The 8th Circle of Light Moscow International Festival is closed. In the period from September 21 through September 24 Four million Muscovites and guests of the capital city, regions of Russia and tourists attended the festival.

Carnival of Light on Grebnoy Channel

On September 21, 2018 the Circle of Light Festival began with a multimedia show on the Grebnoy Channel. Carnival of Light was a mystical story, where the whole story was based on illusions and unusual images. A mysterious Entertainer presented the audience a parade of vivid acts, where every artist is more than meets the eye. Here old puppets came to life and started dancing, a magic Pegasus opened its wings, and a little Mime created miracles.

For the first time in the history of the festival the organizers moved away from the linear use of the show instruments, and mixed them boldly to create new expressive techniques. Light projections were mixed with laser etudes, fountains were followed by a fire show, images of artists were transformed into elements on the construction of the Grebnoy Canal. For the first time the creative team of the show refused to use fireworks inside the show, so as not to destroy that magical space that creates fountains and light.

In technical terms, the festival venue - Grebnoy Channel - has become the most equipped venue in the entire history of the festival. To create video projections with an area of more than 6,000 square meters, a 12-meter-cubed construction was built. On the water, more than 260 fountains were placed, which maximum stream of water reached more than 50 meters. More than 160 fire burners were installed on the pontoons.

The opening ceremony ended with grandiose 15-minute fireworks on the spit of the Grebnoy Channel.

On September 22 and 23, the Reruns of Carnival of Light took place on the Grebnoy Channel. The pyrotechnic show had a duration of 7 minutes.

As a result, the performance was a remarkable event because of two achievements in the Guinness World Records: for the largest number of simultaneously lit burners (162 pcs.) and the largest projection on the water surface (3,099.24 sq.m).

Three theaters and the Circle of Light:

In 2018, video mapping performances were shown on the facades of three theaters at a time: Bolshoi Theatre, Maly Theatre and Russian Academic Youth Theatre. Together they turned into a panoramic 270-degree projection.

On the Theater Square, a new light show about Spartacus was shown - the story of a man's struggle for personal freedom and spiritual liberation. The creators of the show were inspired by the history of the gladiator, told earlier in the famous novel by Rafaello Giovagnoli, the legendary ballet production of the Bolshoi Theatre and the screen versions of Spartacus in the cinema.

During the festival in the Theater Square you could also see two thematic representations of the last-year Circle of Light - Celestial Mechanics and Timeless.

Circle of Light in the parks of Moscow

The residents of the Nagatinsky Zaton district asked the mayor of the capital to include the Kolomenskoe Museum-Reserve in the program of the brightest event of the Moscow autumn. Thanks to the magical light of the festival, the park Kolomenskoe has turned into a space full of fairy-tale characters, a place where children's dreams and fantasies come to life. Here at the behest of the dwarves, magical trees grew, bringing gold fruits, the carriage with Cinderella turned into a pumpkin, and Ole Lukoye invited the audience to colored dreams.

The favorite and already familiar to Muscovites playground Circle of Light - the Tsaritsyno Museum-Reserve has become an amazing space of light for the festival period. The audience could watch two new light shows - Palace of Wandering and Shadow of the Earth. In the park, unusual design-portals to the world of the future, created from LED tubes, were installed. Thanks to the technology of augmented reality, animals appeared on the screen of mobile devices - possible inhabitants of future ecosystems. On September 24, a concert of Merited Artist of Russia Dmitry Malikov was held on the stage in front of the Grand Palace in Tsaritsyno, accompanied by light video projections.

The Victory Museum has become another new venue of Circle of Light Festival this year. On the facade of the building light novels dedicated to the military past of Russia, the city of Moscow, as well as a fifteen-minute VJing (audiovisual presentation) with the music and songs of the war years were shown.

Circle of Light in Sevastopol

Circle of Light Moscow International Festival sent a colorful message to the Crimea. On September 22 and 23, a light show was held on the facade of the Palace of Pioneers in Sevastopol. The first day of the show ended with a stunning fireworks display.

The festival visitors could see a five-minute light show, inspired by the character of Sevastopol. The city was identified with the ship , which path was inseparably associated with the fate of Russia, and was directed to a beautiful future.

The second part of the light performance was dedicated to famous music pieces about Sevastopol. On the facade of the Palace of Pioneers, the stories told in the songs revived such as: Sevastopol waltz, On the seas, on the waves, Let it shake and others.

Japan and Russia on the Grebnoy Channel

The closing ceremony of the festival took place on September 25 at the Grebnoy Channel. A 40-minute colorful pyrotechnic show was prepared by the organizers of the Circle of Light Festival together with the team from Japan. It was conducted in accordance with the classical Japanese traditions and summed up the Japan-Russia Bilateral Year.

In addition to the musical and pyrotechnic part, when the volleys were synchronized with the music, the spectators were waiting for the launch of charges up to 600 mm in caliber. Each volley was preceded by a story about traditions that went back deep into the history of Japan and allowed them to evaluate the beauty of fireworks. The story was accompanied by a video projection on the construction installed on the spit of the Grebnoy Canal.

International cooperation

The Circle of Light organizers interact openly with specialists in the field of visual arts and new media, so the festival is well known in the international professional community. The number of countries associated with the festival is gGrebnoy every year. This year, 148 applications from 36 countries were sent to the Art Vision International Video Mapping and VJing Competition, held under the auspices of the Circle of Light Festival. For the first time teams from Honduras, Finland, South Africa and South Korea participated in it.

The best video mapping performances of the contestants could be seen in the Theater Square (nomination "Classic"), the Tsaritsyno Museum-Reserve (nomination "Modern") and the Mir Concert Hall (nomination “VJing”).

The winners were:

in the nomination “Classic”:

1st place - Re:sorb (Germany)
2nd place - Antimotion (Russia)
3rd place - Mödar (Indonesia);

in the nomination “Modern”:

1st place - Meshsplash (Russia)
2nd place - Elektrick Me (Bulgaria)
3rd place - Darklight Studios (Spain);

in the nomination “VJing”:

1st place - Idwyr (Russia)
2nd place - Vj Eps (Russia)
3rd place - NAI (Poland).

Light of Knowledge

Professionals in the field of lighting design, video mapping, IT technologies took part in the educational program, which took place September 22 and 23. The best specialists from all over the world have conducted more than 20 lectures and master classes on modern technologies, the use of new media and business development with the help of the latest tools.


Aeroflot, MIR Payment System, SEPHORA (Ile de Beauté) and others became the partners of the Circle of Light Moscow International Festival in 2018.