Festival of Lights Berlin

Berlin's Festival of Lights began in 2005 to brighten the city's dark autumn days, transforming landmarks including the Brandenburg Gate, Television Tower, Berlin Cathedral, Victory Column, Potsdamer Platz and the Reichstag through large-scale illuminations and 3D projections each September and October. Free and open to all, the festival now draws more than two million visitors annually, exceeding three and a half million by 2024, making it one of the largest light festivals in the world by attendance.

Berlin's Festival of Lights began in 2005, created with a deliberately practical purpose: to brighten the city's famously dark, grey autumn days and bring renewed life back to Berlin's streets during the season when daylight hours shrink fastest, though some accounts trace preliminary illuminations and projections back to an October 2004 precursor event the year before the festival formally launched.