Llum Barcelona 2026 is the city’s annual festival of light art. On the weekend of 7th February, a large variety of installations, art, technology, and musical projects, as well as dance performances, will illuminate the city as soon as it gets dark.
The festival invites locals and internationals to explore Barcelona from a new perspective and even to participate in the exhibitions themselves. The projects encourage audiences to become part of the art, reflecting how their presence is also part of the vibrant back-and-forth of life in Barcelona.
Llum Barcelona
What is Llum BCN 2026?
Llum Barcelona 2026; this year, the festival of light art installations is hosting its fifteenth annual edition, exhibiting 33 different projects throughout the city that engage with light, music, movement, and performance in luminous and surprising ways. Contributions to the event include a variety of international artists, undergraduate student projects, as well as a special collaboration with the ‘World Capital of Architecture 2026’ project, for which Barcelona was selected as the city of the year.
The installations are free of charge, and visitors are welcome to walk through the city and wander from one installation to the next. And with this year’s theme, ‘Night Landscapes’, Llum Barcelona 2026 aims to explore the city with a new perspective.
The exhibits enchant, illuminate, and reinvent urban landscapes, buildings, and public spaces through the interplay of light, art, sound, technology, and motion, and challenge how residents view these places within a city. Through this festival, Llum’s artistic purpose is to present light as a medium that inspires emotional responses, ensuring that each installation becomes a unique and individual experience for every single participant.
From the 6th to the 8th of February, visitors are invited to explore the large variety of installations as night falls on the streets of Barcelona. Opening hours are Friday to Saturday from 19:00 to 0:00, and Sunday from 19:00 to 23:00.
Types of Installations
From virtual waterfalls, to laser routes, interactive light and sound projections, comedy sketches, and whispering mountains, Llum Barcelona offers audiences a wide variety of creative projects. The festival explores subjects such as noise pollution in the city, hostile architecture – such as barriers and anti-homeless spikes, which are designed to prevent people from lingering in certain spaces – the role of the digital world as a creative tool but also a potential for addiction, and light as a source of sustainable energy.
Llum Barcelona’s projects are inspired by both the past and the present, engaging with themes from the industrial revolution to the ‘anthropocene’. Many of the installations also function through collective participation, and react to visitor’s movements and actions within the space, making the audience part of the artwork itself.
Llum Barcelona Contributors
Within the Llum Barcelona festival, there are four types of installations, each highlighted in different colours to aid navigation. They can be found and explored on the interactive map of the official Llum Barcelona 2026 homepage.
International Professionals
10 of the projects are contributed by professional and renowned international artists, shown in red on the map. For example, the installation ‘Aquesta nit’ (ENG: ‘tonight’) is an art film displayed on a building façade and directed by the famous international director Albert Serra, whose films have received a number of awards. Another exhibit is ‘The Rhythm of the Ocean’, a sound and generative imagery installation created with music by composer Suzanne Chiani, who has received five Grammy nominations in the past.
Student Projects
The Llum festival also showcases 18 undergraduate projects from students studying architecture, design or art at universities in Barcelona. These installations are highlighted in green.
Organisations and Venues
Additionally, there are also three exhibits, coloured yellow on the map, which are created by private companies, organisations, or venues.
Collaboration with 'World Capital of Architecture 2026'
This year, Llum Barcelona is also collaborating with nine installations designed for the ‘World Capital of Architecture 2026’ project, which is hosting events throughout Barcelona all year long. The festival functions as an opening act to the remaining exhibits and activities throughout the year, and highlights the impressive historic and modern buildings and places all throughout the city. Shown in purple on the map, these creative exhibits often combine architecture with technology, sound, and dance elements, in order to present familiar urban spaces across all neighbourhoods of Barcelona in a new light.
How To Explore The Festival
Routes
Llum Barcelona 2026 presents its visitors with options for three separate routes that lead you through the city. Each route, either blue, green, or orange, offers an individual and varied selection of the 33 installations, and allows audiences to get a broad sense of the festival’s great number of creative projects. If they wish to, visitors can even choose to explore a different route on each evening of the event.
Llum App
The Llum Barcelona 2026 festival has also designed an app, which makes all information on the different installations and routes accessible, even while on the move. The app allows visitors to create their own custom routes, view the city map in 2D or 3D, navigate between different projects, and listen to audio descriptions of the separate exhibitions.
Other Related Events
In collaboration with the Llum Barcelona 2026 festival, the Mirador Torre Glòries is also offering a 50% discount of their tickets for the entire weekend. From the panorama observation deck, visitors will be able to see the city illuminated in all its splendour for the duration of the event.
FAQ Llum Barcelona 2026
Do I have to purchase tickets for the festival?
No, you are not required to purchase a ticket or reserve a spot for the event. Llum Barcelona 2026 is free of charge, and you are free to visit the individual installations at any point during the opening hours. (Friday to Saturday from 19:00 to 0:00, and Sunday from 19:00 to 23:00.) Only the dance performances for the ‘World Capital of Architecture 2026‘ installations occur at specific times throughout the evening, but you also do not require a ticket for them. The exact performance times are listed on the Llum Barcelona 2026 website.
Where is Llum Barcelona 2026 taking place?
The event is taking place in the Poblenou neighbourhood. The exact addresses for the individual installations can be found via the Llum Barcelona 2026 interactive map. All 33 installations are in walking distance of one another, while the ‘World Capital of Architecture 2026’ projects are spread out between all 10 neighbourhoods of Barcelona.
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