Luminale — Festival of Light Culture
Biennale for Light Art and Urban Design in Frankfurt and Offenbach
About Luminale
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A City in a New Light
Every two years, the Luminale transforms Frankfurt am Main and Offenbach into walkable light architecture. Light artists, designers, students, and architectural firms illuminate facades, parks, bridges, and public spaces with installations, projections, lasers, and interactive presentations. The festival was first piloted in 2000 and has been a regular biennale since 2002.
Parallel to Light + Building
The Luminale always takes place parallel to Light + Building, the leading world trade fair for lighting and building technology organised by Messe Frankfurt. This provides the light culture projects with an international professional audience from architecture, lighting, and urban planning as a resonance space. While trade fair visitors explore the exhibitors on the exhibition grounds during the day, they flock to the city in the evening — thousands of light enthusiasts from all over the world stream through the Bahnhofsviertel, Römerberg, Sachsenhausen, and Offenbach.
One of Europe's Largest Light Culture Events
The Luminale has developed into one of Europe's largest light culture festivals. In past editions, it attracted around 250,000 visitors with 150 projects. For 2026, over 200 projects and 180 events are planned, and for the first time, the Upper Middle Rhine Valley is also participating as a partner region.
More Than Just a Show: Rethinking the City
The Luminale is not a classic light festival, but a space for discourse: conferences, guided tours, workshops, and talks accompany the installations. Topics such as sustainable lighting, light pollution, urban screening, and interactive architecture are at the centre. The city itself becomes a laboratory.
Luminale — edition 2026
The Luminale 2026 focuses thematically on «Urban Romantic» — an exploration of the relationship between light, urban space, and emotion. Key focuses are «interactive architecture» and «Urban Screening», i.e., activating architecture through light and projecting onto large urban surfaces with moving images. In addition to the two Frankfurt locations, Offenbach will again be prominently featured, and for the first time, the festival will extend to the Upper Middle Rhine Valley with projects.
Programme Luminale 2026
Festival Key Dates
- 6 days of programming from Monday, April 6, to Saturday, April 11, 2026
- Over 220 light culture projects
- 180 events: guided tours, talks, workshops, conferences
- Venues: Frankfurt city centre, Bahnhofsviertel, Sachsenhausen, Bornheim, exhibition grounds, Offenbach, Upper Middle Rhine Valley
Thematic Focuses 2026
- Urban Romantic — Theme: Light, City, Emotion
- Interactive Architecture — Light art that reacts to visitors
- Urban Screening — Large-scale projections on facades and in urban spaces
Parallel Event
- Light + Building 2026 at the Frankfurt exhibition grounds — World trade fair for lighting and building technology
A detailed programme and project list will be published in spring 2026 on the official festival website. The activation of individual installations begins after dark.
Highlights Luminale 2026
- «Urban Romantic» — Theme of the 4th Luminale
- Over 220 light projects in 6 days
- Upper Middle Rhine Valley as partner region for the first time
- Frankfurt and Offenbach in a sea of lights
- Free admission to all installations
Prices Luminale 2026
Free admission to all light installations in public spaces. Guided tours, boat trips, and conference participation may incur a fee.
Practical information — Luminale
Getting There
Frankfurt city centre is optimally accessible by S-Bahn and U-Bahn. For a tour of several city districts, the RMV day ticket is recommended. Walk from the main train station to the exhibition centre, then through the Bahnhofsviertel to the city centre — most installations are within walking distance in the city.
Admission
Free. All light installations in public spaces are accessible free of charge. Special guided tours and boat trips on the Main are offered separately.
Best Time to Visit
After dark, usually from approx. 8 PM to midnight.
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Travel to this festival
Reserva tu tren o autobús para llegar a Luminale al mejor precio.
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Where it takes place Luminale
Stadtraum Frankfurt und Offenbach
Innenstadt / Sachsenhausen / Offenbach, 60311 Frankfurt am Main