The Circle of Light Moscow International Festival is one of the largest and most popular city festivals in Moscow, a grand celebration of light, during which talented lighting designers and audiovisual art specialists from around the world transform the architectural appearance of the capital.
Skillfully applying the technique of video mapping and modern multimedia technologies, the craftsmen turn the facades of the symbolic buildings of Moscow into screens for large-scale video projections. Colorful video projections, light installations and bright multimedia shows using light, fire, lasers and fireworks - all this can be seen at the festival venues for free!
In 2018, the "Circle of Light" is held for the eighth time
Over the years, it has turned from a local Moscow holiday into a major international event - one of the most popular festivals of light, which attracts tourists to Moscow not only from Russia, but also from foreign countries. The achievements of the festival have been included in the Guinness Book of Records several times: for the largest video projection in 2015 and 2016, as well as for the largest light output when projecting an image in 2016.
Where will the Circle of Light festival take place in 2018: program
Preliminary action plan:
- Solemn opening / closing ceremony of the festival: September 21 - 25
- Competition "ART VISION VJing": September 22 (concert hall "Mir")
- Competition "ART VISION Modern": September 23 (facade of the Grand Tsaritsyno Palace)
- ART VISION Classic Competition: September 24 (Russian Academic Youth Theatre, Bolshoi and Maly Theaters of Moscow)
Where will the VIII International Festival “Circle of Light”-2018 take place, program of the event
Circle of Light 2018 will open with a big light show. It will take place on September 21 at the Rowing Canal. The organizers promise the audience a real “fire and fountain choreography”, as well as an enchanting pyrotechnic show.
The festival itself this year will be held at seven venues. One of them will be the Grand Palace in the Tsaritsyno estate. A bright show dedicated to the greatest sights of the world will be shown on its facade. Spectators will see the Taj Mahal, Big Ben and other legendary architectural monuments of the planet. In addition, a light film dedicated to the distant fantastic future will also be shown there.
Traditionally, a lot of spectators come to watch the show at Theater Square. This year, on the facades of the famous capital's theaters - the Bolshoi, Maly and RAMT - will show a light show about the Roman gladiator Spartacus.
Kolomenskoye nature reserve will become another venue for the festival. There you can see installations on the theme of children's fairy tales.
The Mir concert hall on Tsvetnoy will host a competition of VJs from different countries. They will compete in the skill of creating light projections to the music. And on the Rowing Canal for three days - from September 21 to 23 - you can see the pyrotechnic show "Carnival of Light".
This year, for the first time, one of the venues of the festival will be the Museum of Victory on Poklonnaya Hill. On the facade of the building will show the projection of the fleet of the times of Peter I and the reconstruction of the Battle of Kulikovo.
And on the facades of book houses on Novy Arbat at 18:45 until midnight during the festival, you can see light patterns and the logo of the event.
Teams from more than 30 countries take part in the Circle of Light. According to the organizers, in 2018 it will be watched by about five million people.
Site schedule
Performances of the Circle of Light 2018 festival can be viewed from 19:30 to 23:00. Entrance to the sites is free.
How to get there
Every year the venues are different and in different parts of the city. The only trend is that there are very few parking spaces, the best option to avoid traffic jams is to use the metro or any other public transport.
In Moscow, on September 21, 2018, the international festival "Circle of Light" will open along the spit of the Rowing Canal. On the opening day, a multimedia show "Carnival of Light" is scheduled to be shown, combining the amazing possibilities of light and laser projections, fountains and fire, as well as grandiose pyrotechnic performances. You can get to the festival by bus, metro and cars, taking into account the temporary separate road closure. Entry to the venues of the Circle of Light event is absolutely free.
How to get to the opening of the Circle of Light festival on September 21, 2018
The Circle of Light festival will open in the Rowing Canal on September 21, 2018 with the Carnival of Light show starting at 20:30. The video projection will be composed of 12-meter cubes, more than 250 fountains over water and more than 150 fire burners of various types. For the next two days, festival visitors will be able to watch reruns of the show (at 19:45).
Moscow International Festival "Circle of Light" is held annually. As part of the event, lighting designers and professionals in the field of 2D and 3D graphics demonstrate their achievements using the architectural space of Moscow. Buildings and structures become objects of multimedia and light installations.
You can get to the opening of the Circle of Light festival by bus No. 229 from the Molodyozhnaya metro station to the Rowing Canal stop or No. 691 to the Winged Bridge stop. From the Krylatskoye metro station, bus No. 829 to the Rowing Canal stop or trolleybus No. 19 to the Winged Bridge stop will be taken to the destination. For those who will get there by car, there is a special scheme for blocking traffic and the Rowing Canal site. This is necessary in order to pre-select the best viewing paths and detour routes.
Festival program Circle of Light in 2018
The Circle of Light festival in 2018 is organized at several venues, some of which will host the event for the first time. This year in Tsaritsyno, guests are waiting for two new works as part of the festival, which will be shown on the facade of the Grand Tsaritsyno Palace. This is the story of the Phoenix bird "The Palace of Wanderings" and an audiovisual performance about the world of the future. In addition, constructions-portals to the world of the future will be installed, created from LED tubes and harmoniously integrated into the nature of the park. It will be possible to read them with the help of cameras of smartphones. And all this thanks to augmented reality technology.
On September 24, a concert by People's Artist of Russia Dmitry Malikov will take place on the stage in front of the Grand Tsaritsyno Palace, accompanied by video projections on the facade of the palace.
Theater Square in 2018 will use the facades of three theaters at once for light shows: the Bolshoi, Maly and RAMT. A panoramic 270-degree video projection will be played on three buildings. They will show a light novel about Spartacus, as well as two light shows of the last year, the works of the Art Vision international competition.
