Visiting Lyon during the Fête des Lumières (Festival of Lights), France

2024 was a very special year for the yearly celebration in Lyon where the entire city lights up in order to accommodate the huge amounts of people that come all across the globe to visit something called the "fête des lumières". This year, we had the opportunity to go and inspite of all the fatigue and everything else, it is an experience everyone must have once in their lives! 

The History and why this festival is celebrated

In the year 1643, the city of Lyon was affected by the plague. A lot of people were losing their lives and that is when the rich decided to give hope calling forth the virgin Mary from the Christian Faith and lighting up the city in her divine benediction and lights. Hence started the Fête des lumières. From the first illuminations in the 1850s, this festival has always been special to Lyon. 

All about the event

This year there were a total of 32 events all over the city and we started with the most beautiful one, the Basicila of Notre dame de Fourvière, on the hills of the city. The entire place was crowded and it made me homesick. There were more than 2 million people who were visiting that day. I will never forget standing in anticipation in a tight crowd with everyone who was looking at the countdown to the event. 

Then, when the lights started, we were exasperated and gawking like this was the most wonderful thing we had ever seen. The festival is not just about the lights and auditory events although they stand to be a prominent highlight but rather also about everything else that makes the festival what it is. It is free of cost and access is not restricted to a certain class of people so it is a great equaliser. There are all sorts of food and mulled wine stands all across. 

The french call it "vin chaud" and there are also the famous roasted chestnuts or the "marrons" at very affordable prices. It is convivial and I was so surprised at how well behaved and patient everyone in the crowd was and also how much we all seem to genuinely enjoy being there. The cops were doing their jobs well and there were many people around for acting as guides and giving us free maps to get around. I was truly impressed by this level of organisation and I always say that the french really know how to celebrate. 

Now of course some installations were better than the others and we were especially blown away by some. At the first one I felt as though I had been transported to another reality and that is the precise purpose of any kind of show. 

The city of Lyon used to be known as Lugdunum and there is a huge Gallo roman presence. We were lucky enough to be able to visit the Museum of Gallo roman history and also the amphitheatre which was constructed in the era. I definitely recommend this non mainstream and out of the tourist flyers thing to do for everyone who would like to visit Lyon. The museum tells the story of the rich history and the leadership of what used to be Lugdunum when it was a part of the Roman empire. I am a total history and culture buff so I was happy as a clam for the whole time we were there. The museum is an underground one if you find that cool! Also, the amphitheatre is so well planned that I decided to make the crowd listen to me sing an Abba song! That was fun.. Maybe now I can add to my resume that I have sung at an ancient roman amphitheatre! 

Overall the trip was well budgeted as it only involved travel costs to and from Lyon . We chose to not stay at a hotel to save money and come back on the night. We reached home the next morning and still ended up doing a lot of activities which were so much fun.

Overall this is a short write up to of course encourage anyone who has the chance to definitely visit Lyon during the time of Fête Des Lumières because it is a thing that everyone should do once. As a side note, I have never seen France as crowded. Even McDonald's did not have any space to move! The restaurants were full. This night must be super helpful for the service industry.

Aditi's recommendations

• We walked throughout the city on 25 out of the 32 installations because that's how many we could do in our limited time. We ended up walking upwards of 30,000 steps! It was definitely worth walking rather than taking the bus on metro because of budgetary reasons but also because that we were actually interacting with the city and had a firsthand experience of this extraordinary festival that would never be forgotten!
• The food stalls WILL make you hungry! Take some spare change if you want to eat there. Most take the card as an option but it's always better to have about 10-20 euros at least in your purse
• Clutch your purse tight! I know I said that it is a very secure event but there are so so many people that you never know what to expect. We kept our purses inside our coats and clutched our phones tight! Be prepared for a large amount of people. Imagine it in your head and then double it.
• Expect to be blown away-this is a thing you need to see once in a lifetime and so don't be surprised if you are blown away!

Until next time!