A decade ago, a group of Portland artists and community members began to develop an idea for an event in the style of Lyon, France’s Fête des Lumières or Edinburgh, Scotland’s Hogmanay. In 2016, the Portland Winter Light Festival glowed for the first time along Southeast Portland’s waterfront. Some 30,000 attendees meandered through a collection of around 30 light-based art pieces and sculptures, animated lighting towers and works shaped like paper airplanes.

In 2024, the Portland Winter Light Festival recorded 274,000 visitors over the course of the nine-day event, with 159 installations and more than 400 participating artists. Drag performers vogued in LED-accessorized skirts and capes, DJs spun among murals at silent discos, and Portlanders soaked in, gawked at, climbed under, walked through, and contributed to interactive art installations across the city. And this year, the Portland Winter Light Festival will host its 10th event, exploring the future of art and technology.

This year's festival begins Friday, February 7, starting with an opening ceremony at Pioneer Courthouse Square alit with fire shows and LED-costumed street performers, followed by the hula-hoop duo Bright Heart Circus and live music from Brazilian samba band Bloco Alegria, among others. Live performance continues to play a large role in this year's festival, incorporating works like My Burning Pianist, with a piano that spews flames from a candelabra-like spout above the soundboard as musicians play.

A fire-breathing dragon at Gov. Tom McCall Waterfront Park and the 20-foot LED display at the World Trade Center may draw the biggest crowds, but the west side will also house a handful of art corridors, both downtown and in Old Town, for more leisurely installation-lined strolls. As the night darkens, Glow Bar, a pop-up party at Columbia Square (between SW Columbia and Jefferson Streets and First and Second Avenues) on February 7 & 8 and 14 & 15, will pair lively displays with rotating DJs, themed cocktails, and burgers from SE Foster Road's Proletariat Butchery. And across the river, a returning silent disco will take over the Electric Blocks in the Central Eastside Industrial District, fueled by fleet of food carts. 

To Alisha Sullivan, executive director of the nonprofit Willamette Light Brigade (which puts on the festival), the spectrum of artistic perspectives on display really sets their event apart from other cities'. “There are always these pieces from emerging artists that really stand out,” she says, adding that they display their work “alongside internationally recognized artists.” 

Part of the magic of PWLF is the expansive scope. With many of the installations situated outdoors, in public spaces, in countless neighborhoods across the city, the art becomes accessible to those who may not be able to visit museums or feel comfortable in galleries. "All the barriers to entry with most institutions are just gone," Sullivan says. "It’s free, it’s out in the street. You don’t have to know about art or like art to come and explore."

Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify details related to this year's festival lineup.