNESCO’s Word Heritage list, Multiverse 5.1 , a work created by fuse*, an Italian light artist team, extending beyond physical walls of sacral space, giving the impression that you can enter a parallel universe is going to be on display

The Csontváry Museum will be enriched with two special, interactive audio-visual works during the Festival of Light. Through the works by Andrea Sztojánovits and Ivó Kovács, two iconic works by Csontváry The Lonely Cedar and The Valley of the Great Tarpatak in the Tatras are going to come to life.

One of the most special light experiences this year is going to take place in one of the main venues of the festival, Széchenyi Square. In addition to the 360-degree projection of the Mosque, the facades of the buildings in the square will be engulfed by light; the choreographed complex composition delivered by projectors, laser beams and robotic lamps offers a unique spectacle.

In addition to this, the Barbican's bastion and its moats are going to be covered with mapping installations, three gripping works of light are going to arrive at the House of Non-Governmental Communities; besides, there will be light sculptures, a carpet of light, and a light playground for children, too. Visitors are going to be able to play with an interactive 3D puzzle in Kossuth Square, they are going to be involved as live prisms in the light creation made in Pezsgőház (House of Champagne), they will be able to magnify microscopic worlds to become giant in the Apollo cinema; they can research the reflection of colours in the Evangelical Church and special, reflective light creatures are going to move to the mall ÁRKÁD Pécs during these early autumn days.

The highlight and most popular event of the festival, the Zsolnay Light Art International Mapping Competition, is going to feature animated 3D light creations bringing the façade of the Cathedral to life. The best ten productions made into the final include Japanese, French, Spanish, Ecuadorian, and of course Hungarian competitors.

As early as during the day, but also in the evenings, visitors can take part in numerous street-art programs, including breath-taking performances by acrobats, LED and fire jugglers as well as contemporary-circus ensembles from various countries, while they can also learn how to juggle from Hungarian, Peruvian and Brazilian artists. The festival features several concerts as well; performers this year are expected to include Zagar AV Experience, DJ Bootsie, Pozvakowski, and MINKA lead by Rozina Pátkai, among others.

The highlight of our Focus Country project of the festival is going to be Croatia this year; the light festivals of Croatia, Zagreb, Pula and Osijek are going to present their projects in Káptalan Street.

According to the regulations currently in force, the events of the Pathway of Light can be visited without any limitations, while the Zsolnay Light Art mapping competition, the Street-art programs and concerts can be visited only by presenting a vaccination card.

Most of the programs are still free, while the paying venues of the Pathway of Light Extra can be visited with a wristband bought before.

Zsolnay Light Festival of Pécs is unique by all means, as there is no other event in Hungary offering such diverse spectacles including mappings on buildings, light sculptures and interactive light games.

Instead of the summer festival season, which has become unpredictable due to the pandemic, Zsolnay Heritage Management Non-profit Ltd. is going to hold the Zsolnay Light Festival at a safer time. Thus, the first and only light festival in the country will shine in Pécs from 30th September to 3rd October.

The festival, boasting with an impressive line-up, including many foreign performers, impressed as many as 80,000 visitors last time. When making the decision to change the date, the organisers kept the safety of both the artists and the audience in mind.

’However, if the regulations allow, we will not give up the summer festival season itself entirely. Still we consider it safer to start with smaller events and festivals, so there will be a gradual rise in the series of events, and we hope that the Zsolnay Light Festival, which attracts the largest crowd, will be held amidst calmer and safer conditions in the autumn’ said Péter Bleszity, CEO of Zsolnay Heritage Management Non-profit Ltd.

The Zsolnay Light Festival in Pécs offers a unique spectacle not seen anywhere else in Hungary. The best mapping artists in the world will enchant Pécs during the seven-time-awarded, impulsive festival adapting foreign trends. The buildings are going to be clad in a light robe and the streets carpeted with light installations – offering a magical experience as if you were entering a dream world. The four-day festival, which can be visited free of charge, the audience hungry for new experiences can enjoy  concerts, contemporary-circus and street-theatre performances as well.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Zsolnay Light Festival in Pécs was cancelled last year, but the organizer Zsolnay Heritage Management NKft. hopes the country’s first and only light festival can return this year. In the spirit of this, on March 1, it announced the international, Zsolnay Light Art Mapping Competition where prize money is awarded. The best mapping artists in the world are going to enchant the Cathedral of Pécs with their three-dimensional short films once again.

