Lyon Festival of Lights 2026: dates and times

For four evenings every December, Lyon becomes a city of light: projections on cathedral façades, installations in squares and parks, and candles in the windows of the old town. The short answer for 2026: the Fête des Lumières takes place from Saturday 5 to Tuesday 8 December 2026. According to the City of Lyon, the artworks are lit from 19:00 to 23:00 on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, and from 18:00 to 22:00 on Sunday. The programme announces more than 25 artworks – "and a few surprises".

Fête des Lumières 2026: dates and times

Dates and times from the official website of the festival, run by the City of Lyon (see sources). They apply unless an individual artwork's page says otherwise. The Parc de la Tête d'Or has special hours because access there is limited; the city publishes them separately.

The festival always includes 8 December. That date goes back to 1852: the inauguration of a new statue of the Virgin Mary on the Fourvière hill had been postponed to 8 December, and when the sky cleared that evening, the people of Lyon spontaneously put candles in their windows. Many still do: on the evening of 8 December, small coloured candle glasses – lumignons – stand on window sills across the city.

What to expect

The Fête des Lumières is not one show but a spread of works across the city centre. Typically you find:

• Large projections on monuments such as the Cathédrale Saint-Jean in the old town or the façades around the Place des Terreaux.
• Installations in squares, for example on the Place Bellecour or the Place des Jacobins.
• Lit-up landmarks, above all the basilica of Fourvière, visible from almost everywhere in the city.
• A park circuit in the Parc de la Tête d'Or, with limited access.

The full programme with locations and the festival map is usually published a few weeks before the event on the official website. Plan your evening by district rather than trying to see everything: the old town (Vieux Lyon), the Presqu'île between the Saône and the Rhône, and the park are three separate walks.

Tips for the crowds

The festival draws very large crowds, and the old town's narrow lanes fill up quickly. A few rules help:

• Sunday starts and ends an hour earlier (18:00–22:00) – good for families.
• Monday and Tuesday are usually calmer than the weekend, even if 8 December itself is the traditional highlight.
• Use public transport and walk. Driving into the centre on festival evenings makes little sense, and walking between the sites is part of the experience.
• Eat early or late. Lyon's bouchons (traditional restaurants) are booked out on festival evenings; reserve ahead or eat before 19:00.
• Keep your bag small – you will move through dense crowds for hours.

Weather in December

Averages 2015–2024 from the ERA5 reanalysis (via Open-Meteo), rounded.

Early December evenings in Lyon are cold, often close to freezing, and you will be outside and standing for hours. Dress in layers, with gloves and warm shoes. YesTrip shows you the forecast for your actual travel days and suggests matching clothes in the packing list.

Getting there

From London, Lyon is about an hour and a half by plane; from Lyon-Saint-Exupéry airport the Rhônexpress tram runs into the city. By train, the TGV from Paris takes about two hours to Lyon Part-Dieu or Perrache. Train connections from Paris, Switzerland or Italy are easy to compare at train tickets to Lyon^* (Omio).

If you arrive on festival day before check-in, there is luggage storage in Lyon^* (Radical Storage), so you can start exploring straight away. In the daytime, a guided walk through the traboules of the old town or a museum visit fills the hours before dark – tickets and tours in Lyon^* are on Tiqets.

Where to stay

• Presqu'île (Bellecour, Terreaux): in the middle of the festival, everything on foot, but the most expensive and the first to be booked out.
• Vieux Lyon: charming and right below Fourvière, but very crowded during the festival evenings.
• Part-Dieu or the 6th arrondissement: a little outside the busiest areas, close to the main station and the Parc de la Tête d'Or.

Hotels in Lyon are often fully booked for the festival weekend months in advance. If the centre is full, stay a few metro stops out – getting back late at night is easier than finding a room.

More than the festival

Lyon is worth more than the four evenings: Roman theatres on Fourvière, the old town with its Renaissance courtyards, the food market Les Halles Paul Bocuse and the museums. Our guide to how many days in Lyon helps you plan the days around the festival. If you combine the trip with Christmas markets, the Strasbourg Christmas market 2026 is a train ride away. From outside the EU, a travel eSIM for France^* (Airalo) is usually cheaper than roaming; our eSIM price index compares the prices per gigabyte.

In YesTrip, "What's on" lists festivals, events and holidays on the days of your trip, and you can add them to the day plan with one tap.

Lyon trip planDay by day, with map and tips

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