GLOW festival illuminates Dutch City of Light Eindhoven

While many towns and cities are switching on their Christmas illuminations, City of Light Eindhoven has taken its lighting displays to a whole new dimension. Ever year it holds a festival of light in art and architecture. This year GLOW festival celebrates its 11th anniversary of innovative 3-D light sculptures. The festival is taking place between 12 and 19 November.

There are two routes: one GLOW Science leads visitors past the Eindhoven University of Technology and GLOW City covers the centre of Eindhoven. GLOW Science includes 12 installations reflecting technological innovation and scientific research done at the university. One of the most spectacular installations Exploding Wire depicts a lightning bolt.

On the GLOW City route you encounter light artworks with huge 3D video mapping on buildings, a children’s light artwork and interactive swings. GLOWNext has been incorporated into the city route, showing the work of students from the Fontys University of Applied Sciences. For instance, the ‘Tunnel of Light’ installation – a life-size LED matrix consisting of around 3000 LED lights, is the result of their ‘Be Creative’ minor. Once inside the tunnel, visitors take control of the installation and can work together to create various effects.
World’s top light festivals

Two of the illuminations created by the Eindhoven University of Technology and Eindhoven 247 are permanent installations. ‘AnTUenna’ made by Har Hollands adorns the chimney of the university campus (TU stands for Technical University) and local light artist Ivo Schoofs, created the project ‘Just because you are a character, doesn’t mean you have a character’ outside the city’s central station.

The festival’s new art director Ronald Ramakers remarks, ‘GLOW has the ambition to become one of the world’s top light festivals in the coming years.’