Fête des Lumières - French

Hello! I am the Fête des Lumières. In English, my name means Festival of Lights. I am a very special time that happens once every year in a beautiful city in France called Lyon. When it is my turn to visit, I make the entire city glow with bright and amazing colors. The streets and buildings sparkle and shine, chasing away the dark winter nights. For four evenings, I fill the city with my light for everyone to enjoy.

One of my oldest and most special traditions involves little lights. People in Lyon place small candles on their windowsills for everyone passing by to see. These pretty candles are put inside colorful glass holders that make the light shimmer and sparkle. These special little lights are called lumignons. When the sun goes down, families light their lumignons, and all the windows in the city begin to glow with a soft, warm light. They make all the houses and big buildings look like they are twinkling with hundreds of tiny, gentle stars. It is a very beautiful and peaceful sight to see.

Today, I am also a huge and exciting art show that fills the whole city! Talented artists come to Lyon to help people celebrate me. They use powerful lights and colors to paint amazing pictures right onto the big buildings. They can make it look like a building is made of flowers or that animals are running across its walls. They also create shining sculptures in parks and squares. Families bundle up in warm clothes and walk all around the city together after it gets dark. They look up at the tall buildings and down the long streets to see all the different, wonderful light displays. I help turn the whole city of Lyon into a magical outdoor museum made of light.