Since its 300th birthday in 2015, the city of Karlsruhe and the ZKM I Centre for Art and Media Karlsruhe have presented the SCHLOSSLICHTSPIELE Light Festival every summer. International artist groups create projection mappings for the façade of Karlsruhe Castle, which can be experienced every evening over a period of several weeks. The SCHLOSSLICHTSPIELE provide long summer evenings in the heart of the city. The projections are curated by the artistic-scientific director of the ZKM I Centre for Art and Media, Prof. Peter Weibel. The ZKM was founded in 1989 as a “digital Bauhaus” to bring the classical arts into the digital age and is today one of the most important art institutions worldwide.

Every year, the SCHLOSSLICHTSPIELE Light Festival sets thematic priorities, to which new shows as well as a selection from the already existing 40 or so projections are dedicated. Besides the city and its history, these have so far focused, for example, on protecting the planet, architecture, technology, love and Europe. Karlsruhe institutions and stakeholders support the event, for example shows have already been developed with the support of the State Museum of Baden, the KIT Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, the University of Music as well as the State Museum of Natural History Karlsruhe.

During the festival, other light installations, illuminations and media artworks will shine at various locations in the city, inviting visitors to explore Germany’s first UNESCO City of Media Arts in a new light.

Festival is a free event that creates an open and exciting access to culture and media art for all people.

The festival is organised by KME Karlsruhe Marketing und Event GmbH.