Valguse festival
The goal of the Light Festival is to raise awareness of the importance of light and light-based technologies in our home and in the development of society.
The idea of the festival was born in collaboration between Nõo Municipality governor Rain Sangernebo and Tartu Observatory Director Anu Reinart and the Manager of the Visitors Center Heli Lätt.
The idea was to open the doors of the Space Center and introduce the work to the local public. The concept of the festival was developed by choreographer Jaan Ulst.
2015
2015 was the international year of Light and light-based technologies, when the first Light Festival was born. It was held at the Tõravere observatory, where during the event there were several interactive exhibitions and a science room in the halls and rooms of the observatory, which helped to understand the nature and use of light. The evening ended with the play of light and music “Forest of Light”, which took the viewer on a journey between the Tõravere telescopes.
2017
Already in the third year, the Tõravere observatory was too small for the festival, so in 2017 Luke manor was chosen as the new venue, where the old manor park provided many new opportunities to highlight different forms of light. In Luke manor park, the area of living fire was added to the scientific and artistic light, where the importance of fire as the most familiar source of light and heat in the technological development of mankind was introduced.
2019
Since each venue offers new possibilities with its own uniqueness, the festival will move to a new location on the shores of Nõo Veskijärve in two years, i.e. in 2019. The following year, in addition to Veskijärvi and Nõo Church, the events also took place in Kellamehe Park, and as a new experience, a path inspired by satellites was made of 2,000 outdoor candles.
2020
In year 2020, in addition to Veskijärv and Nõo Church, events took place in Kellamehe Park. A path inspired by 2,000 outdoor candles was completed as a new experience.
2022
This year, 2022, we call out to all of our fans to decorate their homes!
This is how the festival has become an event that, on the one hand, popularizes science and space – we have visited the Tõravere Observatory, offered the opportunity to get familiar with various laboratories and monitoring rooms, and shown the construction of the galaxy. On the other hand, it is also a performing arts event, which shows how to integrate the theme of space and light into the cultural experience.