The competition is a completely unique attraction in the country, and is the undisputable highlight of the Zsolnay Light Festival held from July 1-4. The “canvas” of the mapping artists is the Cathedral of Pécs, whose facade, side nave, towers and roof are also covered by the creators with 3D mapping art creations.

- We are preparing to hold the Zsolnay Light Festival between 1 and 4 July this year; but, of course, only if the current regulations allow it. To avoid large crowds, we will be continuously screening the competition creations. If it is not possible to implement our original plan, we will try to find alternative solutions, be it by putting off the date of the festival or holding the competition online, said Péter Bleszity, Managing Director of Zsolnay Heritage Management.

The subject matter of the 2021 competition in Pécs is Lightmatter. The deadline for the first application round is April 5, 2021, and then during the pre-judging the best 10 works are going to be selected in two rounds. The selected works then are going to be presented at the Zsolnay Light Festival.

The final jury for the competition is going to be a five-member, international professional committee. This will be the first year when each shortlist creator will automatically receive € 1,000 prize money for their work, and it is also an innovation that the official jury will award only one prize. Besides, the work considered best by viewers will be rewarded with an People's Choice Award.

The professional partner of Zsolnay Light Art and the host of the competition - as in previous years - is the Hungarian visual artist group, Glowing Bulbs, boasting more than 20 years of history.

Aftermovie from 2019:

If it's up to us, Pécs will be the highlight of the summer again!

Unfortunately, due to the situation caused by COVID-19, the Zsolnay Light Festival in Pécs, planned for the summer of 2020, cannot take place in its usual form. The organizers, i.e. the staff of Zsolnay Heritage Management Ltd. have been working hard in recent weeks not to let the light go out and make the most of the situation.

As a result of this organizing work, the country's first light festival will make up for it next year: the usual, world-class series of programs, spectacular 3D mappings, street art productions and light attractions that enchant the entire city centre will return. The date of the festival is already available: it will take place July 1-4, 2021. The biggest light festival in the country is awaiting its visitors again!

At the same time, the audience will still have stunning light programs, as for the rest of the year, ZsÖK will enchant the nights in Pécs with smaller-scale but just as spectacular lighting events.

Zsolnay Light Festival is preparing for the future with a new type of series of programs

Due to the coronavirus situation causing radical changes worldwide and the unpredictability of the coming months, Zsolnay Light Festival, planned for the summer of 2020, is going to take place in a different form this year: Zsolnay Heritage Management Non-profit Ltd of Pécs, in collaboration with domestic and foreign artists, strives to organize several smaller-scale light events for the rest of the year.

Zsolnay Light Festival in Pécs, celebrating its 5th anniversary in 2020, is a four-day light festival of national and European significance that organically combines the dazzling world of light festivals with street-art productions, contemporary circus performances and music programs. After carefully assessing the possibilities the present situations can hold and taking them in consideration in a responsible manner, it became certain that in the current global crisis situation, ZsHM cannot organize the event at the same scale and with such complex programs as in previous years.

Therefore, the organizers decided that the Zsolnay Light Festival will be transformed this year. The decision is not resignation but adaptation; the creative work will not stop. The goal is now to create a series of programs that carry on the tradition, but on a smaller scale, that will continue to inspire thinking, convey values, entertain, delight, and be followed virtually as well. And all the events that cannot take place this year will be presented to the visitors in Pécs in July 2021.

We are constantly updating this year's events and preparations for next year. Please, keep track of them in the press and at the following sites:

www.fenyfesztival.hu

www.facebook.com/zsolnayfenyfesztival

1st place:
Team name: Michele Pusceddu - Italy
Title: Complementary Lights

2nd place:
Team name: TOOPFIRE - China
Title: The Heart of the Forest

3rd place:
Team name: ruestungsschmie.de - Germany
Title: TECHTONIC³

Winner of the audience award:
Team name: Michele Pusceddu - Italy
Title: Complementary Lights

Congratulations to this year's winners!

Other than the Zsolnay Light Art Mapping contestants works, there will be one more unique lightart on the walls of the Székesegyház: the world-famous 3D mapping artist, László Zsolt Bordos, brings us his beautiful work, Inertia.

The surfacemapping is made full by added robotlamps, this magnitude of lightart has not been at our festival so far.

You can watch it three times from June 28-30th, friday to sunday, every night at 23.50.