Lumo Light Festival Oulu was celebrated for the fifth time in 2017. The theme of the festival was “Encounters”. Visitors came across astonishing encounters in familiar environments, in virtual worlds, and with characters from the past painted with lights. The festival lightened up the darkest days of the year and created stunning views, strange appearances and performances that enabled the audience to see their environment with new eyes.

The weekend 17–19 November was the main weekend of the festival, during which the works of European guest artists and groups were exhibited and most of the festival events were kicked off. The works and events of the main weekend were on display mostly in and around downtown Oulu.

The program continued until Finland’s centennial independence celebration on 6 December. The light artworks with their different shades of blue on the last week of the festival were part of the official Finland 100 programme in Oulu.

Once again, the Lumo Light Festival also left a long-lasting impact in the cityscape with permanent light installations.