The Tampere Festival of Light opening ceremony will be celebrated with Eurovision theme – featuring the Eurovision winner Emmelie de Forest

The traditional Tampere Festival of Light will be celebrated for the 58th time in Tampere. The event illuminates the city centre with magical lights spheres, street projections and exciting light art in Tampere during the darkest time of the year.

Eurovision hype takes over Koskipuisto

The opening ceremony of the Festival of Light will take place on Friday 27 October from 7 to 7.30 pm in Koskipuisto.

The event will feature the winner of the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest Emmelie de Forest and Anneli Saaristo, who represented Finland in the 1989 Eurovision Song Contest and enchanted the audience with her song “La Dolce Vita”. The event will be hosted by radio journalist Pauliina Puurila, among others. The Mayor of Tampere, Kalervo Kummola, will give the opening speech. Yle Tampere will broadcast the opening ceremony live on Yle Areena.

The Dancing Fountains show will close the opening ceremony this year with a Eurovision theme. The Dancing Fountains performances will delight the citizens from 27 October to 5 November 2023. Performances will run for ten days at 7 pm, 8 pm and 9 pm.

The Eurovision theme is related to the Contest for New Music UMK of the Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle which will take place in Tampere in February 2024. The winner of the contest will represent Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö in May.

– We are very pleased that UMK is coming to Tampere and will be given the framework it deserves. With the opening ceremony of the Tampere Festival of Light and the Eurovision theme of Dancing Fountains, we would like to extend a warm welcome to UMK Tampere, says Saara Saarteinen, Event Manager.

– It’s great that Tampere is joining in with a big heart. We are looking forward to the opening ceremony of Tampere Festival of Light and the Eurovision atmosphere, says Pia Ljungman, Event Producer of UMK.

Illuminations around Tampere

The Tampere Festival of Light will feature new, spectacular illuminations and some familiar ones from previous years. As usual, the lights illuminate the atmosphere of Kauppakatu, Kuninkaankatu and Aleksis Kiven katu with magical decorations. Hämeenkatu will be decorated with colourful light curtains. Tammelantori market place will be illuminated with light figures. The Hatanpää highway will be decorated with colourful light poles, while in Hervanta, the poles in the Lindforsinkatu section will be decorated with light patterns.

Later in December, new lighting will be seen at the entrance to the Tampere Market Hall on Hämeenkatu and around Museum Milavida. The Light Gallery, familiar from previous years, will also return to delight passers-by with its projected works. A summary of all the illuminations can be found on the Tampere Festival of Light website.

The Festival of Light will end on 7 January 2024, but you can admire the works in the Light Gallery for longer, until 10 March 2024.