Get ready for the beautiful Amsterdam Light Festival 2025-2026

Wintertime in Amsterdam could be dark and gloomy but the Amsterdam Light Festival brightens up the long nights of winter in the Dutch capital. This year is the festival’s fourteenth edition, and the theme of the festival is Legacy. Discover all you need to know about Amsterdam Light Festival 2025/2026 in this blog!

Amsterdam Light Festival facts

• 2025/2026 the 14th edition of the Amsterdam Light Festival
• The theme this winter is Legacy
• The lights will be on every night, from 27 November until 18 January
• This year features 20 works of light art
• The official route starts at Amsterdam Central Station, and goes along the Amsterdam canals

Amsterdam Light Festival history

Ever since 2012, the winters in Amsterdam have been lit up by the bright lights of the Amsterdam Light Festival, as well as the yearly Christmas decorations. The festival is dedicated to light art, installed on and above the Amsterdam canals. Over the past decade, the various themes of the festival have allowed artists to create artwork which brought contemporary issues to light, surprised, told stories and transformed the urban surroundings of the artwork.

Every year, the festival lines the canals of Amsterdam and the Amstel river. It started as a Christmas parade, but has grown beyond that, and is now a celebration of art that celebrate more universal themes, with a new theme every year, and are meant to lighten up the dark days on their own. The scale of the festival has grown over the years, and the route changes from time to time, but it has become a yearly spectacle with thousands of visitors admiring the unique artworks.

Amsterdam Light Festival 2025-2026

For the edition of 2025-2026, the theme of the festival is legacy. The theme focuses on what we leave behind as people, what stories we pass on, and how we are or want to be remembered. This legacy can be big or small, from major historical events to personal stories and family traditions. The twenty artworks, by artists from all over the world, explore this theme in different ways, with artworks with different shapes and sizes, but all unique and inspiring.

The artworks are all placed at unique places, and are connected to Amsterdam's beautiful architecture. Find artworks on medieval bridges, or set on top of buildings, or even projected onto the enormous NEMO science museum. The festival is also a celebration of Amsterdam and its architecture, and and most artworks are specifically created to create an interplay between the piece and its placement, which makes them extra spectacular.

Amsterdam Light Festival canal cruise

There are two ways to enjoy the Amsterdam Light Festival. You can walk the route on foot, or you can take a canal cruise. All artworks are visible from street level, so walking or cycling around the city is the most flexible way to explore the festival. Put on your boots and grab an umbrella just in case, and get going!

However, to get up close as possible, its way better to cruise along the canals on the water. Canal boats from LOVERS go past all the artworks, and give you the best view of the entire festival during a comfortable cruise. The heated boats have windows all around, so that you can see the art on both sides of the canal. The Amsterdam Light Festival canal cruises come with an audio guide in English and Dutch, which will tell you all about the different artworks and the artists.

Together with LOVERS Canal Cruises, Tours & Tickets offers the best cruises to enjoy the Amsterdam Light Festival. Take an Amsterdam Light Festival cruise with audio guide right from Amsterdam Central Station, and depart either from the main LOVERS departure point, or the CitySightseeing dock right behind the restaurant Loetje, directly across from Central Station. If you book the LOVERS departure point cruise before November 27th, you get a 20% early bird discount, so don't be slow.

Feeling fancy? LOVERS Canal Cruises also offers an Amsterdam Light Festival special, a cruise that includes free drinks. It follows the same route, but will have an open bar, so you can enjoy the beautiful art with a tasty glass of wine or a refreshing soft drink. The most comfortable way to enjoy the festival, away from the rain and wind, and with friends on board and a drink in hand. 

Christmas lights and light art

Like most western cities, Amsterdam’s streets are decorated with Christmas lights during the holiday season and a big Christmas tree takes pride of place on Dam Square. With the addition of the light artworks on the canals, Amsterdam is a shining light in the darkness of the cold winter months. This makes a Light Festival cruise a great thing to do in Amsterdam.

During an Amsterdam Light Festival Canal Cruise around Christmas time, you can see the amazing light art of the festival as well as the Christmas decorations of those who live in the canal houses. The Dutch are known for their lack of curtains, which allows you to look straight into their living rooms. During the holiday season this is especially fun, so why not celebrate Christmas with an Amsterdam Light Festival canal cruise?