The Lilu Light Festival Luzern is a yearly light festival in the heart of the Luzern city. With beautifully lit up buildings, an amazing light show with organ music, cosy restaurants open with heaters and the spirit of other visitors, it’s a great event to experience for all ages. Out of all the events we’ve experienced so far in Switzerland, this has been one of the most enjoyable at night!
About Lilu Light Festival Luzern
An annual light festival called Lilu Light Festival Luzern takes place in the pretty Swiss city of Lucerne. It started back in 2006 and was usually held in Autumn around the month of November.
For 2023 (the year we have experienced it first) it was from 12th January to 22nd January. The event was from 6pm to 10 pm every day and had over 16 locations to explore. All within walking distance around the city centre, so it’s also easy for those with families and young children.
The light show has various light installations and some amazing projections made by regional and international artists that are on display at the festival. The installations are easy to see from around the city at different locations for the public to view, with many of them situated in Luzern Old Town.
These city projections are all free and you can easily enjoy a stroll at your own pace to see them all in one evening. So it’s great if you want to visit for 1 night in Luzern and combine with this event.
Additional Lilu Light Festival Tickets
You will be in for a treat as there is often live music being played at certain locations as well as performing art shows which are also featured at the festival. This is worth checking directly on their website as you will need a ticket in advance booked usually. So make sure to check before you visit!
Furthermore, the light show ticket you should 100% buy (for 2023 this was only 15CHF per adult) is to watch the light show performance inside the Jesuit Church. This church is a large Baroque church which dates back to 1667. The 30 minute long light show can be enjoyed from one of the many church pews inside, with the projections of light on the walls and above on the ceiling inside the church. Watching the show inside the church is also great for when you visit on a rainy evening.
How To Get To Luzern
We would advise to arrive by public transport to the Lilu Light Festival Luzern, with the local SBB being (nearly always) on time for travels within Switzerland. Luzern is easily reachable from many locations, with the 2 main North and South route shown as follows:
From Zurich
- By Train: 50 minutes with a direct train
- By Car: 41 minutes
From Lugano
- By Train: 1 hour 40 minutes with a direct train
- By Car: 2 hours
Summary Lilu Light Festival Luzern
We personally love these types of events, where the lights are projected on publicly available buildings and areas throughout the city. It allowed us and others to of course take your time to enjoy them without having to rush around to see everything in a short amount of time.
The paid light show inside the church was definitely the highlight of the event, with beautiful classical music and special effects making the lights dance and excite the audience.
We decided to stay the night in Luzern so that we did not have to take a late SBB train back home to Lugano where we live. This was best to do, as we arrived during the day time to explore the city by day, then as night fell we enjoyed a local restaurant and slept the night at a hotel.
A restaurant dinner tip is to visit Pacifico, we had a delicious Mexican dish here and cocktails for the night. Great place with a great atmosphere too!
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