Lumo Light Festival Oulu is calling for artists, designers, and lighting professionals as well as students and educational institutions to submit their proposals for the 2026 event.
The multi-disciplinary festival is looking for impressive installations and innovative video mappings as well as light-utilising content from different fields, such as music, dance, theatre, and workshops. We are primarily looking for proposals designed for outdoor spaces.
The theme of Lumo Light Festival in 2026 is The Other Side.
Artists are asked to submit their proposals by 13th of March 2026 at 4 p.m. (EET) using the application form.
Festival dates
Lumo Light Festival will take place on Thu 19 – Sun 22 November 2026, between 4–10 p.m. each day. Some of the installations may remain on display for a longer period if they are tolerant to weather changes and do not require maintenance.
Festival zone
The festival will take place in Oulu city centre and surrounding parks. You can propose your work for a specific location or without a location proposal. See festival zone on the map.
Oulu Cathedral facade projection
A projection piece will be created on the facade of Oulu cathedral, using two 40,000-lumen Panasonic 3DLP 4K laser projectors. You can submit a proposal for a work that makes use of these video projectors.
Weather conditions
Please note that the weather conditions in Oulu in late November can vary a lot. During the festival, the temperature may fluctuate between -20°C and +10°C. Snow cover may be anything between 0 and 20 cm, and the circumstances are likely to be very humid or slippery. The wind may reach storm speeds. However, the darkest time of the year provides an excellent setting for light installations. The sun rises at 9 a.m. and sets at 3 p.m.
Selection of installations
When selecting the installations, the following points shall be considered:
- elements of visual and emotional experience, attraction, and novelty
- technical requirements for the installation
- total installation costs, including local production
- suitability and compatibility with other selected artworks within the programme framework
- soundscape
- independent method of production and realisation
- ecologically sustainable solutions
- accessibility
- suitability for the weather conditions
Budget
We will select installations within the following budget limits:
- Total price of over 25 001 € (2–3 installations will be selected)
- 15 001–25 000 € (3–4 installations)
- 5 001–15 000 € (3–4 installations)
- max. 5 000 € (3–4 installations)
Submitting the proposals
Artists are asked to submit their proposals by 4 p.m. (EET) on 13th of March 2026. The proposals must be submitted in Finnish or English. The proposals shall include the following:
- presentation of the visual appearance of the installation
- concise description of the installation
- description of production and technical implementation, plus requirements for the installation location
- detailed specification of the total budget for the artwork, including all expenses pertaining to the realisation of the installation, including travel, accommodation, and shipping costs
- information about the issuer of the invoice (name of organisation plus company ID or similar)
Installation proposals are to be submitted with the attached form accompanied by a single .pdf file including pictures and possible links to videos. The file must be named InstallationName_ArtistName_TotalPrice.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at lumolightfestival@ouka.fi.
We shall contact the artists selected for further negotiations by the end of April. Unfortunately, we cannot reply to all proposals.
We look forward to receiving your ideas!