0+The multimedia show, whose area will exceed a record 40,000 square meters, will unfold right on the facade of the Main Building of Moscow State University. Spectators will see two light performances. The first will be devoted to the history of the university, and the second will tell about the protected areas of Russia. Every evening - a pyrotechnic show.
Leninskiye Gory, 1VDNH 0+
Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy
At VDNKh, the organizers of the festival have prepared three interesting events at once.
We will see light installations created by artists from different parts of the world. Before your eyes, huge structures in the form of incandescent lamps will come to life and a 12-meter "Fire Tornado" will spin, and the interactive installation "Angels of Liberty" will become the perfect backdrop for a romantic selfie. Every day from 19:30 to 23:00.
To look at the unusual pyrotechnic waterfall, which creates the illusion of "pouring" fire, come to the Central Arch. The duration of the show is 2.5 minutes, starting approximately at 19:30 and 21:00 (the time changes every day, you can check on the festival website).
And from 19:30 to 23:00 come admire the cyclic video mapping to the accompaniment of the songs of the Turetsky Choir art group. Live performance - only on September 24, from 20:00 to 21:00.
Ave. Mira, 119Grand Theatre
One of the greatest and most significant in the world
A new video mapping show will be shown on the facade of the Bolshoi Theater, which will take the audience to the scenery of their favorite domestic films. The theme of cinema, but this time of the world, will be continued by the works of the participants of the Art Vision contest. It will also be possible to see the best light stories of the past years.
Theater Square, 1A whole mini-city with a height of more than 50 meters will be erected here and an incredible multimedia show with lasers, pyrotechnics, fountains and video projections will be arranged. Following the plot, the audience will make a journey through the resort towns, noisy metropolises and other interesting corners of Russia. This show, created at the intersection of the elements of light, water and fire, promises to be one of the brightest in the festival program.
st. Krylatskaya, 2Concert Hall "Izvestia Hall" 18+
The finalists of the Art Vision contest in the VJing nomination will arrange colorful competitions in the Izvestia Hall. VJs will need to quickly pick up visual effects for the sounding music. The final chord of the evening will be a demonstrative entry by Johnny Wilson, a vijeng master from Spain. Admission is free, but registration is required on the site.
Every year Moscow hosts a unique audio-visual show called Circle of Light. During the days of this international festival, the architectural monuments of the capital of Russia are transformed with the help of large-scale video projections. The art of light installations in the hands of experienced craftsmen creates unforgettable multimedia compositions. The streets are illuminated by light beams, multi-colored lasers and colorful fireworks before the eyes of admiring spectators.
The best part is that you can get vivid emotions and impressions at the Circle of Light festival completely free of charge, since entrance to all venues and events does not require payment and presentation of a ticket. In addition to the show, the program includes educational workshops and informative performances by world-famous lighting designers. Entrance to the lectures is also free, but everyone who wants to attend must first register on the official website of the organizers.
This grandiose light show began to be held in 2011. We must pay tribute to the masters - every year the visual effects become more perfect and impressive, the number of programs increases several times, and the sites seem to cover all of Moscow very soon. As a result, the emotions of the festival guests are becoming more intense, which is clearly seen in the numerous videos, photos and enthusiastic comments on the Web.
Good progress was noticeable last year: the scale of light performances increased to an incredible size, laser performances were supplemented with new effects, for example, pyrotechnics and special effects with fire and water, and building facades were decorated with very realistic and voluminous projections.
Peppercorns to the Circle of Light festival are added by the fact that light installation specialists not only demonstrate their talents, but also compete with each other within the framework of competitive programs. Eminent professional designers, who are members of the jury, carefully monitor that the title of the best in three categories - Classic, Modern and VJing - really goes to the most worthy and skillful candidates.
Teams from thirty countries will take part in the current festival, which means that the show will be very diverse and eventful. After the official opening on September 21, seven locations of the Circle of Light 2018 festival will operate daily until September 25. The organizers assume that during this time the number of guests of the event will reach five million people.
The solemn part of the opening of the festival will begin on the evening of September 21 at 20:30 with the multi-media show "Carnival of Light", which will be held on the Rowing Canal. Laser and light beams will be complemented by "dances" of 285 fountains and 170 pillars of fire.
An exciting film about the world of the distant future can be watched at the Tsaritsyno venue. The story of the legendary character, the Phoenix bird, will also be shown there. Thanks to the colorful interweaving of light streams, viewers will be able to see such famous historical monuments as the Taj Mahal and Big Ben. On September 24, against the backdrop of beautiful video projections, Dmitry Malikov will perform. The concert will take place on the stage near the palace.
Theater Square at the Circle of Light festival will be decorated with a panoramic three-dimensional composition, where the guests of the festival will see an exciting novel about the heroism and love of Spartacus.
For the first time in the history of the event, the site will also be organized on Poklonnaya Hill. Light stories here will be accompanied by military songs and will tell about the heroic events of past years, the great Russian inventors, as well as the equipment and technologies of the Russian army. After that, the guests of the festival will be able to go on a virtual flight over the picturesque regions of the Russian Federation.
A laser show for children will be held at the Kolomenskoye Museum-Reserve. Here, on the facades of buildings, beloved fairy-tale characters will come to life, and the world created with the help of lighting effects will amaze viewers of all ages with its originality and magical atmosphere.
The closing of the festival is scheduled for September 25, and it will take place in the same place where the "Circle of Light-2018" began - on the Rowing Canal. Time of the final event: from 21:30 to 22:15.
You can learn more about all the programs and venues, the date and time of various events, view the photo gallery and get more information about the educational program on the official website of the international festival "Circle of Light" at the link
