In December 2019, lighting design studio “LiDS” organized the Festival of Lights, which was attended by over 1,500 people.
This event turned out to be a unique experience, not only for the studio, but also for lighting design in Russia as a whole, as it was organized in record time. From the day the idea was first brought to light, it took the studio only two months to implement the same and organise the event.
Out of these two months, the studio took only fourteen days to successfully install light objects, including installations which used over a thousand lamps. Fifteen lighting designers took part in the creation, organization and managing the festival. Furthermore, the event also attracted 11 partner companies, 20 volunteers and 7 speakers, who travelled from different parts of Russia, and the world, to attend the festival.
The Light Festival in the city of Polyarnye Zori was not just a celebration, meant to entertain the residents and tourists on the shortest day (only 21 minutes), which was followed by the longest night of the year.
The event also carried an important message that made its participants think about the close bonding between mankind and nature. It made the people think about how humans, with their intelligence, have been able to achieve the impossible and subdue wild and inhospitable lands.
The people were left to think how the consequences of urbanism and industrial revolution harm the ecosystem and destroy the bond between humans and nature.
The goal of the festival was to make people aware of the need to preserve a fragile ecological balance and to educate them how modern knowledge can be correctly applied in order to build smart cities that would improve human living standards in difficult climatic conditions, that are present in areas such as the extreme north, while not disrupting the ecosystem that has existed there for a long period of time.
The festival featured a large number of lighting objects and installations created by the LiDS studio team, along with the festival partners.
Each light object was not just installed to create an aesthetic presence but they had a certain meaning attached to themselves and played a role in storytelling of the festival.
The key lighting design objects were the emotional dynamic landscape lighting of the trees in the park, the city square and main walking street, which mimic the colors of the northern light, the festive lighting of the entrance stele, lighting with interactive shadows of Geo-Dome, and slide mapping (projection) on the facades of apartment blocks.
The light festival turned out to be an extremely significant event. It brought together an incredible team of professionals who gave the city a new look, united its residents and the administration who wanted to support the idea and still continue to work towards the improvement of the city.
The festival achieved the above while also showing the community and its guests, how light can create a festive and warm atmosphere for all.
