GLOW Eindhoven 2025, the biggest light festival in the Netherlands and a must-visit.
As an expat or international student in the Netherlands, you may be looking for unique cultural events, fun outing, and ways to explore Dutch cities with friends. GLOW Eindhoven is a spectacular and unique light art festival in the city of Eindhoven and can be a fantastic opportunity to discover another Dutch city.
GLOW Eindhoven takes place from November 8th to November 15th, GLOW is now one of the top five most visited light festivals around the world.
About GLOW Eindhoven
Since it’s first edition in 2006, every November GLOW Eindhoven has transformed public spaces across Eindhoven into an outdoor gallery of light art.
The festival is free to attend and organized as a walking route through the city centre and surrounding areas. It allows visitors to admire multiple installations while discovering Eindhoven’s architecture, urban design, and ambiance.
In past years, artworks have been shown at locations such as Eindhoven Airport, the High Tech Campus area and other prominent public sites.
Light Installations at GLOW
The installations at GLOW Eindhoven are created by artists, web designers, engineers, architects, or other professionals exploring light concepts and techniques.
Using new media technology, the work featured at the festival takes many forms. The light art ranges from projections, animations, activated sensor light displays, 3D motion effects, and soundscapes using light.
Every year, GLOW Eindhoven aims to push the boundaries and blur the line between design, art, and technology with light.
In prior years, the festival has featured work of about 30 light artists from The Netherlands and abroad.
GLOW Eindhoven 2025
GLOW runs from 8 to 15 of November and is free to attend.
This year’s festival theme is “The Light”, marking the festival’s 20th edition. For eight days, Eindhoven becomes the ‘City of Light’, a place where light art sparks countless encounters. Visitors can expect installations celebrates light as the ultimate connector: bringing people together, creating shared moments and transcending cultures.
Once in Eindhoven, you can follow the GLOW route that spans almost 5 kilometres through the city centre and features around 35 light artworks by national and international artists.
If you are an expat, international student, or new to The Netherlands or Eindhoven, GLOW has guided private tours.
In addition to the city of Eindhoven, the festival also takes place in nearby municipalities such as Helmond, Oirschot, Best, and Veldhoven.
Light Festival Lineup
The artwork in this year’s lineup include installations like “Evolution of Life” which opens a passageway to a serene haven, invoking mindfulness and feelings of joy.
Spectators are immersed in nature-themed projections synchronized with soundscapes transporting you to the great outdoors and connecting you to the world.
Other installations push philosophical themes. For example, the audiovisual installation “Where Are We Going?” evokes a sense of contemplation.
GLOW Eindhoven explains, “Where Are We Going?” uses light and audio to present questions around choices, awareness, direction, and how technology shapes the answers to these questions.
Lighthearted and interactive art include installations like “Grand Mix.” By projecting historical faces on Wilhelminaplein, “Grand Mix” is bringing art to life.
The installation, in keeping with the theme, will have these historical figures singing pop, hip hop, and rock hits. “Grand Mix” creators hope viewers sing along while enjoying the sound and light show.
Why you should go
Final Thoughts
If you haven’t yet experienced GLOW, or if you’re new to the Netherlands (or to Eindhoven), now is the time to mark your calendars.
The 2025 edition celebrates two decades of bringing light, art, design and technology together. It offers an exciting way to engage with Dutch culture in a vibrant, inclusive setting.
All About Expats aims to bring awareness to events unique to Dutch cities (such as GLOW Eindhoven). By doing so, we hope expats, highly skilled migrants, and international students can discover everything The Netherlands has to offer.
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