VII International Festival of Light
and Media Art
About Festival
The International Festival of Light and Media Art Light Nights is an immersive nighttime journey through an open-air exhibition of light and media art, set in the unique palace park of Gatchina.
Since its inception in 2017, the Light Nights festival has introduced wide audiences to contemporary art, while serving as a creative and technological laboratory for artists working with light, landscapes, architecture, and digital technologies. We offer participants the opportunity to experiment with new ideas and formats, with most of the projects presented at the festival being premieres.
The festival encompasses several program areas:
A distinctive advantage — and a creative challenge — for all festival participants lies in the Gatchina Museum and Reserve itself. This masterpiece of architecture and landscape art stands as a living witness to the shifts in eras, rulers, and cultural layers.
Our mission at the festival is to unite contemporary art and cutting-edge technology with the historic landscape. We encourage projects that bring the past and present into dialogue, filling traditional heritage with new meanings.
The Light Nights festival invites audiences and participants to view the world through the lens of contemporary technological art, honoring the past while unlocking opportunities for the future.
Who Can Participate
We welcome applications from artists working in:
  • Light and multimedia installations
  • Digital art
  • Video mapping
Artists, architects, lighting designers, theatre scenographers, sound artists, composers, VR and AR-developers, IT-experts, technologists, and other creative professionals are invited to showcase their work, either individually or as part of a team.
The minimum age for participants is 18.
What Type of Content We’re Looking For
We expect original artistic concepts that align with the overall festival context.
The entire festival program takes place outdoors in Gatchina Palace Park. Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate indoor installations.
Projection surfaces include the facades of the Great Gatchina Palace and other architectural elements within the park. Most of the festival’s program consists of objects located in the park's landscapes and water features.
All content must be accessible to the audience at all times, either through a short repeating cycle or an interactive scenario in continuous mode. All installations must operate without interruptions, as visitors move in a constant flow between locations.
Our Primary Formats:
  • Architectural mapping
  • Projection shows on water screens and other surfaces
  • Installations with integrated video art (the festival does not showcase video art on standard screens)
  • Light and laser installations
  • Interactive installations designed for high foot traffic
  • Immersive spaces integrated into the landscape
  • Audiovisual performances
  • Promenade performances across the festival grounds
How We Work with the Space
The festival is held on the grounds of the Gatchina Museum-Reserve. A map highlighting the most significant locations in Gatchina Park has been prepared, along with materials for each site.
We invite you to explore the area and develop your creative project for a specific location—this could be a building façade, a meadow, a pond, an island, a bridge, a pavilion, a gate, or an alley.
16. Swan's Island
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35. Round Pond
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34. Flower's Hill
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36. Botanical Gardens
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33. Octogonal Pond
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32. Rectangular Pond
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31. Birch Gate
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30. Portal "Mask"
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29. Birch House
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28. Flat Glade
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27. Inclined Glade
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26. Love Island and Venus Pavilion
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24. Parterre
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23. Cape
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22. Water Maze
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21. Hill
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20. Concrete Block
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25. Marina
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19. Crow's Island
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18. Ladle Pond
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17. Admiralty
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14. Admiralty Gate
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15. Water area of the White Lake
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13. Jordanian well
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12. Pontoon Bridge
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11. Carpin Bridge
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10. Carpin Pond
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9. Stairs
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8. Statue of Athena
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7. Upper Dutch Garden
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6. Lower Dutch Garden
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5. Moat
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4. Lateral Facade of Gatchina Palace
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3. Jordanian facade of Gatchina Palace
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2. Own Garden
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  1. Arsenal Kare of the Gatchina Palace
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We believe in the power of synergy between space and creative ideas. We value site-specific projects that organically complement the unique landscape and context of the Gatchina Reserve.
2025 Festival Theme
The theme of the Light Nights festival in 2025 is GAME.
We encourage artists and audiences to approach this theme with utmost seriousness! Game is the fundamental code of human interaction with the world, a key component of our reality at all levels — from childhood fantasies to complex adult strategies, from board games to virtual worlds.
Philosophers like Plato, Schiller, Kant, Pascal, and Huizinga, among others, have pondered the phenomenon of games as a defining feature of human nature and art as the ultimate expression of play. Not only scholars but also artists have endlessly explored the nature of game and its role in art and culture.
Game is a unique form of human activity where reality is transformed through imagination, where rules create structure but do not limit creativity, where participants willingly immerse themselves in alternative worlds, and where the process is more important than the outcome. Game is a universal language that unites people of all ages, cultures, and social backgrounds.
In it rules can be invented and reinvented. Games allow us to experience what is unattainable or impossible in ordinary life. Through play, we can fearlessly look into the past and rehearse possible futures. The space of game is a territory where familiar boundaries disappear, roles shift, rules are revisited, and new possibilities arise.
Light Nights festival is the perfect playing field where light and multimedia installations create new spaces that one can not only observe but actively alter, becoming part of their living structure. Light and media technologies foster a dialogue between the audience and the artist, the environment and the technology, sensations and ideas.
At Light Nights anything is possible in the space between reality and fantasy, creation and destruction, rules and their absence. We will enter a world of artistic freedom, where everyone sets their own rules and defines their own roles.
Shall we play?
How the Main Program is Formed
1
Application
We review all applications and reach out to all applicants by email. If a project sparks our interest, we schedule a Zoom call.
2
Technical Details
We discuss the artistic and technical aspects of the project, rider requirements, logistics, and other details. This process may take considerable time, with input from experts and consultants as needed.
3
Participation in the Program
If feasible and compelling solutions are found, we invite the project to join the festival program.
4
Program Announcement
We plan to have the program finalized by April 20, 2025.

The main program is curated by the festival team, led by director Olga Arshanskaya. The team reserves the right to decline applications without explanation. Like any major festival, the number of applications exceeds the financial resources available.