Exhibitions
Barcelona is dressed in light. The BCN 2026 Light Festival is coming
Unreleased premieres by Albert Serra and Laia Estruch transform the city into an open-air museum.
The Festival Llum BCN 2026, which this year reaches its 15th edition, will once again fill the streets of Barcelona with light, creativity and magic during the month of February. This edition proposes a program that combines exclusive premieres with participatory projects, highlighting two unpublished works: one by the renowned filmmaker Albert Serra and another by the visual artist Laia Estruch. These creations are incorporated into a wide range of initiatives that include works by 10 other artists and the participation of 18 schools of design, arts and architecture in the city.
The festival will be mostly outdoors: of the more than 30 installations in the official program, only three will be located in indoor spaces. This edition expands its stages with a new space: the Parc de les Glòries, which joins the traditional neighborhoods of Poblenou and La Llacuna. In total, 12 national and international artists will participate, in addition to the works of students from 18 university schools of design and architecture, reinforcing the festival's commitment to combining professional creativity and educational projection in the same light journey.
The festival will be held on the weekend of February 6, 7 and 8 and will be coordinated by Antònia Folguera. Visitors will be able to immerse themselves in a unique experience through three different itineraries, which will allow them to discover in an orderly and immersive way the 30 installations that shape this edition. With this combination of premieres, consolidated creations and educational projects, the Festival Llum BCN consolidates its reputation as one of the most relevant cultural events in the city, offering the public an exceptional opportunity to connect with contemporary art through light and transform urban spaces into a true open-air museum.
Among the outstanding proposals, the piece This Night , by Albert Serra, is installed on the façade of the Disseny Hub Barcelona and takes viewers into the filmmaker's cinematic universe. Serra has remarked that it was essential that the work "not be just decorative. Doing things without a human presence, no matter how artistic you are, ends up being decorative. No matter how small it was, there had to be a subtle emotion, a certain mystery".
Although the work does not follow any specific narrative, the artist emphasizes that “it is not a video clip”, seeking to provoke sensations and reflections in those who contemplate it.
Despite the festival's outdoor vocation, some installations have been moved to indoor spaces. This is the case of Serres , by the Cabosanroque collective, within the Disseny Hub, and Aüc , by Laia Estruch, which can be seen at the Barcelona History Museum. The latter proposal moves between sculpture and performance, offering an immersive and close experience that invites you to explore the limits of light and art in a more intimate context.
