Lumina Returns: Cascais to Shine Again in 2025 After Six-Year Pause

Conceived and curated by the Lisbon-based studio OCUBO, https://www.ocubo.com/

Lumina is less of a light show and more of a sensory reawakening. Part art exhibition, part urban love letter, it has previously transformed spots like the Marina de Cascais, the Cidadela Fortress, and the town’s bay into interactive, illuminated dreamscapes. In 2025, expect the same, only deeper, richer, and more intimately participatory.

“There’s a deep sense of joy and responsibility in bringing Lumina back,” says Carole Purnelle, CEO of OCUBO and one of the festival’s artistic leads. “This year is about reconnection; to each other, to place, to light.” Her curatorial philosophy hinges on emotion and immersion: a desire not just to exhibit art, but to invite the public to feel it, move through it, and become part of it.

And they will. From videomapping on centuries-old facades to interactive light sculptures controlled by the movement of your own hands, 2025’s edition is designed to be more participatory than ever. “We’re creating moments where families can engage together, children can play, and everyone feels included,” Purnelle adds. “Inclusion isn’t an afterthought. It’s foundational.”

OCUBO’s return to Cascais comes backed by the Câmara Municipal de Cascais, whose support has long elevated Lumina from a local happening to one of Europe’s premier festivals of light, a status confirmed by The Guardian, which once named it among the continent’s top ten.

Artist, technologist, OCUBO co-founder & executive creative director, Nuno Maya, speaks of 2025 as a culmination of quiet evolution. “The pause was like a breath in… now we breathe out new ideas, new innovations,” he says. For Maya, light remains endlessly compelling: “Without it, nothing is visible. It’s the purest artistic medium, rich, mysterious, full of life.”

OCUBO, which has worked across continents and cultures, balances global sophistication with a proudly local soul. A founding member of the International Light Festivals Organization, the studio brings to Cascais the lessons learned from projects in Asia, Africa, and the Americas, always filtered through a Portuguese lens.

And what, precisely, should festival-goers expect this time around?

“A world of Dreams and Stories,” Purnelle smiles, referencing this year’s theme. Maya expands: “We’re building a 3-kilometre open-air museum of light art, with over 20 installations. You’ll feel like you’re inside a storybook, but one written in colour temperatures and shadows.”

Behind the scenes, OCUBO’s team orchestrates a seamless interplay of creativity and logistics, managing not only crowd flow and technical setups but ensuring the festival remains aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goals, from low-impact lighting to community collaboration.

And while the festival will undoubtedly dazzle with its scale and spectacle, it’s the intimate moments that linger. Purnelle recalls a child whispering, “It’s like a dream,” during a past edition. “That simplicity, that connection, that’s why we do this,” she says.

So, mark your diaries. Come with curiosity. Let the light lead you. Lumina 2025 isn’t just a comeback; it’s a celebration of collective wonder and a luminous invitation to see Cascais anew.

For more information, visit lumina.pt or email info@lumina.pt.

by Andrew Machaj