Crackling bonfires, floating lanterns, and mesmerizing projections are just the beginning at these dazzling festivals
In a small town near the south coast of England, hundreds of flickering amber flames are piercing the pitch-black night. The townspeople of Battle march through their burg wielding flaming torches, flanking a towering, dark-cloaked effigy. This bearded, black-hatted figure is 17th-century outlaw Guy Fawkes, and he’s destined for destruction. Ahead, sparks and ash spit from a huge pile of burning wood: a bonfire hungrily waiting to be fed. This dramatically charged event is Guy Fawkes Night—or Bonfire Night—a centuries-old British festival, commemorating a failed attack on Parliament in 1605, and heavily influenced by age-old Pagan practices.
Of course, the U.K. isn’t the only country that celebrates light to dramatic effect. Religions and cultures the world over mark important historical and spiritual moments with everything from candle wicks to carpets of electrical bulbs and multicolored neon. These are some of the most brilliant light festivals around the globe, in more ways than one.
Christmas and New Year see Japanese prefectures decked out in the most extravagant neon-clad exhibitions, with illuminations running across the country from October into spring. Tokyo has plenty to choose from, though Marunouchi’s is one of the best, with silvery, glittering trees lining the sidewalks between November and February. In Kanagawa, six million LED lights blanket the hillsides of the Lake Sagami Resort Pleasure Forest; while in Kobe, the Kobe Luminarie light show is made up of towering, glittering structures in honor of the victims of the Great Hanshin earthquake.
For Brits, November 5 is a night of fireworks and flame. In commemoration of Guy Fawkes’s failed attempt to destroy the Houses of Parliament in 1605, huge crowds congregate in fields, urban squares, and along riverbanks across the country. Effigies of the historic figure are set alight, and firework displays tear up the sky. Like many towns and villages in the country, Battle, East Sussex, boasts a 300-year-old bonfire tradition with an eerie torch-bearing procession. In London, secure a spot at Alexandra Palace, which offers a kaleidoscopic night-sky performance alongside impressive views of the city, live music, and food and beverage stalls.
“Old Halloween”—or Martinmas—has marked the end of the harvest season in Germanic countries since the Middle Ages, and is still observed on November 11. In the Netherlands, festivities are all about dining on roast goose, sampling the first wine of the season, and energetic pantomime-style performances known as mumming. This family-friendly feast sees processions of lantern-carrying children pace the streets singing ballads about the day’s eponymous saint. Many of the lanterns are handmade, displaying glowing, grinning faces or gleaming faux pumpkins. Visit Limburg to hear St. Martin’s story retold within church walls, before joining the procession to a raging bonfire.
Berlin is as famous for its nightlife as its museums, and in October, the city’s darker hours take on a whole new look. Iconic landmarks and buildings are sheathed in dazzling lights and brightly colored projections. Since 2005, visual artists have clamored to adorn the Brandenburg Gate, Berlin Cathedral, the Victory Column and more with their creations. Previous years featured a “light-run” for joggers and a record-breaking light clock. Big landmarks get busy, so soak it up at Humboldt University or the quieter neighborhood of Märkisches Viertel.
India’s annual festival of lights bursts to life every fall between October and November, with the date changing every year. In 2023, Diwali falls on November 12. Celebrated worldwide by millions of Hindus, Sikhs and Jains, it brings families together to clean homes, craft elaborate decorations, and prepare expansive feasts. Streets, houses, monuments, and riverbanks are carpeted in thousands of tiny flickering flames, while skies glow with lanterns. From afar, towns glow with a golden aura, amplifying the festival’s otherworldly atmosphere. Soak it up in India’s “spiritual capital,” Varanasi, where the Dev Deepavali celebrations follow 15 days later, and more than a million earthen lamps are lit in honor of their goddess.
Immerse yourself in India’s Diwali
Rivers, lakes and canals transform into avenues of undulating light during this 800-year-old festival. Thousands of baskets, or krathongs, crafted from banana-tree bark or the spider-lily plant, are used to float leaves, incense sticks and candles in the hope of removing negativity from the past year and bringing forth a rich harvest. These offerings coalesce in their thousands to form shifting blankets of light. The festival takes place on the full moon of the 12th Thai month, which is November 28 in 2023. Head to Chiang Mai—a hub for celebrations—where at the same time the Yi Peng festival sees thousands of candle lanterns launched into the sky. A dazzling two-for-one light festival location.
Picture the scene: Window sills across an entire city alight with lumignons, small flickering candles set in clear or multicolored glasses, grand Renaissance facades marbled with moving artworks in vivid blues, reds and ambers. For four days in December, nearly four million people descend on the city of Lyon to gaze at residents’ illuminated homes and the color-clad architecture—all in honor of St. Mary. This year the lights are on between December 7-10, with a huge procession marching to the UNESCO-listed Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière on December 8. Wrap up warm, snack on French hot dogs, and marvel at the country’s most popular light show.
Writing wishes on people-sized paper lanterns and releasing them up to the heavens has been a tradition in Pingxi since as far back as the Qing Dynasty. Villagers fleeing bandits would send them up as a sign it was safe to return home after an invasion. And since 1999 the practice has been commemorated in a spellbinding festival. On the 15th day of the first lunar month (February 24 in 2024), thousands of luminous lamps are sent up into the night clouds like swarms of fireflies. Waterways reflect the rising, auburn orbs, illuminating the landscapes in a speckled golden glow. Tickets for the festival are free, but arrive early to bag one.
Ally Wybrew is a freelance travel writer and editor with a passion for adventure travel. She has written for The Telegraph, House & Garden, CultureTrip and others, and is a regular contributor to British Airways’ High Life magazine.
