One of the brightest events in the life of the Russian capital is the Circle of Light festival. The feedback from the audience clearly reflects the atmosphere of the holiday that reigns here, which is often also called the festival of light.
First festivals of light
For the first time such a holiday was held in the 19th century in Lyon. A kind of festival was purely religious in nature. It was a holiday dedicated to the worship of the Virgin Mary, who saved the city from the plague. The inhabitants of Lyon, in gratitude to her, put candles in the windows, which filled the city with magical light. Nowadays, this holiday has become secular and attracts millions of tourists.
With the development of technology, festivals of light have become larger. These are whole performances on the streets of cities. Modern holidays are multimedia and laser shows, video mapping. They are held annually in Berlin, Prague, Lyon, Jerusalem and other cities of the world. For the last four years, a similar festival could be seen in Moscow.
Unique project
According to the idea of the organizers of the project, its main idea should express the speed of the ongoing changes in modern society,showcase the power of the latest technology. And it is worth noting that they succeeded! The Circle of Light festival was first held in Moscow in 2011 and since then every year it has not ceased to amaze with its grandiose performances that are simply impossible not to see.
As part of a unique project, art artists and designers from around the world demonstrate the limitless possibilities in audiovisual art, which is a 3D projection on the facades of famous buildings, structures and cultural monuments of the city. By integrating their ideas into the architectural space of Moscow, they create an unforgettable video mapping.
For spectators, free admission to all sites of the Circle of Light festival. Reviews of light art technologies are filled with true delight. Spectators simply cannot but be amazed by the musical and multimedia performances, light installations that fill each of the festival venues with the energy of light.
Viewers can also join educational programs, gain certain knowledge by attending master classes by leading artists in the field of lighting technology. All master classes are free of charge, but pre-registration is required on the official website of the project.
Positive resonance
The Circle of Light festival was held in 2011 with great success. The new festive show, using innovative lighting technologies, caused a positive response all over the world. Already the first holding of such an event in Moscow made it possible to put the festival on a par with the largestsimilar representations in other countries of the world.
The first "Circle of Light" in Moscow was held only at three main venues: Manezhnaya and Red Square, Gorky Park. More than 360 light installations were shown here. The festival made it possible to identify the most talented masters of architectural lighting, made it possible to use international experience in the thematic, lighting design of the city.
In subsequent years, all the advanced trends in the field of video design and lighting were concentrated in the capital. It is the Circle of Light festival that can help Moscow become a kind of epicenter of multimedia events in the world. Reviews of its success and scale have already spread around the world.
ART VISION
Circle of Light is an international show. Both masters of their craft and beginners from all over the world participate in it. Contestants have the opportunity to demonstrate their work within the framework of the ART-VISION competition. In October 2014, their work was presented in the following arts: classic architectural video mapping, modern video mapping, VJing.
Evaluates the work of the contestants by an international jury, which includes well-known professionals from the field of design, architecture, lighting technology.
Competition Evaluation Criteria
The jury in the same composition impartially judges the submitted works of the contestants. Each of the nominations is evaluated by them according to certain criteria. Their basisare the following conditions:
- Uniqueness and originality of performance.
- Creativity of the presented idea, concept of execution, design in the disclosure of the theme and in the use of the environment.
- The integrity of the theme, narrative.
- The quality of the director's work.
- Musical arrangement.
- Effective application of various technologies in the creation of a work.
- Reaction from viewers.
- Transformation. Changing the sense of space through mapping and content.
- Technique.
- Effects.
- Media integration.
Lightscenario
“Circle of Light” in Moscow is prepared according to specially designed individual scenarios. For the artistic illumination of bridges, buildings, monuments, highways, a certain range of colors of various light dynamics is selected. Great attention is paid to lighting so that it does not interrupt and does not distract from the already established historical image of the capital, from its landscape and architectural silhouettes.
The season of its holding gives a peculiar charm to the festival. In the autumn, when the level of illumination drops and daylight hours are significantly reduced, a laser show, 3D projections and hundreds of light objects create a unique, bright holiday atmosphere. The Circle of Light festival attracts millions of spectators who come to watch magnificent video illusions, abstract stories and amazing performances.
The brilliant idea of the light show was appreciated. Colorfulness, stunning effects, light in incredible incarnations, classical arias that sound in a new way with such illumination attract more and more viewers from different parts of the world to the Circle of Light. Reviews of the festival are extremely positive, people were really breathtaking from what they saw.
New image of the city
In 2012, a multimedia show, held on Red Square, shocked with a colorfully illustrated history of the origin and development of life on the planet. Its main theme was the origin and development of the world. The opening of the festival took on a truly universal scale, and it ended with a chamber story about the birth of light directly in the human soul.
Reviews from the audience testified to the extraordinary scale of the festival. The light show literally covered the entire city. It seemed to the residents and guests of the capital that they were in a magical world.
The "Circle of Light" festival in Moscow in subsequent years also prepared many surprises for its visitors. Five evenings of the third festival opened a stunning video projection "On the birth and journey of fire", the audience was shown light performances "Image of Russia" and "Ballet, decor, movement".
The fourth festival, the theme of which was "Around the World Travel", was recognized as the most grandiose. 8 venues were used for it: Ostankino, Tsaritsyno, VDNH, Bolshoi Theatre, Digital October, Manezhnaya Square, Kuznetsky Most.
During the festival, tens of thousands of courtyards of Moscow, facades of historicalbuildings and structures, hundreds of streets, parks and squares, the play "Around the World in Less Than an Hour" was shown. The main character of the performance was the Ostankino Tower, which, before the eyes of the audience, reincarnated into the Tokyo, Eiffel Towers and other equally famous buildings.
It was hard to put into words the admiration for the performances shown by the Circle of Light festival in Moscow. Feedback from the incredible play of light, beauty and grace testifies to the success of the project. A well-thought-out educational program also leaves a lot of enthusiasm. Video mapping workshops and lectures from the creators of light installations, world-famous light shows, developers of modern software for the production of audio-visual content reveal to visitors the unprecedented possibilities of the industry of multimedia technologies and lighting design.
Reviews
The Circle of Light festival in Moscow is a grandiose and unusual holiday show. In terms of the number of participants and the scale of performances in the fall of 2014, it surpassed the record of previous years.
Fabulous spectacle, prepared by the best art artists from around the world, captivated the audience who visited the Circle of Light. Their comments about the opening of the festival were mainly in the words “fantastically beautiful, unforgettable, incredible.”
The art of the color show turned the autumn night into a colorful fairy tale, allowed the viewer to travel across all continents, observe extraordinary abstract installations of various genres and styles.
Lucky and those who were able to watch the broadcast of the show at home on TV. It felt like no detail was left out, allowing viewers to also take part in a kind of time travel.
The closing of the Circle of Light festival gave a lot of pleasant sensations. Reviews of the incredible mesmerizing beauty of the light performances and their scale are clear evidence that those who have not yet been able to visit this luxurious and enchanting spectacle should definitely do so next year.
Event tourism
The main objective of the festival was the development of event tourism. Demonstration of the latest technologies in the field of light attracts more and more people from all over the world. "Circle of Light" is an extraordinary festival that allows you to transform the usual urban space with the help of light technologies. This is a bright holiday - a synthesis of fine, light and plastic art. These are new trends in the field of architectural and lighting design in the country. The festival has become a hallmark of Moscow, one of the components of the city's brand.
