Forward to the Stars

This year, the Festival of Lights will take place at sunset on October 4 at 6:39 p.m. on the shore of Nõo Veskijärv and is entitled “Forward to the Stars”.

Visitors can walk around the lake and listen to stories about music, dance, and school life. More than 20 bonfires will be set up around the lake, illuminated with colorful special effects by Pyrocom.

“Over the years, the Festival of Lights has been a meeting place for dancers, artists, musicians, and our visitors. It is important for us to create an open and free atmosphere where people can experiment and enjoy creating together,” says Jaan Ulst, producer of the Festival of Lights.

The Dance Club Triiniks and Just Dance School will perform during the dance part of the festival. Just Dance School will perform a “Regitants” dance by the bonfire, which means that anyone who wishes to can dance along with the dancers. The dancers from the Triiniks Dance Club will perform under the guidance of Danish choreographer Emile Betzeri, expressing the spark of fire in people through dance.

The Saekoja Dixieland Band will be playing music from one bonfire to another as they move around the festival grounds. These brass musicians made their first public appearance at the The Festival of Lights in 2016.

Jaanus Järveoja, principal of Nõo Reaalgümnaasium, and Mare-Lee Hamer, mathematics teacher, will discuss topics related to the future of education. The Naiskodukaitse Nõo branch and Nõo kodutütred Neoneiud will be present, teaching how to make a fire with a fire stick and offering warm tea to accompany the October evening stories. The Nõo Priitahtlik Päästeselts (Nõo Volunteer Rescue Association) will focus on safety topics and will also bring water rescue dogs to the festival.

In addition, the Festival of Lights will feature a laser projection showing organized by the technological art farm Maajaam and the Latvian art space Savvaļa as part of the RuralArtConnect program, which explores the intersections of sound and light through practical experimentation using laser projection in the open air. The aim of the international program is to develop art communities in rural areas through residency camps, interdisciplinary artists, and art networks.

“The Festival of Lights is an important and authentic community event—it is organised by our own people for our own people. This collaboration helps us remember that, even in the darkest times, together we can always make our home a little brighter,” said Maano Koemets, mayor of Nõo, about the importance and significance of the Festival of Lights, a major event in Nõo.

When the sun sets at 6:39 p.m., the 11th Festival of Lights will begin, with the aim of raising awareness of the importance of light and light-based technologies in our homes and in the development of society.