Lights transform city into dazzling canvas

As night falls, the forest trails of Yanzhong Green Space in downtown Shanghai are gently lit by low-glare eco-friendly lamps, while architectural projections ripple across Suzhou Creek. On Thursday evening, the 3rd Shanghai International Light Festival officially kicked off its month-long citywide celebration.

Centered on its permanent theme Light of Shanghai, this year's festival spans one main venue and 16 subvenues citywide, hosting 158 themed events.

At the main venue in Huangpu district, Yanzhong Green Space is transformed into Shanghai's first contiguous urban forest light experience zone in the city core, stretching across four connected green plots where an interactive projection show on the Telecom Building and a 10-day music and light spectacular at the Shanghai Concert Hall merge architectural mapping with diverse music lineups to deliver an immersive audio-visual experience.

Each of the 16 sub-venues taps into local characteristics to create unique experiences.

In downtown areas, Pudong features an 800-meter-long forest light street; Putuo launches Shanghai's first large-scale floating light installation; Xuhui's West Bund Dream Center presents site-specific works by leading global new media artists in an experimental riverside venue; and Hongkou's North Bund integrates rowing events with tech lighting to highlight its revitalized waterfront. Yangpu connects its industrial legacy, including the historic Yangshupu Power Plant, with music festivals along a riverside light corridor.

Further afield, Baoshan premieres its Changtan IMAX dome water screen show complemented by drone performances and fireworks; Pudong's Lingang creates immersive naked-eye 3D light zones around Dishui Lake; Songjiang's Sijing Town combines intangible cultural heritage shadow puppetry with water screen projections; and Jiading hosts a cultural heritage month, blending traditional Jiangnan (the area south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River) aesthetics with contemporary nightscapes.

Shanghai's nightscapes have long captivated international visitors, especially this summer.

"Shanghai feels both deeply traditional and technologically advanced — to us, it's like the future," says Millen Sandhu, a university student from Vancouver, Canada, after viewing the light displays along the Bund.

Ophelia Diaz, a French tourist who attended a light festival in Hong Kong years ago, praised Shanghai's night skyline during her first visit: "It's really nice and iconic. Everyone should come and see it."

Katie Welch Hu and her mother, Janet Beemer, from the United States, who first experienced Shanghai's light shows a decade ago, say they were still awestruck on their return this summer. "It's breathtaking," Welch Hu says. Having visited New York's Times Square, she notes that while both places glow brightly, "the vibe and culture are different. There's definitely something special about Shanghai".

International exchange stands at the core of this year's festival. Wang Jian'er, vice-president of SMG, says the Shining Shanghai International Light Art Competition received 156 entries from 149 teams across 41 countries and regions on six continents, including more than half of the teams holding top international light art awards. Twenty shortlisted works will be on display at the historic Shenyu Lane complex in MixC World Suhewan starting Sept 26.

"Light is a universal language — and we want it to tell Shanghai's stories to the world," Wang says, adding that the festival aims to turn Shanghai into a global magnet for creative talent.

Under the MM•ARTech program, 15 leading artists from eight groups — based in cities including London, Singapore, Budapest, and Berlin — created site-specific works under the theme "In Shanghai", making their global debut at the Tank Art Park during the festival.

The festival's global scope is also reflected in its open call for installations, which drew 174 submissions from artists in 16 countries. Interactive works from France, Croatia and the Netherlands will debut at Yanzhong Green Space and the Suzhou Creek waterfront, inviting visitors to engage with light art rather than just observe it.

Green and low-carbon principles run throughout the festival.

Zhang Lixin, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Landscaping and City Appearance, notes that many installations use recycled materials and biodegradable panels, and most are designed to remain in public spaces after the festival, embodying the ethos of art empowering the city and technology safeguarding ecology.

"We measure the festival's success not by how brightly it shines, but by how lightly it treads on the city," Zhang says.

The festival is also a narrative of public co-creation.

Zhang Yuxin, deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai municipal government, notes that experts and residents participated jointly in venue design at sites including Yanzhong Green Space and Jing'an Park. Activities such as youth light art workshops, photography contests, pet night runs, and parent-child craft workshops cater to diverse groups, shifting the experience from viewing to active participation.

"A city's light should be written by its people, not merely shone upon them," Zhang Yuxin says of the festival's evolution from a curated event into a platform for public co-creation.