The Copenhagen Light Festival: A bright end to winter

When winter comes to an end, we are all ready for the days to get longer and brighter. The Copenhagen Light Festival does just that in February of each year.  This annual festival brightens the final month of winter with a celebration of light art, lighting design and illumination.

Every year, there are new installations throughout the city, sometimes in the same place but often in different places. In 2024, there will be at least 35 pieces to discover throughout the city, from Nørrebro and Vestre Kirkegård to Ørestad and DR Koncerthus, and of course in Indre By. Read on the learn more about the Copenhagen Light Festival to prepare for your February visit in Copenhagen.

In 2024 the Copenhagen Light Festival takes place from 2 to 25 February. The lights turn on at 17.00 (5 in the evening) around sunset, and they dim for the night around 23.00. Though some installations shine for slightly longer or shorter, which is why we recommend starting your tour slightly later and finishing a bit earlier.

The first edition of the Copenhagen Light Festival took place in 2018, making 2024 the 7^th edition of the festival. Most of the art is located in the city centre but some are a bit further afield. To find all the art you can maps on the Copenhagen Light Festival website as well as links to an app with more information about the artwork.

To kick off the festival, the Mogens Dahl Chamber Choir hosts a concert in the Holmens Kirke, across the water from Christiansborg Palace. The concert programme includes 2 world premieres. The first is “Light, oh light” by Swedish composer Per Gunnar Petersson with lyrics by Indian Nobel laureate Tagore, the second is a  new piece for clarinet, harmonica, and choir by the Danish harmonica player and composer Mathias Heise.

Visiting and viewing the light art of the festival is free for everyone. However, if you don’t want to go exploring on your own, there are several tours and events you can join throughout the weeks of the festival. You can, for instance, join a guided tour, which comes with a warm drink, individual headsets and lots of information.

If a walk along the illuminated art is a bit too slow for your pace, you might want to sign up for the Light Run. This 7.7 km race takes you past 16 of the beautiful installations and provides you with an LED chain that you can where while running. There is also a shorter Family Light Run, which is fun for the whole family as the route is stroller-friendly.

But there are even more ways to enjoy the festival, such as the Dance Tour. This tour is filled with fun and joy, as along the way you will not only be able to enjoy the illuminations but you can also try different dance choreographies together with ballet dancer Sebastian Pico Haynes from the Royal Theatre. If, instead, you prefer to go on a wine or beer tasting along the past the light art, you can join the Social Beer Walk or the Wine & Walk tour.