Festival of Lights

On 8 December the people of Lyon put small candles in coloured glass holders on their windowsills, and by evening the streets of the old town are lined with little flames. The city calls them lumignons, and shops sell them in late November.

The tradition goes back to 1852. A statue of the Virgin Mary was to be inaugurated on Fourvière hill in September, the flooding of the Saône pushed the ceremony to 8 December, and that evening residents lit their windows. The habit stuck. It later turned from a religious custom into a civic one, and the city now adds artists' light installations on top of it.

Today the festival runs about four days around 8 December. In 2026 it takes place from Saturday 5 to Tuesday 8 December, with 27 installations by artists from 14 nationalities and 10 Lyon teams. The basilica on Fourvière is lit in changing colours, the Place des Terreaux gets a show of its own each year, and parts of the centre are reserved for pedestrians at night. The festival was cancelled in 2015 after the Paris attacks except for the candles, and returned in a smaller, three-day form in 2016.

How to go: Lyon is a TGV ride from Paris, and our five-day Lyon guide covers the city. Expect crowds in the centre, especially on the evening of the 8th, so walk the quieter hillsides early in the evening, and book a room well before the programme is published. Dates for 2027 have not been announced.