The Festival of Lights in Lyon (“Fêtes des Lumières” in French) is the most awaited public event in the Rhône-Alpes region and draws several million people onto the illuminated streets of the city. For locals and tourists alike, this celebration of light unveils the architectural treasures of the city in an unexpected way, through the illuminating of monuments, streets, hills and river banks.
This event is entirely unique in France because of the sheer size of such a task involving the projection of colourful 
images and videos in various locations all across the city. Because of the proximity of the date to 25 December and the presence of lights, it is often believed (by non-Lyon natives!) that the Festival of Lights is linked to Christmas.
Its origins are linked to a Catholic celebration of the Virgin Mary, to whom the city of Lyon was devoted during the Middle-Ages.The municipality of Lyon’s participation in this event began in 1989, and the Festival of Lights has now evolved into a major tourist attraction for the whole Rhône-Alpes region. The two main stages of the illuminations take place on the Basilica of Fourvière and at the Place des Terreaux. The combination of continuous lighting and video effects, visual arts and creative audio features displays Lyon in a very spectacular way.
Today, the Festival of Lights takes place around 8 December and lasts for four days. In order to avoid the crowds, it is a good idea to plan your visit for Wednesday 9 or Thursday 10 December. The Festival starts on Place Bellecour on 8 December, where the lighting will be turned on.
The Festival includes over 80 lighting scenes all across the city of Lyon. Surprisingly, the energy cost of the whole event accounts for only €3,500 (that is, 0.1%) of the annual consumption of Lyon’s street lighting. During the Festival, there are more than 4 million visitors strolling the streets of Lyon.
In 2015, the Festival of Lights will take place from Saturday 5 to Tuesday 8 December.