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Lyon’s Fête des Lumières cancelled
Stripped down one-day event will be a tribute to the victims of Paris November 13 attacks
LYON’S Fête des Lumières has been cancelled as a result of the continuing state of emergency following the attacks in Paris last Friday.
Instead of the full festival, which was to run from December 5 to December 8, there will be a smaller scale event on December 8, in homage to the victims of the attacks.
Two of the city's landmarks, the "crayon" (the "tour Crèdit Lyonnais) and the "tour Incity" will be illuminated, there will be an illumination on the Fourvière hill, and the names of the Paris victims will be projected onto the quaysides of the river Saône, which runs through the city centre.
In the run-up to the festival, 200,000 tea-lights will be distributed in schools, and householders are asked to place as many lights as possible on their windowsills in memory of those who died on 13th November.
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"Not running risks for people in Lyon doesn't mean the terrorists have won," said the maire of Lyon Gérard Collomb.
"What they want, above all is to sow discord, put as against each other, create fractures in society along the lines of ethnic and religious origins, our life choices," he said and added that the planned homage would send a strong sign of unity amongst people in Lyon.
The Fête des Lumières is the highlight of Lyon's winter calendar, attracting more than four million visitors a year, and filling the city's streets with revellers who come for the illuminations, lightshows and other light projections and animations.
Finding a last minute hotel room or a restaurant booking becomes almost impossible, as does driving or parking in the centre of the city, as so many streets are pedestrianised for the festival.
The festival celebrates the Virgin Mary, who is the city's patron saint; traditionally the city's people have honoured her on December 8 by putting tea-lights on their windowsills.
Gradually, the celebration became more elaborate until 1999 when the city council took a hand, transforming the event into a professionally orchestrated celebration of the world's most advanced lighting technology.
By Samantha David
Photo: Flickr/Andrew Stafford
