Copenhagen Light Festival

When the dreary darkness and freezing temperatures of winter arrive in Denmark, people eagerly await the annual Copenhagen Light Festival. Each February, the entire city becomes a stage, displaying captivating lighting installations and experiences at more than 30 historical sites, canals, harbor, bridges, streets, squares, and corporate buildings, creating an enchanting backdrop to various festivities. Using the transformative power of light to spread joy, the ambitious project aims to drive tourism, commerce, civic pride, and engagement throughout the year. 

Signify Certified System Integrator, Vanpee, teamed up with Color Kinetics, Danish lighting manufacturer Louis Poulsen, and lighting designer Jakob Kvist to create the light installation, ‘Mangfoldighedens Porte’ (‘Gates of Diversity’) at the 2021 Copenhagen Light Festival, a spectacular, dynamic, and colorful façade lighting installation around the historic naval base, Kuglegården.

An LED system was chosen for the project because of the precise colors needed to achieve the lighting design. Color Kinetics Blast Powercore, IntelliHue luminaires (24) and Color Kinetics Vaya Flood luminaires were installed to illuminate Kuglegården's facades and gates. The fixtures were mounted 10 m (32 ft) apart on the ground atop concrete tiles, at a distance of 8 m (26 ft) from the building façades.

Powered by Color Kinetics Data Enabler Pro, the luminaires throw colored light onto the buildings, encouraging visitors to explore Kuglegården’s distinctive architecture and history. The characteristic use of color transitions is a tribute to the multifaceted cultural and commercial institutions in the area, while acting as a framework for a tour of colors around Kuglegården’s buildings.

Color Kinetics IntelliHue technology makes it possible to create millions of different saturated colors and pastels, as well as colored and Tunable White lights from the same luminaire. The high-quality light produced by Color Kinetics luminaires provided creative freedom to realize the light installation and deliver the variety of colors intended to illuminate Kuglegården’s façades, all while meeting the sustainability and Green objectives of the Festival.