Light art as a platform for urban development
As one of the most innovative light art festivals in Germany, ‘Light our Vision’ is taking place in its fourth year in a different format under the title ‘LOV spotLIGHT’. From 17 to 19 September 2026, the focus will be on the currently disused former conference hotel. With a large-scale light installation, it will become Germany’s tallest performance space, stretching some 97 metres, over the course of three evenings. In addition, there will be numerous light installations in Chemnitz city centre on well-known buildings and squares such as Jakobikirchplatz, Innere Klosterstraße and the square by the Alte Post. In 2026, LOV spotLIGHT will once again use the example of the vacant hotel and the light installations to raise, through the medium of light art, the question of how to deal with inner-city landmarks and
urban development in general. For the first time, ‘Light our Vision’ is a collaboration between the Baukultur für Chemnitz e.V. association, the City of Chemnitz and C3 Chemnitzer Veranstaltungszentren GmbH.
With more than 80,000 visitors, the ‘Light our Vision’ light art festival was one of the most successful events during Chemnitz’s year as European Capital of Culture in 2025. Few could have foreseen at the time that the congress hotel would have to close shortly after the end of the Capital of Culture year. Yet
the 93-metre-high building is the tallest in the city and one of its most prominent landmarks. In 2026, it will now take centre stage at this year’s ‘Light our Vision’ light art festival under the title ‘LOV spotLIGHT’. The façade facing the Stadthallenpark will be transformed into an interactive play area.
Visitors will be able to play classic games such as Snake, Pac-Man or a Tetris-style game at stations in the Stadthallenpark, with the gameplay then visible on the façade. Thousands of visitors are once again expected on the three festival evenings from 7.30 pm to 11 pm.
With this light installation on the façade that dominates the cityscape, the light art festival – unlike many other events of this kind – is once again focusing on an urban planning theme. In doing so, it takes a playful approach, as it were, to a challenge facing many cities, particularly in eastern Germany: the vacancy of former GDR hotels belonging to the Interhotel chain. Lotte Claudia Fischer, curator of LOV spotLIGHT 2026, explains: “We are delighted that this year we are able to present light art at this building, which is so important to our city, after it didn’t work out last year.” She continues: “The fact that we can also draw attention to a current challenge facing our city further underlines the character of our light art festival ‘Light our Vision’, through which we have sought to comment on urban developments from the very beginning.”
In addition to the building of the former conference hotel, light art will be on display at other locations and buildings in Chemnitz city centre as part of LOV spotLIGHT. Here too, on Friday and Saturday evenings, a labyrinth of lights will be on display, inviting visitors to
lull visitors into a contemplative mood. In addition, a laser show will take place on Düsseldorfer Platz on all three evenings, followed by a rave on Sunday evening from 9.30 pm to round off the event. For children, the ‘Pig Farm’ light playground will be open on all three evenings on the ‘Am Wall’ square, whilst at the Alte Post an interactive light art installation called ‘Demonz’ invites visitors to get involved. Visitors can also be entertained in the Innere Klosterstraße on Friday
and Saturday, whilst on Saturday there will be a musical programme to provide entertainment.
Chemnitz’s Lord Mayor, Sven Schulze, is delighted: “The fact that, in this transitional year following our successful year as European Capital of Culture, we are once again hosting ‘Light our Vision’ as an event in the city is, in my view, a sign of just how important civic engagement remains for our urban community. With these light installations, we want to breathe new life into our city centre once again and are looking forward to welcoming many thousands of visitors this year too.” Mayor Schulze explains that it was important for the city of Chemnitz to retain this successful format. To this end, a partnership was established with Baukultur für Chemnitz e.V., and C3 Chemnitzer Veranstaltungszentren GmbH was secured as the organiser.
On Saturday, further events will take place throughout the day in Chemnitz city centre, such as Fashion Day on Düsseldorfer Platz and the TANZ I MODERNE I TANZ festival at various locations. As part of this series, another attempt will be made on Saturday to form the world’s longest ballet barre on Brückenstraße, next to the Kongresshotel.
In 2026, it will take centre stage at this year’s light art festival ‘Light our Vision’ under the title ‘LOV spotLIGHT’. The façade facing the Stadthallenpark will be transformed into an interactive play area. Visitors will be able to play classic games such as Snake, Pac-Man or a version of Tetris at stations in the Stadthallenpark, with the gameplay then visible on the façade. Thousands of visitors are once again expected on the three festival evenings from 7.30 pm to 11 pm.
With this light installation on the façade that dominates the cityscape, the light art festival – unlike many other events of this kind – is once again focusing on an urban planning theme. In doing so, it takes a playful approach, so to speak, to a challenge facing many cities, particularly in eastern Germany: the vacancy of former GDR hotels belonging to the Interhotel chain.
Lotte Claudia Fischer, curator of LOV spotLIGHT 2026, explains: “We are delighted to be able to present light art at this very important building in our city this year, after it didn’t work out last year.” She continues: “The fact that we can also draw attention to a current challenge facing our city underlines once again the character of our light art festival ‘Light our Vision’, through which we have sought to comment on urban developments from the very beginning.”
In addition to the building of the former congress hotel, light art will be on display at other locations and buildings in Chemnitz city centre as part of LOV spotLIGHT. Here too, a labyrinth of lights will be on display on Friday and Saturday evenings, inviting visitors to linger and reflect. In addition, a laser show will take place on Düsseldorfer Platz on all three evenings, followed by a rave on Sunday evening from 9.30 pm to round off the event.
For children, the ‘Pig Farm’ light playground will be open on all three evenings on ‘Am Wall’ square, whilst at the Alte Post an interactive light art installation called ‘Demonz’ invites visitors to get involved. Visitors can also enjoy entertainment in the Innere Klosterstraße on Friday and Saturday in the form of so-called ‘walk acts’, and on Saturday there will be a musical programme.
Chemnitz’s Lord Mayor, Sven Schulze, is delighted: “The fact that, in this transitional year following our successful year as European Capital of Culture, we are once again hosting ‘Light our Vision’ as an event in the city, I see as a sign of just how important civic engagement remains for our urban community. We want to use these light installations to bring our city centre to life once again and are looking forward to welcoming many thousands of visitors this year as well.” Mayor Schulze explains that it was important for the city of Chemnitz to retain this successful format. To this end, a partnership was formed with Baukultur für Chemnitz e.V., and C3 Chemnitzer Veranstaltungszentren GmbH was secured as the organiser.
On Saturday, further events will take place throughout the day in Chemnitz city centre, such as Fashion Day on Düsseldorfer Platz and the TANZ I MODERNE I TANZ festival at various locations. As part of this series, another attempt will be made on Saturday to form the world’s longest ballet barre on Brückenstraße, next to the Kongresshotel.