Vancouver's Lumiere Festival

Lumiere is an arts and lights event featuring installations that illuminate Vancouver’s West End in winter. It’s outdoors, free and pretty to see.

It’s not a Christmas event, although it does take place just prior to the holiday season. It does, however, involve Christmas-y lights. Lumiere isn’t exactly a festival either, although some years it does include festival-like events. For the most part, it’s a series of attractive light displays and art installations that make the West End look extra pretty on cold winter nights.

Vancouver’s Lumiere Lights and Art

Lumiere is an annual event that showcases illuminated art installations within the City of Vancouver. Each year, large works of art are placed outdoors around the West End for folk to admire and photograph. In 2020, Lumiere features 7 installations. The event offers pretty sights to see during dark winter days, and it is free to check out.

In normal years, there are typically a few other activities for folk to enjoy alongside the main exhibits. In fact, 2019 featured the Lumiere Block Party which was hosted by Public Disco. It included live music, dance performances and other entertainment over a span of 3 days. In past years there have also been fire spinning performances.

As of mid-October, 2020, extra activities at this year’s Lumiere Event have yet to be announced. If any do happen, expect them to differ from normal because of COVID-19.

Lumiere Dates and Locations in 2020

Lumiere is scheduled to run from November 5th to 30th this year.

The 7 Lumiere installations are at English Bay‘s Morton Park (at 1800 Morton Avenue) and the nearby Jim Deva Plaza (at 1200 Bute Street) in 2020. The two locations are within Vancouver’s West End and are only a 15-minute walk away from each other. Walking from one venue to the other can make for a nice evening stroll near downtown.

One of the art installations that has been announced for 2020’s Morton Park location is the return of Luna, pictured below. Luna represents whales in nearby waters that continue to astound us. This structure is about 7 meters in length and consists of over 6,000 lights!