The Llum BCN Festival – International Festival of Light Arts returns from 6 to 8 February 2026 to the Poblenou district and the surroundings of Glòries Square to celebrate its fifteenth edition.
For three nights, the festival will transform the urban space into a large stage for artistic experimentation through the language of light. Under the theme Nocturnal Landscapes, Llum BCN offers a different and magical nocturnal experience of architecture, freed from its everyday functionality and open to research, poetry and visual innovation.
Organised by the Institut de Cultura de Barcelona (ICUB), one of the distinctive features of Llum BCN is the involvement of students and teachers from the city’s schools of architecture, art and design, who are responsible for the installations. The public will be able to enjoy 12 installations by internationally renowned artists and 18 proposals created by university schools.
The UPC School will take part with these installations:
BATEC – Students of the Master’s degree in Lighting Design. Architectural Lighting Design
Location: Parc del Centre del Poblenou (crater)
Beneath the surface, Poblenou preserves the energy of its industrial past. A red light spiral, beating like a heart, invites visitors to symbolically delve into this latent memory. Batec is a sensory experience that, through light and sound, evokes the district’s industrial spirit, still present in a silent yet vibrant way.
LA ESPALDA DEL MUNDO | RELINGO – Students of the master’s degree in Space Design and Production
Location: Teatre Nacional de Catalunya – Sala Tallers (gardens)
In an urban void located behind the TNC, the installation proposes to activate a forgotten space through public participation. Shadows, light and translucent materials transform the theatre’s façade into a living screen, creating a collective experience that reveals and reactivates this residual site.
The artistic direction of Llum BCN is led by lighting designer Maria Güell Ordis, academic co-director of the master’s degree in Lighting Design.
More information:
Llum BCN 2026
