Amsterdam Light Festival

Name

Amsterdam Light Festival

Legal name

Stichting Amsterdam Light Festival

Website

https://amsterdamlightfestival.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cultural Events & Light Art Festivals

NAICS

Museums (71211)

akta.pro primary industry

Food, Drink & Culinary Community Festivals (Community-Led) (MPAGAEAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Art Galleries & Exhibition Spaces (Commercial & Nonprofit) (THAJADAH)

Keywords

• Light art festival
• Cultural events
• Public art exhibitions
• Art education programs
• Light art curation

Headquarters

HQ city

Amsterdam

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Festival experiences and Light Art Collection licensing: Festival generates revenue through ticket sales for guided cruise and walk experiences. Light Art Collection (LAC) provides artworks to clients internationally, generating income that flows back to the festival foundation to create new artworks and editions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Amsterdam Light Festival organizes an annual winter light art festival along Amsterdam's canals featuring light artworks (projections, installations, sculptures, digital works, design objects) by national and international artists selected through an Open Call. Visitors access artworks freely or via paid cruise and walk experiences; the foundation also runs an Education Project for primary school students and operates the Light Art Collection (LAC) subsidiary that licenses festival artworks internationally.

Product overview

Amsterdam Light Festival is a non-profit foundation that organizes an annual winter light art festival along Amsterdam's canals, now in its 15th edition (2026-2027). The core offering consists of three visitor experience formats—Walk, Cruise, and Bike tours—through which the public views light artworks created by selected international artists via the Open Call process. The Education Project engages primary school students in workshop programs where they contribute to light artworks displayed during the festival. The Light Art Collection (LAC) is a separate initiative that travels festival artworks internationally for placemaking and activation projects. The organization also maintains a collection of permanent artworks.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Festival Experiences (Walk, Cruise, Bike) The main festival experience offers visitors multiple ways to view light artworks: walking tours via app, boat cruises along Amsterdam's canals, and cycling routes through the city. Light art itself is freely accessible; ticketed experiences are paid add-ons.
• Education Project A program for primary school students (groups 6-8) that teaches about light art through workshops, featuring student-created contributions displayed during the festival. Edition 15 (2026-2027) focuses on the holomicrobiome theme with artwork WirWarWed.
• Light Art Collection (LAC) A traveling exhibition and licensing program established in 2017 that sends festival artworks to venues worldwide. Claims to be the world's largest collection of light art installations, serving international clients for activations, placemaking, and curated light art experiences.
• Open Call Annual submission process inviting international artists to submit concepts for light artworks; selected concepts are curated and turned into artworks that make up the festival route.
• Permanent Artworks Light art installations that remain on permanent display in Amsterdam after the annual festival editions, providing year-round public art.

Quantifiable outcome

• Hundreds of thousands of visitors attend each edition
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Light Art Collection (LAC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Light Art Collection was established in 2017 to give festival artworks a second life by traveling them globally. The income generated enables the festival foundation to create new artworks and festival editions. LAC is the world's largest collection of light art installations, with over ten years of experience in curating and producing light art experiences.
• Boat companiescoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThe festival is realised in collaboration with boat companies that provide cruise experiences along the festival route.
• Municipality of AmsterdamcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe festival is a private initiative in collaboration with the municipality, which provides some subsidy support.
• Wereldmuseum AmsterdamminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration for Edition 14 as part of the festival's efforts to become more rooted in Amsterdam.
• GreenpeaceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration for Edition 14 as part of the festival's experimental programming approach.
• Het ScheepvaartmuseumminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration for Edition 14 as part of the festival's experimental programming approach.
• TestTafelminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration for Edition 14 as part of the festival's experimental programming approach.
• Quantum Delta NLminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration for the Kwantumfantum Multiversum artwork, exploring quantum technology themes with children.
• BeeldjuttersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerArtist collective that created Kwantumfantum Multiversum for Edition 14. They create poetic installations at the intersection of light art and site-specific theatre.
• Stichting Gouden DagenminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for the Golden Light Tour connecting children with elderly people on boat trips.
• Jeroen Alexander MeijerminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerArtist for the Mind Bridges education project, working with primary school students on attention and ritual themes.
• Stichting Aandacht voor AandachtminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFoundation collaborating on the Mind Bridges education project focusing on attention and ritual themes.
• Education project partnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartners include: Gemeente Amsterdam, Juf op Straat, Super Chill, Hot Mama Hot, Beens Groep, Dura Vermeer, H.v. Steenwijk BV, Arcadis, Mocca Expertisecentrum, Stromma Nederland, Rederij Lovers, Rederij 't Smidtje, Blue Boat Company - supporting the education project for Edition 13.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Copenhagen Light Festival: Copenhagen Light Festival is a winter light art festival along Copenhagen's canals and streets. Very directly comparable as a Northern-European canal-based light festival with free public access and paid experiences.
• GLOW Eindhoven: GLOW is the Netherlands' other major light art festival, held annually in Eindhoven. Directly comparable as a Dutch light art festival, but focused on indoor/urban-tech light installations rather than canal-based outdoor works.
• Fête des Lumières (Lyon): Lyon Festival of Lights is one of the world's largest light art festivals, attracting millions of visitors annually. Highly comparable as a city-anchored, free-to-view winter light festival with paid tour experiences.
• Vivid Sydney: Vivid Sydney is a globally recognized festival of light, music and ideas. Comparable as a paid B2C light art event drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors annually, though bigger and broader in scope.
• Ghent Light Festival: Ghent Light Festival is a triennial Belgian light art event with a free outdoor route plus paid boat and walking tours. Closely mirrors Amsterdam's canal-side light trail and ticketing structure.
• SIGNAL Festival (Prague): SIGNAL is a major Czech light and media art festival held in Prague, mixing public installations across the city. Directly comparable in scale and format to Amsterdam Light Festival's annual winter canvas model.
• Berlin Festival of Lights: Berlin Festival of Lights is a 10-day annual light art event illuminating iconic landmarks. Operates as a comparable free outdoor light festival with paid guided tours and international projection artists.
• Noor Riyadh: Noor Riyadh is Saudi Arabia's annual citywide light art festival featuring permanent and temporary installations. Comparable in its blend of public free access and commissioned artworks across a major urban environment.

Emerging players

• iMapp Bucharest: iMapp is a video-mapping event on Bucharest's Palace of Parliament. Comparable as a paid light/projection art festival but narrower in focus than Amsterdam's multi-artist outdoor exhibition.

Others

• Light Art Collection (LAC): LAC is, in fact, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Amsterdam Light Festival that handles international placemaking and activation. Included to anchor LAC as an adjacent ecosystem player comparable in the international B2B light art deployment market.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/amsterdamlightfestival
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/amsterdam-light-festival

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Amsterdam Light Festival