A total of 10,000 sq m of art will illuminate some of Sofia’s most famous buildings and urban spaces, as part of the fourth edition of the LUNAR Festival of Lights. Between May 8 and 11 (inclusive), residents and guests of the capital will be able to enjoy video and static 3D mapping, light installations, immersive experiences and a laser show, which will be located at 14 locations in the central city. All works will be accessible for free, and the lights will be switched on between 9:00 PM and midnight on each of the four evenings.
At the beginning of the 3-kilometer route of the festival, on the beautiful facade of the National Gallery/Square 500, the seven finalists in the International Video Mapping Competition will impress the audience with their performances on the theme of “Covenant”. A record number of artists and studios from 26 countries participated in the third edition of the championship, which is establishing itself as a cultural highlight and contributing to the tourist image of the country. A special jury will evaluate their creative exploration of the cultural codes and stories passed down through the centuries, and the three winners will be announced on the last evening of the festival.
The world of fantasy will once again illuminate the magnificent Renaissance palace-style facade of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. The continuation of the story of Princess Velea from last year’s edition of the festival will show how fairy tales inspire us and take us out of reality, and will trace how the clash with reality affects the fairy-tale world.
Just meters away, a projection mapping spectacle will transform the facade of the National Library “St. Cyril and Methodius”. It will mark Europe Day by creating a so-called data sculpture that explores the fundamental principles on which the European Union is built, in an attempt to discover their visual expression, character and symbolism.
This year, the event program will also provide visitors with the opportunity to “immerse” themselves with all their senses in two 360-degree immersive experiences, broadcast one after the other, that will transport them to the hottest spots on the planet. Some of the greatest challenges facing humanity and ways to overcome them will be presented. The dome will be located in the Prince’s Garden, and the projections will be every 10 minutes.
The walk through Sofia, transformed into an open-air gallery, will take the audience to one of the capital’s favorite gardens – Crystal. There, the mysterious silhouettes of the holographic light installation “Guardians of the Light” will invite the audience to quiet contemplation.
Taking Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd., the light trail will reach the National Gallery/Palace. Its facade will host a video mapping show dedicated to the present moment. The impressive visual journey created for the magnificent facade will make the audience reflect on the path they have traveled and how the future is being shaped right here, right now, by everyone connected in the shared moment.
Foreign visual artists and studios from five countries will create an unforgettable journey where imagination meets the future, on the occasion of bTV’s 25th anniversary. It will illuminate the facade of the beautiful building at 4 Knyaz Alexander I Street.
Slaveykov Square, beloved by Sofia residents and guests, will once again be part of the event. There, two video 3D mapping performances will welcome the audience. The facade of Slaveykov Square No. 11 will be transformed into a daring urban adventure, entitled “Ignite the Spark”, inspired by the free spirit that brings new rules.
Minutes later, the abstract spectacle “Reflections” will remind us that personality is not a single form, but a whole palette of identities that build a unique whole.
During the breaks between the two shows, the poem “Homeland” by Petko Slaveykov will become an inspiration for the children from the “For Our Children” Foundation, who become the youngest participants in the festival since its inception to this day.
The largest facade, part of this year’s festival program, will be that of the National Palace of Culture. It will become a canvas for the creative expression of visual artists from all over the country, thanks to the static 3D mapping competition “Bright Horizons”. The works of five artists will be presented on the impressive architecture of the building.
The light route through evening Sofia will take the audience for the first time to the Cosmos fountain, in the underpass of the National Palace of Culture. It will “come alive” under the lights of a video mapping show, synchronized with a laser. The spectacle will combine technology and art to transform the space into a captivating experience.
The permanent light installation “In the Vortex of the City”, which residents and guests of the city will once again be able to visit, will focus on the lasting improvement of urban spaces. The work, located in the underpass between Vasil Levski Blvd. and Georgi S. Rakovski St., was created during the 2023 festival by students from the National Academy of Arts, after a volunteer clean-up campaign.
The light works, part of the fourth edition of LUNAR, are presented by: Ministry of Tourism (International Competition “Legacy”), European Parliament and the Representation of the European Commission in Bulgaria (“Values”), Videnov Furniture (“Quality Family Time”), Center for Visual Science “Kaleidoscope” (“The World at Risk” and “Hope for the Future”), Visa and DSK Bank (“From Then to Now”), bTV Media Group (“bEYOND”), Renault (“Light the Spark”), dm Bulgaria (“Reflections”), National Fund “Culture” (Competition “Bright Horizons”), MP-STUDIO (“Guardians of the Night”, “Generations”, “Moont Night” and “Cosmic Echo”). The main security partner of the event is VIP Security.
The organizer and main artistic team behind the project is the Bulgarian visual effects studio MP-STUDIO, in partnership with one of the most famous light festivals in the world, Festival of Lights International Productions GmbH. The event will be held with the support of the European Parliament in Bulgaria, the Representation of the European Commission in Bulgaria, the Ministry of Tourism, the Sofia Municipality – Calendar of Cultural Events, with the financial support of the “Creation” program of the National Culture Fund and under the patronage of the Mayor of Sofia Vasil Terziev.
The festival is realized with the general media support of bTV Media Group.
The full program can be found here.
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