The event starts tomorrow, May 9, and the Sofia Municipality is designating pedestrian zones, increased transport frequency and extended metro opening hours until 01:00.
The art of more than 20 artists and creative studios from 12 countries will offer the program of the third edition of the LUNAR Festival of Lights in Sofia. Works by artists from Bulgaria, the UK, Germany, Indonesia, Poland, Romania, the USA, Taiwan, Thailand, Ukraine, France and Sweden will illuminate twenty-two locations in the capital, on the four nights between 9 and 12 May (Thursday – Sunday), from 9:00 p.m. until midnight. Video and static projection mapping artworks will be projected onto the buildings in a loop, and the light installations will have lights on for the duration of the event so that the public can enjoy them all.
This year, two technological innovations in the field of light art on a global scale will be presented in Bulgaria. The first of them will be a light flashmob that celebrates the 15+1 anniversary of the founders of the festival MP-STUDIO. Using their mobile phones, the audience will become part of the video mapping show, which will be realized on the beautiful facade of 4 “Knyaz Alexander I” Str..
The next surprise will be presented at the new festival location – South Park 2. The first of its kind collective artwork, created with the help of the public, will adorn the back facade of Sofia Arsenal – Museum of Contemporary Art. There, attendees will have the opportunity to send their message, which will not only be projected on the building, but will become part of a large-scale work that interprets the texts, with the help of artificial intelligence.
Among the artists who will present their art in this year’s edition of LUNAR will be the 9 finalists in the second edition of the International Video Mapping Competition, organized with the support of the Ministry of Tourism, on the theme “Myths and Legends”. Their works will be displayed on the façade of the Regional History Museum – Sofia, and the three winners will be announced on May 12.
The rich festival programme will be at every visitor’s fingertips via the LUNAR Festival of Lights mobile app, which can now be downloaded for free for iOS and Android: https://lunarlights.eu/lunarapp.
In order to enable residents and guests of the capital to get to the festival areas quickly and conveniently, this year Sofia Municipality is extending the opening hours of the metro until 01:00 at night. Along with this, tram lines 22, trolleybuses 1 and 9, as well as buses 94 and 204 will be running with greater frequency. Night lines departing from “Alexander I” Sq., will be every round the clock and will have an extra run at 00:30.
Easier passage between the locations will also happen thanks to the closed for cars Blvd. “Tsar Osvoboditel” (in the stretch between Blvd. “Vasil Levski” and Blvd. “Dondukov”, as well as “Moskovska” Str., “15 November” Str, “Tsar Ivan Shishman” Str, “Solunska” Str, “Deacon Ignatius” Str, “Angel Kanchev” Str).
For anyone who wants to move faster from one light work to another, festival partners Cyrcl will provide a special discount code for the use of the company’s bicycles, which will be active on all festival nights and can be found on the social media pages of the festival and Cyrcl.
The organiser and main artistic collective behind the festival is MP-STUDIO, in partnership with one of the world’s most renowned light festivals, 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 Sofia Municipality – Calendar of Cultural Events, the Ministry of Tourism and with the financial support of the Creation Programme of the National Culture Fund, as well as with the general media support of bTV Media Group. The Light Festival will be free to all residents and guests of the city.
Maria Boycheva is Marketing Coordinator at Answear Bulgaria. Her professional strength and passion lies in combining creativity and analytical approach. We talk to her about the power of art and [...]
